One of the leading exponents of South Korean underground hip-hop during the 2000s, rapper Kim Jin-tae (December 19, 1980), aka Verbal Jint, is credited with introducing rhyme schemes into Korean rap. Born and raised in Seoul, he took his first steps in music as a member of the hip-hop collective Show N Prove and went solo in 2001 with the seminal EP Modern Rhymes. In 2007, Verbal Jint dropped the EP Favorite and released his official studio debut, Mumeong to great critical success. His big breakthrough arrived in 2009 when his album Framed (2008) won Best Hip Hop Album at the Korean Music Awards. Verbal Jint’s hot streak continued in 2011 when he reached Number 8 on the Gaon Albums Chart with the full-length Go Easy. Preceded by the Top 10 singles “Good Morning” and “Pretty Enough,” a fifth LP titled 10 Years of Misinterpretation saw the light in 2012 and peaked at Number 11 in South Korea. 2014 found Verbal Jint embarking on his first world tour and playing shows in New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Sydney. After participating as a judge on the rap reality show Show Me the Money, Verbal Jint collaborated with Phantom’s Sanchez on the joint EP Yeoja (2015) and issued the album GO HARD Pt. 1: The OTHER SIDE just a few months later. In the following years, the rapper released the acapella albums 17 Acapellas (2017) and 20 Acapellas (2020) before officially returning to the spotlight with the full-length Point of Inflection in 2021.
