Jin's "Learn Chinese" Video

Written by Madison
Published February 03, 2004

Jin, the Asian rapper who landed a record deal with Ruff Ryders while becoming a battle champion on 106th and Park just dropped a new video for his single "Learn Chinese." Oliver Wang posted his thoughts about the video on his weblog. And so begins the culture critiques that will mark Jin's career more than his musical talent.

Oliver aka O-Dub doesn't mention whether the song is any good or not. "I do find the video fascinating," is the most we get. The rest is a break down of the socio-racial implications of what Jin chose to write and display in his first ever video. Yikes. I hope the kid has a degree in something because he's gonna need some learnin just to read his own album reviews!

Here's a part of O-Dub's post that I find kinda funny:

"That said, the video for "Learn Chinese" is rife with problems. One of the biggest and most obvious is Jin's gender politics - women figure in this video like they figure in most rap videos: sex objects desired for nothing more than their bodies."
Rife with problems? When did sexy women in a club, happy-happy video become a problem? I think O-Dub, as an Asain hip-hopper himself is asking too much from the young kid.

But I understand what's up. When Jin's album drops he'll become the resident hip-hop pundit that will represent the voice of all Asian rap fans out there. Who needs a quote from Oliver Wang or Jeff Chang when you got a Ruff Ryder ready to speak? I'm not saying O-Dub is jealous, but I certainly understand if he's scared. I'm a conservative leaning Black man who has to deal with the stupid things Stanley Crouch writes three times a week. Trust me, I understand.

So even though O-Dub says Jin's video is "disappointing and generic" I think he needs to watch out for the same traps in his own reviews. (And I like his weblog, so don't beast.)

Keep reading for information and comments on this article, and add some feedback of your own!
Jin's "Learn Chinese" Video
Published: February 03, 2004
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Section: Music
Writer: Madison
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#1 — December 12, 2004 @ 07:10AM — Jin411

Jin is an amazing artist and carries a lot of weight on his shoulders for representing Asians in a black-dominated genre. True, he hasn't made the best of choices at times, he can't do everything perfectly and some feel they must scrutinize his every single move! Given that there's not many willing to step up to the plate to represent Asians as he has, beggars can't be choosers now can they? Long story short, he does more good things than bad and we should show a little more support towards him! If you want to know more about him, including his most recent news and media, there are two very good websites dedicated to this guy. Even though they're not official, they contain way more information than his official website. Trust me. Please tell everyone about these websites and spread the word about Jin, he needs all the promotion he can get! Thanks.

http://www.alljin.com
http://www.holla-front.com

#2 — January 29, 2005 @ 11:24AM — jason

can sum1 tell me wot that gal in the video hu sez mr.jin u r the sexiest man wot her name is please

#3 — February 22, 2005 @ 11:35AM — SWKong [URL]

If you really want to learn chinese

#4 — July 25, 2005 @ 22:15PM — jessica

do anyone knw how i could email jin?

#5 — July 16, 2006 @ 14:38PM — Chinese learner [URL]

Hi,
I'd like to share with you some some useful tools to learn Chinese :
- Learn Chinese : Free Mandarin Chinese lessons. Each of the 15 units contain easy to understand dialogues, usage notes and a practice page.
- Chinese-English dictionary : An easy-to-use dictionary with over 34,000 entries. It can be searched by Chinese characters, Pinyin, or English. Audio pronunciation is available.

Good luck. :-)

#6 — January 31, 2007 @ 19:39PM — myaxin [URL]

Hi guys,
As I learn Chinese in China, I have the opportunity to try out many offline and online Chinese learning materials. I'd like to share some of these materials. First is a highly customizable Chinese English dictionary . I also use this tutorial that teaches me Chinese writing . Take care guys! :-)


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