Rapper Balances Musical, Chinese-American Identities

A Chinese-American rap star, Jin Au-Yeung, 22, became the first Asian to sign with a leading hip-hop label, Ruff Ryders, in 2002 and released his debut album, “The Rest Is History,” last fall. He talked with The New York Sun’s Daniela Gerson yesterday about topics including breaking boundaries in the hip-hop community, protesting ethnic slurs on a radio station, and continuing to live with his parents in Elmhurst, Queens.Q. Ever since you emerged on the hip-hop scene three years ago, press reports and the Internet have branded you the amazing Asian-American rapper – but never just an amazing rapper. Does that bother you?I hate that. … Three years later I am sure there are other things you can say about Jin. But I also accept that’s just what it is. No matter how many years down the line, I’ll never be like, “Let’s not talk about me being Asian.” That’s who I am. I have no problem acknowledging it – as a matter of fact I’m very proud of it. But it’s one thing if I promote it, and it’s one thing if media reports it more so than the actual music.How hard then is it for you to find a balance between promoting your musical and Asian-American identities?I’m surprised I haven’t tried to jump off a ledge yet. It is hard. It is very hard, actually. There’s no real solution to it. There always will be people who are saying, “He’s using the fact that he’s Asian as a gimmick. Then there are people who will say, “He’s not representing his race.”When Hot97 ran a “Tsunami Song” mocking the victims of the recent natural disaster, you responded with your own song. To protest the parody, you used lyrics such as “Home of hip hop and R&B, yeah right. Since when was hip hop about being racist and ignorant?” What made you decide to speak up?I kind of felt like if I hadn’t said something nobody else would have. … I just did it on the spur of the moment because I felt inclined to do it. So of course I have my Web site, I sent the song to them, saying, “Hey, guys check this out. I just recorded this.” So by nature – you know how the Internet is – it just spread. To the point they had it on the radio the following day.Some of the content of the Hot97 song that critics are objecting to is the airing of slurs such as “chink” and “Chinaman.” These are words you include in your song “Learn Chinese.” How is that different?I think me using it once is not as drastic as me being called that for 22 years of my life. Anyone who has any sense knows that when I used it it’s in a complete different light. It’s really just that one song, “Learn Chinese,” and I’m using it in a context to say, okay, we’re tired of being called this. And then there’s the whole theory of we’re allowed to use racial slurs because we’re part of the group.You became famous winning Black Entertainment Television’s Freestyle Friday battle? What’s a “rap-off” and how did you win?It’s like a battle of verbal wit. And rhythm is involved, too. It’s rapping. It’s about rhythm and what you have to say. BET has one every Friday and, of course, it airs nationally. I was on for seven weeks and the audience chose me as a winner.What makes you good at it?I’m a smart ass. That’s what it all boils down to: Who’s got the biggest smart-ass line?What’s the best smart-ass line you gave in the Freestyle Friday battle?Like all the other freestyle competitions, my race, the fact that I’m Chinese, happens to be a big issue. That seems to be the primary target for my opponents. Meaning they’ll all want to say something about me being Chinese. It’s all pretty stereotypical. It’s not nothing funny. It’s nothing that takes too much brainpower to think of.So I was on one of the shows and there was this one guy who wouldn’t let go of it. He’s rapping Karate Kid this, fortune cookies that. He rhymes for like 30 seconds, calling me Mr. Miyagi, from Karate Kid. At which point I say to him, “You keep saying I’m Chinese but here’s a reminder, check your Tims [Timberland Boots], they probably say made in China.”Like I say, that’s not the most complex thing, but I would definitely say way more clever than the stuff he had to say. And according to the crowd it was, too. Probably in the seven weeks, that was the line that had the most impact.Your parents, immigrants from Hong Kong, raised you in Miami. Is it true your mother often told you, “You’re not black” when you were growing up?I used to hear it from my mom when I was little especially, because what she didn’t understand was I wasn’t trying to be black. That’s what mothers do. They’re supposed to analyze how their kids act. That was then, now she knows what I do. But it’s still something I get from other people all of the time.After the September 11 attacks you moved with your family to New York to be closer to relatives here. Why do you still live with your parents in Elmhurst, Queens?There’s no point in moving out. Why, so I can bring girls back to my place? I barely see my family as it is. I’d rather see them, I’d rather have dinner with them, and I’d rather watch television with them.Do you think race is a barrier in hip-hop?In this day and age, no. Race has nothing to do with it. Of course, historically you’ve got to acknowledge where hip-hop started: It was in the urban communities with blacks and Latinos. But anybody who has any type of sense right now is aware it’s beyond that. You can have a non-black or -Latino who has absorbed the hip-hop culture and grew up with it and it would be just as authentic if they were black or Latino. But the key is always acknowledging where it started.What do you want your music to do?I want to be the artist that people can relate to. People like me that love hip-hop, that grew up listening to it, but maybe were misunderstood for their liking of it. People out there that had to listen to, “Why you trying to be this? Why you trying to be that?” When in reality they were just being themselves, which is like me.

Rapper Balances Musical, Chinese-American Identities

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