In the quick and wicked hip hop documentary No Sleep Til Shanghi, we follow Asian American rap artist Jin on a whirlwind tour through Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and China, as he and his entourage deal with foreign promoters, translation, and life overseas.  

Jin is charismatic on and off the mic, his best moments battling on stage and in numerous interviews where he patiently answers over and over again what it feels like to be an "Asian American" hip hop artist.  He eventually breaks it down for one interviewer: "Wyclef is always proud he's Haitian, Fat Joe, always talkin' about being Puerto Rican.  Nobody ever says to them, 'stop saying Puerto Rican, stop saying Haitian.'  I do ONE song called 'Learn Chinese,' and everybody's like, 'we know you're Chinese, get that out of here.'"  Booya.  

Would have loved to hear Jin spout off on piracy (he keeps telling his fans to "BUY the CD") and more local artists like Japanese rapper Sphere of Influence, as well as hear more off the cuff flows by Jin and others.  But overall, it's still badass.  If you want to see the world wide love and diversity of hip hop, check out this doc.

-DJ Octoon