Jin, the Asian battle rapper best known for showcasing his skills on BET's 106 & Park, has returned from a brief retirement after a name change and a split with Ruff Ryders.

Jin, who only months ago declared his retirement from rap, has dropped his Asian given name to be known simply as, The Emcee. He will release his next record under the new moniker on his freshly formed independent label, CraftyPlugz.

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"The whole dropping [of] the name, it's not even about the name, [it's] more about a new identity," The Emcee explains. "I'm speaking about me, I'm an emcee at the end of the day. So that's where 'The Emcee' comes in."

The artist formerly known as Jin also commented on his relationship with the Ruff Ryders camp.

"Contractually, I still am [bound to them]...That's the funny thing about the record industry. You can be signed to a label, and they not give a damn about you. I'm a grown man. I'm not only doing this for fun, I do this for a living...This is what I do to survive...I can't sit around waiting for a label to come to its senses and say, 'Oh, we believe in you now.'"

In a recent interview on Rude Jude and Lord Sear's "All Out Radio Show" on Shade 45, The Emcee had more positive words for his situation with the Ruff Ryders. "Yo there's no hard feelings, its not like we ended on bad terms, nobody got dropped, it was just reality man."

In other related news, Jin lost a recent Fight Klub emcee battle to unknown rapper Serious Jones. Many felt Jones won by using unfair racial jokes, but Jin say he was just having an "off day." The Emcee, who was the former Fight Klub champion, would have won $10,000 at the August 22nd battle.

Fans can peep tracks from The Emcee's upcoming album, his complete Shade 45 interview and freestlye, and the video for his latest single "Top 5" (featuring the legendary Kool Herc) on theemcee.com/. Jin presents: The Emcee's Properganda hits stores October 25th.



wat ya think?????????

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