Tha Kin — New Jersey Underground Hip Hop Group

Tha Kin is an underground hip hop group from New Jersey whose history reaches back to the mid-1990s and the original formation of The Kindred. Following the breakup of The Kindred's original lineup, Kid Sin (A.F. Sin) rebuilt the group in 1998, bringing in Vic Shadez and beginning a new chapter that would ultimately become Tha Kin.

In 1999, Kid Sin and Vic Shadez connected with Hoboken, New Jersey native Big Tone, finally gaining access to a place where they could consistently record music. Working out of a makeshift recording setup in the Hoboken Projects, the environment was far from a professional studio, but it gave Sin and Shadez something they had been missing—the opportunity to write, record, experiment, and create underground hip hop music on a daily basis.

Those early recording sessions helped establish the raw sound and chemistry that would define Tha Kin. Rooted in the tradition of New Jersey and East Coast hip hop, the group's music developed around lyricism, distinctive flows, gritty production, and the independent mentality associated with the underground rap scene.

Only a few weeks into those sessions, another young New Jersey MC named J-Pleezz began regularly showing up at the studio and jumping on tracks. Kid Sin and Vic Shadez quickly recognized his potential and the chemistry he brought to their music. After becoming a regular part of the recording sessions, J-Pleezz officially joined Tha Kin in 2001, completing the trio of Kid Sin, Vic Shadez, and J-Pleezz.

Over the next several years, Tha Kin built an extensive catalog of independent hip hop. The three MCs recorded consistently, developing their individual styles while creating the chemistry that comes from years of working together. Like many underground artists of the era, however, the group had limited resources for professional promotion and distribution. Despite producing a large amount of original music, much of Tha Kin's early material remained largely unheard outside their immediate New Jersey and New York underground hip hop circles.

A major turning point came in 2004, when the group received financial backing and helped establish a recording studio in Union City, New Jersey. Having their own recording environment gave Tha Kin and the artists around them greater opportunities to create, collaborate, and expand their musical catalog.

The Union City studio also brought Tha Kin together with the New Jersey hip hop duo Con-Science, consisting of Soulution and Sosick. That relationship became part of a much larger musical movement and helped lay the foundation for what would eventually become GO-ILLA Productions, a Hudson County-based collective of rappers, producers, DJs, graphic designers, and other independent artists.

Through Tha Kin and GO-ILLA Productions, Kid Sin, Vic Shadez, and J-Pleezz became part of a growing independent hip hop network rooted in Hudson County, Hoboken, Union City, and the greater New Jersey/New York City hip hop scene. Their music reflected the influence of 90s East Coast hip hop, underground rap, battle-oriented lyricism, boom bap, and independent hip hop culture, while maintaining the individual personalities and styles of all three MCs.

In 2009, Tha Kin released Eleven, an album named to commemorate the group's 11th year together since its 1998 reformation. The project represented more than a decade of writing, recording, performing, collaborating, and building music together—from the early Hoboken recording sessions to the Union City studio and the formation of GO-ILLA Productions.

Although the members eventually moved on to pursue their own individual music and creative projects, Tha Kin never completely disappeared. Kid Sin, Vic Shadez, and J-Pleezz have remained connected, preserving a musical relationship that stretches back more than two decades.

Today, the legacy of Tha Kin remains part of the history of independent New Jersey underground hip hop. From recording in a gritty setup in the Hoboken Projects to building a studio in Union City and helping establish the GO-ILLA Productions collective, Tha Kin's story represents the independent spirit of artists who created music because they loved hip hop—even when there was no industry machine behind them.

With decades of unreleased and released material behind them, Tha Kin continues to represent Jersey hip hop, underground lyricism, and the independent East Coast sound, with the possibility of new music keeping the group's story alive.