Choi Jin (; born 6 January 1983), more commonly known by the stage name Mithra Jin (), is a South Korean rapper and lyricist, best known as a member of the hip hop group Epik High.

Early life

Mithra Jin initially had no inclination towards the music or entertainment industry since his family could not afford additional enrichment courses due to the

financial crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with Bank run#Systemic banki ...

. He started listening to hip hop music in high school and was scouted at a performance by producer J-Win. Having enjoyed writing poetry since childhood, he was drawn to the art of writing lyrics and rapping after J-Win introduced him to

Rakim William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim (), is an American rapper. He is one half of Golden age hip-hop, golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, with whom he released four albums: ''Paid in Full ...

's music.

Career

Early career

Mithra Jin was part of hip hop crew from 2001 to 2002 with J-Win and Kyungbin. J-Win introduced him to

Tablo Daniel Armand Lee (; born July 22, 1980), better known by his stage name Tablo (), is a South Korean-Canadian rapper, songwriter and record producer based in South Korea. Tablo is best known as the leader and producer of South Korean hip-hop gr ...

and they began performing together alongside , the most prominent hip hop crew of that time and included the likes of Drunken Tiger and

CB Mass CB Mass () was a Korean hip hop group composed of members Curbin, Choiza, and Gaeko. They debuted in 2000 with the album ''Massmediah''. The group disbanded in 2003. History Choiza and Gaeko originally met in the sixth grade but before forming ...

. They met DJ Tukutz, a turntablist-DJ who occasionally played with CB Mass, and eventually formed Epik High. As hip hop was still a mostly underground genre, the trio each worked various part-time jobs to raise the necessary funds to produce an album but were defrauded.

Debut with Epik High

In 2003, Epik High signed with the newly-founded

Woollim Entertainment Woollim Entertainment () is a South Korean entertainment company founded in 2003 by Lee Jung-yeop. The label is home to artists such as Golden Child, Drippin, and Kwon Eun-bi. It has previously handled artists Epik High, Infinite, Lovelyz ...

and released their debut album '' Map of the Human Soul'', with J-Win and

members

Gaeko Kim Yoon-sung (; born January 14, 1981), known professionally as Gaeko () is a South Korean rapper. He and Choiza comprise the hip hop duo Dynamic Duo, which rose to fame upon the release of their debut album ''Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' ...

and Choiza serving as co-producers or composers on the majority of the tracks. In 2010 Mithra Jin was among the featured artists in "Ambassador Slang", one of the tracks from the debut solo album of Rakaa. He co-composed " She's Back", one of the promoted singles from the debut release of Woollim labelmates Infinite. While Epik High was officially on hiatus due to his and DJ Tukutz's enlistments, Tablo signed with

YG Entertainment YG Entertainment () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and conce ...

, sparking rumors of disbandment; it was clarified that Tablo had actually done so with the support of both members. Plans for Epik High's upcoming comeback had begun before Mithra Jin's discharge and they began recording days after he was officially discharged in May 2012. On 25 July 2012, YG Entertainment officially announced that Epik High be making a comeback after a three-year hiatus and that Mithra Jin and DJ Tukutz would be joining Tablo in signing exclusive contracts with the label. Their comeback album '' 99'' was released on 23 October 2012. In 2018, Epik High left YG Entertainment after their contract ended. The trio founded their own independent agency, Ours Co, and manage the group and individual activities themselves.

Personal life

On 3 August 2010, Mithra Jin enlisted for mandatory military service in

Chuncheon Chuncheon (; ; literally ''spring river''), formerly romanized as Ch'unch'ŏn, is the capital of Gangwon Province, South Korea. The city lies in the north of the country, located in a basin formed by the Soyang River and Han River (Korea), Han R ...

. After serving in various roles, his final posting was at the Defense Media Agency (DEMA). He was discharged by the

Ministry of National Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divide ...

Yongsan District Yongsan District (, ) is one of the 25 List of districts of Seoul, districts of Seoul, South Korea. It has a population of 231,685 (2020) and has a geographic area of , and is divided into 19 ''Dong (administrative division), dong'' (administrati ...

, Seoul on 14 May 2012. On 22 December 2014, Mithra Jin publicly revealed his relationship with actress Kwon Da-hyun when they attended the VIP screening of '' How to Steal a Dog'', which starred his bandmate Tablo's wife Kang Hye-jung. They married in a private wedding ceremony on 2 October 2015. They have a son (born June 2021).

References

External links

*
Mithra Jin's Cyworld homepage
{{Authority control Epik High 1983 births Living people South Korean hip-hop musicians South Korean hip-hop singers South Korean male rappers 21st-century male rappers South Korean record producers South Korean hip-hop record producers 21st-century South Korean rappers YG Entertainment artists