Search - Jin :: Emcee's Properganda

One Of The Top 10 Rap Albums Of The Year

11/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Around this time last year, Jin was releasing his long-delayed debut album, "The Rest is History." When it came out, it debuted at number 54 and ended up selling only 200,000 copies so far. There were a number of reasons why it didn't do well. First the delay, then the bickering between Ruff Ryders and Virgin Records, and Virgin not being able to choose a single for Jin(and there were better singles than "Learn Chinese" and "Senorita."). Tired of music industry politics, Jin made a song called "I Quit" and it was assumed that Jin would retire from the rap industry and focus on acting.



Wrong. Turns out, the song was a metaphor and Jin was starting over in the rap game. With a fresher look on his career, Jin left Ruff Ryders and decided to go independent. He hooked up with 16(now 17) year old Golden Child and Demo Beats to produce his album. He released his sophmore album through his new label CraftyPlugz and Draft Records. How does it stack up compared to his debut album? Pretty well actually.



1. "The Emcee(skit)" - The album starts off with a skit, which I skipped because I don't usually listen to skits in rap albums.



2. "Perspectives" - The song is about how Jin longs for the days when rap was about the lyrics and not the hooks found in many rap songs today. He mentions how good MC's are rare to find. I liked the song and Jin spits some good lyrics to go with the sick beat produced by Golden Child. 9 out of 10



3."Top 5(Dead or Alive)" - The first single from the album, which is about how you can't make a list for the best MC's as it's all up to opinion. Jin gives shout outs to different rappers, such as Nas, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, Rakim, and others. Another nice beat from Golden Child. 9 out of 10



4. "Mr. Popular" - Another song I liked which has Jin bragging about his skills. Once again, Golden Child produces another good beat to go with Jin's skills.



5. "My First Time" - A take-off from Common's classic song, "I Used to Love H.E.R.", here we have Jin reminsicing about writing his first rhyme(although if you don't pay attention, you might think it's something else). A down-to-earth beat is provided by Golden Child. Not my favorite song, but it's still good. 7.5 out of 10



6. "Properganda" - Could be third single from this album, and it's also the only track not produced by Golden Child. It's produced by Demo Beats from Boston and it blends in nicely with the rest of the album. Another favorite of mine, which has Jin bashing the music industry. 9 out of 10



7. "No More Fans" - Song about how everyone seems they can rhyme, even though they don't have the skills for it. Jin provides good lyrics for this and the beat sounds like it would fit in nicely with Common's "Electric Circus" album. 8.5 out of 10



8. "G.O.L.D.E.N." - Song about different rap producers and how Golden Child is the future. Jin provides good lyrics but, I wasn't feeling the beat for this one. It kinda reminds me of the "Laffy Taffy" beat, although better. This song is also the only mainstream-ready one from the album. 7 out of 10



9. "Foolish Little Girls" - Jin has said that this is his favorite song from the album and I can see why. A nice beat provided by Golden Child, Jin raps about how preteen girls are acting way too mature for their age. Another good song. 9 out of 10



10. "The Craftiest(skit)" - Didn't listen to this, due to being a skit.



11. "100 Thousand Sold(Part 2)" - My second favorite song from this album, this song is a follow-up to part one, which can be heard on his official site, The [...]. I like it because it has probably the best lyrics on the album which go into how Jin almost quit rapping. Jin's manager, Big Kamel also says a few words on here. The beat is another good one produced by Golden Child. For a minute, I had to tell myself that 9th Wonder or Kanye West didn't produce it. 9.5 out of 10



12. "No Concept" featuring Yung MAC and LS - A fun song on here featuring Jin's other CraftyPlugz rosters. The concept is based off A Tribe Called Quest's classic, "Check the Rhime." Yung MAC and LS do well, although they are not as good as Jin. 8 out of 10



13. "Carpe Diem" - Jin's could-be second single. Like "G.O.L.D.E.N.", it's not my favorite song from the album. Basically, this is Jin's version of Kanye's "Touch the Sky." He does well, but it could have been better. 7.5 out of 10



14. "It's All Over" - This is my favorite song from the album. Jin shows his lyrical chops over a sick Golden Child beat. One might think Kanye produced it, meaning it's just that good. 10 out of 10



Overall, a great album from Jin. To the one reviewer who said that this new outlook for Jin is a gimmick, why can't an artist change his ways? This helps an artist grow into something much better. It won't sell even as much as his debut album(as of this writing, the album hasn't even cracked the Billboard 200). Techically, Jin's still under contract with Ruff Ryders/Virgin Records and they could demand another album from him. Hopefully, good word-of-mouth will happen with this album and Jin will find success down the road."

Proper?Ganda = Real Hip-Hop

Miami Review | Miami, Florida | 10/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a Jin (The Emcee) fan for a while ever since I've seen him freestyling on BET. I began to notice him after I realized that he can actually make meaningful songs. Okay let me get to the review. As soon as I started listening to the ALBUM I got hooked to it. It's amazing that Golden Child, a 16 YEAR OLD KID, from NY made all of the beats on the CD except the song "Perspectives." He brings you back to the time when Hip Hop was just about rapping not about the money and the fame. He can be a freestyle rapper, a song writer, and a conceptual writer at the same time. One of my favoriter songs on the cd is definitely "My First Time." Throughout the whole song reminisces about the "First time he wrote his 1st rhyme," but he makes it seems like he's rapping about the First time he had sex and if you don't listen to the whole song you won't get the concept. Another song that appeals to me is the song "G.O.L.D.E.N." He raps about the music these days and how the "Lyrics are wasted" since people only care about the beat of the song. Even though he rapping about rapping about songs being judged by the beats, his Producer Golden Child laced the track with a HOT BEAT that most listeners will like.



1. The Emcee (skit)

2. Perspectives 4/5

3. Top 5 (Dead or Alive) 5/5

4. Mr. Popular 5/5

5. My First Time 5/5

6. Propaganda Defined (skit)

7. Properganda 5/5

8. No More Fans 5/5

9. G.O.L.D.E.N. 5/5

10. Foolish Little Girls 5/5

11. The Craftiest (skit)

12. 100 Thousand Sold Pt. 2 4/5 (This song was too short)

13. No Concept 3/5

14. Carpe Diem 2/5

15. It's All Over 3/5



All I have to say is that you have to go out and buy this CD. This CD will make you realize that most of the listeners are being BrainWashed by all of the POPular music that is out there."

THIS WILL CHANGE YOUT LIFE!

Obie Elias | California, CA USA | 11/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"OVER THE YEARS I HAVE LISTENED TO MANY RAP ALBUMS AND I HAVE COME UP WITH THE SAME RESULTS. ALL OF THEM WERE CRAP BECAUSE THEY DIDNT HAVE A MESSAGE!!!!! I BECAME SICK OF RAP AND WAS CONSIDERING NEVER LISTENING TO IT AGAIN UNTIL A YOUNG EMCEE BY THE NAME OF JIN APPEARED ON 106 AND PARK AND I WAS BLOWN AWAY, AND EVER SINCE I HAVE LOVED RAP ONLY FROM JIN AND HAVE FOUND OUT THAT ITS NOT ALL CRAP ANYMORE, AND THE MESSAGES THAT JIN PRESENTS IN THIS ALBUM WILL STIMULATE YOUR MIND....."