No Sleep til Shanghai | |
Director: | Todd Angkasuwan |
Starring: | Jin Au-Yeung |
Producer: | Carl Choi Todd Angkasuwan |
Distributor: | Raptivism/Imperial/Caroline/EMI |
Runtime: | 70 minutes |
Language: | English, Cantonese, Mandarin |
No Sleep til Shanghai is a 2007 biographical documentary film that focuses on the life and musical career of Jin Au-Yeung, an Asian-American rapper in the music industry who goes by the moniker 'Jin'. The film is directed by Todd Angkasuwan, the documentary follows into Jin's journey as he navigates and overcomes racial barriers in the rap industry. Jin Au-Yeung gained fame in the early 2000s and is notable for being one of the first Asian-American rappers to achieve mainstream success in the United States. The film covers various aspects of his personal and professional life, highlighting his challenges and accomplishments in a competitive and evolving music industry.
The film follows Jin and his crew as they tour Asia to promote Jin's debut album; The Rest is History. At the start, Jin gained popularity due to notoriety in winning the weekly Freestyle Friday rap battle on BET's 106 and Park for seven consecutive weeks. The film documents how Jin became the first Asian-American rapper to sign a recording deal with a major label when he signed with Virgin Records (Ruff Ryders). The film attempts to showcase the life of a rapper and the growing hip-hop communities in Asian cities such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo.