Win some lose some, Jin Hackman has proven his mettle as an emcee in rap battles all the same. Far from being just a battle rapper though, he is also an experienced performer with emceeing skills that would get even the most sedentary crowd to get up out of their seats. Naturally he’s garnered quite the rep as a quick-witted, oft-funny, and skilled lyricist in the hip hop scene, yet it would be a mistake to assume he is just that – a hip hop emcee who is stuck performing at dingy hip hop gigs to a crowd of likeminded peers. Jin Hackman is just as much of a rising star as he is a rapper’s rapper.

With the release of his debut album Jinius at Work in early 2009, Jin Hackman has been heralded as “the next real thing to have hit Malaysia” by JUICE Magazine, going as far as to confer the LP with the auspicious title of Best Hip Hop Album of 2009. The praises don’t stop with the critics and fellow rappers, 8tv’s CEO Ahmad Izham Omar has called the album “amazing” and perhaps unsurprisingly Jin Hackman was nominated for the Flava Award at 8tv’s Shout! Awards. While he didn’t win, Jin Hackman gave a minimalistic performance that had given him mainstream exposure and a slew of new fans without any flag-waving, dancers and other gimmicks. He is not without any recognition though, Jin Hackman is the winner of KLue Blue Chilly Awards 2009, an award recognising young talents who have been carving a name for themselves in their respective fields.

Where other up-and-comers would rest on these laurels and hit a career impasse, Jin Hackman continues to work hard. Near the end of 2009 he releases Rap-Up 2009 online – a retrospective song about the year mentioning everything from personal accomplishment to societal observation – creating a lot of buzz in the process. Throughout the release of his first album to this day, he’s performed enough times to make him a completely fearless performer who rocks the stage anywhere from clubs, corporate shows, music festivals to college shows. Jin Hackman is unafraid to share the stage with a live band, beatboxers, laptop musicians, and turntablists as long as it enhances the performance.

Most recently, Jin Hackman can be seen in the Nike-sponsored all-star collaboration We Run It, where he is featured alongside renowned acts Joe Flizzow, Moots & JD Pop Shuvit, Andy & Rich Estranged, Izal One Buck Short, MizzNina, Arabyrd, and DJ Fuzz.

Jin Hackman is currently hard at work recording his sophomore album, vaguely titled WHTR?, which is tentatively set to drop by the end of 2010. The album promises to keep true to hip hop but unlike its predecessor, he is not opposed to collaborating with acts outside of the genre. Proving that hip hop doesn’t need to be dumb down or commercialised to succeed, lead single-cum-raw hip hop anthem Disz Joint manages to reach the coveted number 1 spot in Hitz FM’s MET 10 chart despite its lack of catchy RnB chorus.

With hard work, talent, and an uncompromising spirit to keep true to hip hop, Jin Hackman is primed to shake the hip hop scene anew. This cat breathes life into a stagnant art form without diminishing the hip hop sound for the sake of accessibility.

Jin Hackman is part of the collective known as Rogue Squadron, a crew consisting of the most unlikely of hip hop heads.