JMIN Just Wants to Have Fun

Welcome to Golden Dragon, a newsletter by Eric Diep about Asians in hip-hop and my takes on trending topics in AAPI pop culture. Golden Dragon is a rotation of interviews, reviews, news, critical perspectives, and random blogs about music I recommend.

• My first Golden Dragon interview with JMIN! The Korean American rapper talks about his February album Sorry I’m Late, why he signed with Jay Park, meeting Sik-K, and his intentions to drop more music this summer

JMIN was the perfect choice for my first Golden Dragon interview. This year, the Korean American rapper was named one of the torchbearers for the future of Korean hip-hop by Lifted Asia alongside 1300, Lee Young Ji, Huh, and Luci Gang. I dug into his music some more, impressed by his melodic style and flex raps on CAMO’s “Life Is Wet” and KISSTA’s “Last Weekend.” His sound has shifted to R&B and pop, developing his hip-hop into silky tracks that could be played in arenas. JMIN is what H1GHR MUSIC¹ embodies as a Korean American rapper who makes songs in English, but has a dedicated fan base in South Korea that has been clamoring for more drops since his return to music.

Calling from Seoul over Zoom in April, I learned that JMIN moved to South Korea in 2024 after making multiple trips back and forth from the States in 2020. He was born in Savannah, Georgia, lived in Jacksonville, Florida for most of his life, and then moved to Los Angeles where he began his rapping career and made inroads in the music community. In his short time rapping professionally, JMIN has collaborated with his mentor Jay Park on “Dedication” and recently released his new album Sorry I’m Late which contains songs chronicling the journey from a serious relationship to an emotional break-up to single man phase running it up on his swipe-life shit.

JMIN talks a lot about being grateful to be in the position he’s in today. I want to return the sentiment and thank him for speaking with me for Golden Dragon, an exciting step forward as I continue listening to and uncovering rap music from rising AAPI artists. Stream Sorry I’m Late here and read our conversation below.