Social Science

Nov. 8 issue - Jin knows better than most that your success as a rapper depends almost entirely on your delivery—even when people expect that delivery to be lemon chicken with a side of rice. "I'd show up at these M.C. battles with my book bag and the guys at the door would say, 'Uh, I think there's been some sort of mistake'," says Jin Au-Yeung. " 'We didn't order any food'." The Chinese-American rapper never took offense—he simply walked onstage and slayed his rivals with some of the sharpest rhymes around. Now, at 22, Jin is the first Asian rapper in the United States to land a major-label deal. His debut, "The Rest Is History," is cool, quick-witted and, most important, a hit with Jin's parents. "They used to hate rap, but now they've crossed over," says the New York-based artist. "They keep all the clippings of the Chinese newspapers I appear in. They're the presidents of the Jin fan club."

The Au-Yeungs emigrated from Hong Kong to Miami before Jin was born. They ran a restaurant and Jin was indeed the delivery boy, but on his time off he listened to hip-hop and entered local contests. After 9/11 the family moved to New York to be closer to his grandparents in Chinatown. The rapper made a name by winning BET's M.C. battle on "106 & Park" for seven consecutive weeks. When one particular opponent spat the moronic line, "I'm a pro, you're just a rookie. Leave rap alone and keep making fortune cookies," the 5-foot-6 Jin flattened him: "If you make one more joke about rice or karate/NYPD will be in Chinatown searching for your body."

Moments like these gave Jin a name in the underground hip-hop community and a record deal with the heavyweight Ruff Ryders label (Eve, DMX). He also landed his first film role in "2 Fast 2 Furious." "I knew I wanted to do the acting thing, but I didn't know I'd do it so soon," says Jin, who played Jimmy the mechanic. "I wanted to get a record out first, and then try. But how do you tell John Singleton, 'Sorry, I had a different plan'?" On his long-awaited CD "The Rest Is History" Jin tops beats by stellar producers like Kanye West with tales of the everyday, but brings the scenarios to life with clever wordplay, a crisp cadence and a smart-aleck flair. His ethnicity comes into play only when it needs to. "It definitely cannot be your whole shtik, but you can't ignore it either," says Jin. "For me, it's a thin line but I walk it." And he leaves a trail of sucker M.C.s in his path.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6472571/site/newsweek/