[1][2][3] Jin is notable for being the first Asian American solo rapper to be signed to a major record label in the United States.

[4][5] Jin Au-Yeung was born on June 4, 1982, in Miami, Florida, to Hong Kong immigrants of Hakka descent.

[9] Jin's big break came in 2002 when the BET program 106 & Park invited local rappers to compete in a segment known as Freestyle Friday.

[11] His first single under Ruff Ryders was titled "Learn Chinese" featuring Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean.

[12] The two singles, "Learn Chinese" and "Senorita", were not major mainstream successes and the album only sold 19,000 units in its first week.

He released a single called "Top 5 (Dead or Alive)" in which he explored the history of hip-hop's greatest artists, using lyrics.

The legendary DJ Kool Herc, who is credited as the founder of hip-hop, appears in Jin's music video.

Jin collaborated in 2005 with Queens-born rapper Creature on his song "Never Say Die," which also featured Slug and Busdriver.

Together, Jin and Leehom performed their "Heroes of the Earth" collaboration live in Shanghai on February 16, 2006, at an event arranged by China-resident American A&R exec Andrew Ballen.

[19] Later that year, Jin decided to make his November 2006 online album, I Promise available in retail stores; it was given an October 23, 2007, release.

[20] In 2006, the PlayStation 2/Xbox video game NBA Ballers: Phenom featured MC Jin as one of the rapper characters along with Trikz, Ludacris and Hot Sauce.

He frequently starred in commercials there and made numerous appearances on TVB like Big Boys Club.

He is also seen as an important part of recent Asian hip hop trends[21] and was once deemed "the changing face of Cantopop.

On July 10, 2010, Jin collaborated with singer Hanjin Tan (陳奐仁) to release another Cantonese album 買一送一 (Buy one get one free).

[7] In December, 2010, Jin released a Christmas music video entitled "Rap Now, 2010" with Hong Kong Chief Executive, Donald Tsang.

[28][29] A CNN report described the video as an "official eyesore" and "a political message thinly veiled as a Christmas card," and further criticized Jin's rapping as resembling "awkward nursery rhymes," in contrast to his earlier performances.

[29] However, local newspaper The Standard, in response to critics, stated in an editorial that "Tsang, like the millions who post videos of themselves or their loved ones, only wants to have fun.

"[30] On March 7, 2011, Jin released a music video for a song from his upcoming English album entitled "Charlie Sheen," collaborating with artists Dumbfoundead and Traphik.

After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Jin participated in the Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders celebrity charity concert on April 1, 2011, to help raise funds for Japan's disaster recovery effort.

[7] In 2012, Jin announced that he was moving back to the United States to raise his son with his wife in New York.

[12] In February 2012, Jin released a re-vamped version of his EP, Sincerely Yours 2.0, featuring some of the same lyrics, but many others changed, slightly altering the overall feel of the record.

The three-minute video features such lyrics as “Everyone — white, brown, yellow and black / It’s time to come together, what’s ironic is that / NY forward will bring New York Back.”[43] Jin's catchphrase is "Aiya!

Jin actively interacts with its members online, and is known to sometimes arrange to meet them in different cities for movies and coffees offline.