Jin Da M.C. hits the H.K. Convention Center!

Arriving at the Business of Design Week event, I thought I was at the wrong party. The music was a cerebral instrumental Jazz and the people were mostly wearing suits. I walked to the edge of the event and contemplated a speedy exit. I decided to make one last pass through the thick of the crowd before escaping. As luck would have it, I bumped into several friends and an hour later, caught Jin Da M.C. putting on an excellent show.

Jin was more of a mature performer than I had imagined. It’s extremely difficult to perform under the circumstances he did. Walking on stage, he started out by paying respect to the previous musicians who were still putting away their instruments. He then progressively turned up the tempo from what was otherwise a subdued event into a jovial party atmosphere.

At one point during his set he called two very ordinary middle-aged people up onto the stage and had them bopping to the beat while he rapped.

He joked with them in a friendly way. “Those glasses are Hip Hop, that suit is Hip Hop, that haircut is Hip Hop!” With his good natured approach, he had me and rest of the audience smiling! He also had a funny line about the name of the event, which reads more like a whole paragraph. What does this show? It illustrates that he is conscious of what’s around him and is constantly processing things – a talent most important in the world of freestyle Hip Hop from which he stems.

Over the course of the night I noticed that many of Jin’s rhymes were introspective, talking about different points in his career and his status as an Asian-American in Hip Hop. On stage he came across as genuine and humble. He rapped several songs in full Cantonese, including one about 1997. The audience was an interesting mix of people who responded well to the music.

The venue was the foyer of the grand hall of the convention center, with enormously high ceilings. With the lights low, and the sound not overpowering, Jin put on a memorable, intimate performance.

Jin posing with models after the show

Passing though Dragon-i on my way home, I caught Jin guest appearing alongside D.J. Shorty Blitz, a reigning U.K. Hip Hop d.j. playing in Hong Kong for the night. The two were previously acquainted and seemed pleasantly surprised to bump into each other in a foreign city.

Jin is performing two shows at Pi (28/F, 8 Wyndham Street, Central) on Friday night. The ticket price is $300 HKD and includes two drinks. You can reserve tickets for the event by calling: 9471-1035. The tickets are limited to 200 people per show!