Jin Au-Yeung (traditional Chinese: 歐陽靖; simplified Chinese: 欧阳靖; pinyin: Ōuyáng Jìng; Cantonese Yale: Āu Yèuhng Jihng) was born in Miami, Florida and was raised in Miami by his Chinese immigrant parents who ran their own restaurant. In junior high, he became fascinated with hip-hop music and dreamed of becoming a professional rapper. He was inspired by artists such as 2Pac, Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, The Notorious B.I.G., LL Cool J, Big L and other well-known rappers from the early 1990s. When first taking up rapping, he struggled with the form of music but with much practice he realized he had a talent for freestyle rap. He soon began performing for his classmates, co-workers and whoever would listen. Jin began entering freestyle battles in local hip-hop clubs where he was usually the only Asian around. He was often underestimated due to his ethnicity. Jin's talent won crowds over, and he went on to win many battles. His big break came when the BET program 106 & Park began inviting local rappers to hold battles in a segment known as Freestyle Friday. Ready for the national exposure, he auditioned and again was underestimated due to his ethnic background. After winning for seven weeks straight, Jin was inducted into the show's Hall of Fame. That same night of his Hall of Fame induction, he announced that he had signed a deal with the Ruff Ryders. His first single under Ruff Ryders was titled "Learn Chinese". The album was originally scheduled to be released in the summer of 2003, but was delayed for over a year by the label. In October 2004, Jin released his debut album, The Rest Is History, which reached number 54 of the Billboard Top 200 albums chart. Both of his singles, "Learn Chinese" and "Senorita", failed to be major mainstream successes. Due to the long delay on the album, sales and where the contract was going to lead him, he decided with his manager to leave. When he left the Virgin label, he also left the Ruff Ryder label. Ruff Ryders is still active to date and Jin is in good terms with them. On May 18, 2005, Jin revealed that he would be putting his rap career on hold in order to explore other options. After signing with an independent label, CraftyPlugz/Draft Records, Jin released his second album, The Emcee's Properganda on October 25, 2005. Jin released two albums in 2006. The first one, 100 Grand Jin is a mixtape/album that was released on August 29, 2006. The single released off the album is "FYI", for which the rapper shot and released a music video. The second album released in 2006 is Jin's third LP, I Promise. Instead of releasing the album in stores, Jin released it on November 1, 2006 through his MySpace, with the first batch being autographed by himself. It was then sold on CDBaby.com with limited copies being pressed and not autographed for people who were unable to purchase it before. The first single for this album is titled "36-24-36 ( Apple Bottom Jeans )", a song in which Jin gives praise to Asian girls. During the end of 2006, Jin worked on another album called ABC. The album was recorded almost entirely in Cantonese. Jin officially launched his ABC Jin website on January 10, 2007. Jin premiered his music video for the first single, "ABC" on MTV Chi on January 26, 2007. The album was produced entirely by the Far*East Movement and features guest appearances from Hong Kong actor Daniel Wu and Ken Oak Band. After staying independent for 3 years, Jin landed a deal with a major record company. Universal Music Hong Kong added Jin as one of four artists that are being promoted in the new deal that is called the Universal Spends 8-Figures on 2008 Newcomers. Universal Music Hong Kong signed these four artists to promote their music, Jin being the top of the four. Jin has already gone to work with his next Cantonese album and plans to release it on the label by 2008. Jin has also re-released his ABC (American Born Chinese) album but with the new packaging. The re-release is a Hong Kong edition which includes a bonus track with new music videos which 3 of them was shot in Hong Kong itself. Jin has found success in Hong Kong, winning a Chik Chak 903 Radio Top 10 Songs award for the song ABC and recently releasing a free mixtape in Cantonese, known as the Meen Fai Rap Mixtape. He is currently working on his next Cantonese album. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.