When MC Jin set out to craft his new album, he wanted to figure out a way to explain his story to loyal and new fans. So far, Jin says he’s achieved that. 

“It’s been an amazing experience so far working on the 14:59 album,” MC Jin says in an interview with HipHopDX. “The vision was to organically create the most authentic and sincere album capturing what these last 10-plus years of my career and personal journey has been like. It’s exciting to see that vision come to life. What’s encouraging is to see the excitement from supporters old and new.”

Jin’s been able to see and chart this excitement on his PledgeMusic page, where fans have made donations to get this album out. Today (August 1), Jin’s fans have reached 106 percent of the emcee’s original goal with 79 days until the album’s released. “At this rate, I might aim for the stars and hope to hit 200% by the release date on October 19,” he adds. 

AD

AD LOADING...

When Jin announced 14:59, the emcee explained the title and concept behind the project. “I wholeheartedly believe 14:59 is the album I was born to make,” Jin said at the time. “Every thing that I’ve experienced leading up to this moment has set the stage for this project…It may not be my final chance to leave my mark as an artist, but I am approaching it like it could be and that is the heart of this album.

“As the saying goes, ‘The higher you fly, the harder you fall,'” Jin added then. “Faced with the complex inner workings of the music industry and the unexpected pressures of being touted as ‘the first signed Asian American solo rapper,’ things started unraveling right before my eyes. With record sales not being astronomical as projected and expected, what was supposed to be my moment of glory ended up being more of a reality check. From parting ways with my label to losing battles left and right, it seemed like my ’15 minutes’ were indeed winding down.” 

Jin’s career has spanned far more than 15 minutes. The emcee’s released several projects over the years, including 2005’s The Emcee’s Properganda, 2006’s I Promise and 100 Grand Jin and 2007’s Cantonese-English effort, ABC.

AD

AD LOADING...

Fans can still add to the donations Jin has amassed via PledgeMusic. Fans can also download “Winning,” a song released to celebrate the 100 percent goal milestone, here

RELATED:MC Jin – “Busta Rhymes”