Background
Originally titled Almost Famous, the album was delayed for over a year. Originally slated for a Summer 2003 release it was pushed back to an October 2003 date. After plans did not materialize due to disputes with Virgin Records, the album's release date was pushed back once more to March 23, 2004. However, the release date got pushed back twice more, to August 24, 2004, until it finally arrived, with a completely new title, on October 19, 2004.
During the year-long delay, Jin released the two mixtapes called History in the Making and Definition of History. After the album was released Jin released the last in the History mixtape series Lost History.
A promotional track, Chinatown featuring fellow Chinese-American rapper L.S. was thought to be the first single. The first official single, "Learn Chinese", came out in late 2003. "Get Your Handz Off ", another promotional single (second overall) was released online and impacted radio on June 29, 2004. The second single for the album was slated to be "I Got A Love", but Roc-A-Fella Records blocked the decision, fearing too many singles would over-expose Kanye West.
Kanye West included an extra verse in "I Got a Love (Remix)", which was later used in his song "I Wonder" on his album, Graduation. Due to the decision of the executives at Roc-A-Fella,"Señorita" and "So Afraid" were the second and third singles respectively, both released on August 31, 2004.
- Chinatown was released on the first and only promo single. It was rumored to be the first single from the album. It features Jin's close friend and fellow Chinese American rapper, L.S.
Miscellaneous
- The tracks "A Little Hungry" and "Check the Clock" were omitted from the North American release.
- There is an alternate version of "Thank You", however, it did not make the final cut, but was used in his later mixtape I Quit.
- "C'Mon" contains a sample from Eminem's song, "Sing For The Moment", which in turn samples the Aerosmith song, Dream On.
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