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 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. 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 and released their debut album
Map of the Human Soul, with J-Win and
CB Mass members
Gaeko 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, 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. The trio founded their own independent agency, Ours Co, and manage the group and individual activities themselves. ==Personal life==