responding to Jin

I believe Oliver Wang is wrong when he accuses Jin of "willingly racialized himself without being prompted." It's true that "Learn Chinese" opens with the statement: "Yeah. I'm Chinese ... and what?" Oliver Wang interpreted this as both an affirmation and a challenge, effectively "daring potential critics to make an issue of it." However, even before listening to the tracks, it was my interpretation that this song wasn't starting with challenge, but a continuation of a meta conversation and his answer with a dismissal. After listening to the two tracks, which also happen to be sequential, one notices that the end of track 8(Chinese Beats) ends with the line "psh! ain't you Chinese?" This confirms my original thought that this wasn't a challenge but a response. It makes sense that Jin composes and arranges his tracks as a whole, and this was just a way to bridge two tracks.

I think that Steven and Mia's interpretations of Chinese Beats amply describes what Jin was trying to do with this track. My basic interpretation of it is that Jin doesn't want his race to be the only characteristic that people know about him. I think by having this track as a skit on the album instead of a song highlights the importance of the meaning. Jin easily could have created a song with lyrics that express the same meaning. However, often a song with a meaning hidden in the lyrics, the meanings go misinterpreted or even missed. I think by conveying his message by this skit, it would be hard for a listener to miss or misinterpret.

I find it interesting that no one thus far has offered up a full interpretation of "Learn Chinese" and that most have only focused on the first line "Yeah, I'm Chinese and what?" I admit I don't listen to rap, nor do I know anything about lyrical analysis but I thought it would be fun to try. While, I don't get the point of this message, I feel that some parts have more meaning than the literal translation. For example the chorus "Ya'll gonna learn Chinese" I don't believe it can be taken literally that someone is going to learn the language Chinese, I take this as a play on the sometimes ambiguous meaning of the word "Chinese." Does "Chinese" refer to the language or the people? I think in this case, Jin is saying he is going to educate the listener on Chinese people. The line "When the pumps come out, ya'll gon' speak Chinese" I believe this means that when you see the truth about Chinese people, it's going to be scary like going face to face with a pump shotgun, and you'll be speaking gibberish(like Chinese sounds like to most people, at least specifically to the audience Jin is singing to). This idea is reiterated with the lines "And the battle of the gun is gonna make you speak another language and amigo I ain't talking about Spanish". I see Jin as trying to break the model minority myth, to show that Asians can be dangerous, something to be feared. Jin seems to be saying, I might not be Bruce Lee but I'm still to be feared. "This ain't Bruce Lee, I watch too much TV. this is a game of death when I aim for your chest". I think the line "And the only po-po we know is the pigs on the hood out in the window" also has a double meaning. It first gives the imagery of a pig hanging outside a restaurant in Chinatown, however, pigs on the hood out in the window may be implicating a more violent scene of a policeman killed and splayed across the hood of a car. Either way, it seems with the line "the only po-po we know," seems to be saying that Asians have to look out for themselves, because they do not have law enforcement on their side. I bet that as a class we can probably do better than what I have done alone. I think it would be interesting to see what people think of some of my interpretations.

Jin Assignment - Mia

At the turn of the century (2000), Asian American hip hop artists began to use their Asian American identities in a new way -- to influence the way their audiences perceived race. Jin, arguably the most famous Asian American hip hop artist of the past decade, “strategically embraced them, drawing attention to his race in an attempt to minimize it.” (55)

At the beginning of “Learn Chinese,” Jin states “Yeah I’m Chinese…and what?” For Wang, this is both an affirmation and a challenge to his racial identity. By blatantly calling out his heritage to the public, Jin was “effectively daring potential critics to make an issue of it.” (56) Aware that “race played into the perception of him,” Jin sought to address the issue head on. (56) With the incorporation of pentatonic scale or “oriental riff” throughout “Learn Chinese,” Jin is further identifying his ethnicity and challenging critics to comment on his ethnicity.

In “Chinese Beats” however, Jin seeks to demonstrate something different. The producer continues to play tracks for Jin that have east Asian instruments as part of the beats including the zute family of sting instruments, specifically the pipa? This skit is a parody, as the producer cannot look past Jin’s ethnicity to provide him with a beat that does not include some kind of “oriental riff.” The two go through numerous tracks, as Jin states, “thats coo' u know but I need something different yo…” But song after song has an Asian sound that Jin seeks to distance himself from.

In this sense, we see too sides of Jin: one embracing his ethnicity and the other shying away from it. He knows that by using sounds that are associated with his East Asian heritage on EVERY one of his tracks, he will begin to hurt himself as he becomes more of a novelty and becomes less “universal.” Universal is something that Jin aims to achieve as he attempts to illustrate a commonality between himself and his audiences.

Wang goes on in the article to draw comparisons between Eminem and Jin in the hip hop world. Wang boasts “Jin and Eminem prodded listeners to confront the specter of race, forcing skeptics to confront their own biases.” (57) The two hip hop artists are able to make this very sensitive issue more identifiable. Jin asks his audience to find a commonality and “rather than broadcasting these issues just to an Asian American audience he sought to educate and entertain a broad, implicitly multiracial audience.” (59)

Assignment: Analyzing Jin

Analyze Jin’s tracks “Chinese Beats” and “Learn Chinese” on his album Rest is History. Both tracks are posted on Collab. Read the lyrics:

"Chinese Beats"
"Learn Chinese"

Listen to the rhythm closely. Your analysis should focus on Jin’s expression of his ethnicity. Discuss what Oliver Wang says about Jin and “Learn Chinese.” Comment on Wang’s interpretation: you can support or challenge his claims by offering your own interpretation of Jin’s tracks.

Post your analysis on the class blog by 7pm, Tuesday March 24. And make sure that you read your peers' posts and comment whenever appropriate.