HHDX: As you should be. So, you’re new single/video is “Top 5 (Dead or Alive).” Who are your top 5 alive emcees? If there ain’t no best, what makes a great emcee in your eyes?

Jin: Well, a great emcee in my eyes is Number one: In order to truly be great I think you have to make an impact. When I say make an impact, it can vary in different ways. It can be like 50 Cent. No matter how you look at it, he made an impact. Pac made an impact. Lyrically, these guys are all on different levels, you know? Some people might be like “Yo! Lyrically, Nas is better than Pac.” This is all opinion. He might be right, he may be wrong but that doesn‘t take away from the impact that Pac made. I would say that the impact that Pac made on the Hip-Hop generation was deeper than the impact that Nas made.

One thing you have to do in order to be a great emcee is make an impact. That’s what I personally set out to do. When I do these battles, when I work on these songs, when I’m out...My whole agenda is to make an impact. So, forty years from now, when they‘re talking about hip-hop hopefully they’ll be like “Oh yeah, then there was that one dude. He was on “106 & Park” and he got signed with Ruff Ryders. Then he did that “Learn Chinese” joint with Wyclef and then he quit or something like that, right? Yeah, then he came out on some other shit...” Like that’s the shit I’m talking about when making an impact. “Oh yeah! Yo… remember when he dissed Hot 97 cause they did that Tsunami shit?” But that’s what I mean when making an impact. For other components, well...I’m an emcee myself. You know, I’m The Emcee you know? When they tell you what the four elements of Hip-Hop are, you got the B-Boys, you got the Graf Writers, the DJ and the Emcee. That’s me, the fourth dude.

So, as far as what I look for in selecting what emcees I respect and admire...I look for the real shit. you gotta have style, you gotta have flavor...You gotta be unique, you gotta have an identity of your own that is similar to no one. Even if you are kickin’ the same shit, like all of these dudes right now, the new generation of cats at least. Let’s say the New York dudes that are rappin. They be on they street shit hustlin’ and that’s cool if that’s the lifestyle they’re wearin’. But what sets Jay-Z (apart), who kicks the same topics same content, but Jay’s shit is just so unique. You hear a Jay-Z rhyme and right out the gate you know, “Fuck, that’s Jay!” Or Biggie...like “Damn, that’s Biggie.” Even in the new generation, like a Fabolous. He’ll kick the same thing as all these other dudes but you see his identity. I think that’s an important thing. So, on a more technical aspect, creativity is important. Since everyone’s rapping nowadays, the only ones that stand out are the ones who are creative. Continued on page 5 »