Ultimate flow

Listening to the Clipse's "Play Your Part." Jeepers creepers are they ever good. (Release the Clipse!) Nearing the end of my writing retreat. Made HUGE progress on the manuscript, got a tan, read a couple of books, got back into my gym routine. Went for walks in the woods. Like that.

Nobody that knows me will be surprised to hear that I am headed down south next. I need to eat bagels from Zabars and dance my ass off at APT in the middle of the night and shop and go to parties and have brunch with friends.

New columns at XXL:

Jesus raps

Method Man on an anti-press junket

Freak in the street and a lady in the bed

Wait, it gets better

Can I kick it? It's hot, hot, hot up here in the mountains. Tanks tops and flip-flops and cold bottles of coke. Sun tanning on the summit. Swimming soon.

I am still writing my book, still incommunicado, still pining for the Big Apple. But now I am going to the gym every day too. Going hard on the treadmill. (I must be getting bored. And yes, there is a gym two seconds away from my idyllic hide-out in the woods. You can't beat that with a bat.)

Another column for the peanut gallery.

I curse each and every one of you that caught Hov's show last night. I don't want to hear about it.

Getting my Shakira on to The Clipse. To the window, to the wall.

This may be what they mean by cabin fever.

Dear summer

Two reasons I wish I was in New York this weekend: Brooklyn and Brooklyn's finest.

Wednesday sunset

I found this podcost from the Buh Bomp Crew over at So Many Shrimp last month and I simply cannot stop playing it. It's such a great mix.

In other news, I am still sequestered away writing. Missing New york now. And I have a new XXL column out: Hate it or love it?

Monday morn

Listening to the West Coast remix of Cham's "Ridin Dirty" and Saigon's new track "Don't Do That."

Check out my friend Charlie's hilarious op-ed on question periods at public lectures. It's ridiculously on point.

I'm pretty happy this morn. The sun is shining up here in the mountains and the air is fresh. Making HUGE progress on my book. Getting a kick out of doing the XXL column (here's the latest).

New XXL column

Still up here in the mountains writing. Wish I had some stories for you all, but it's pretty mellow up here and there's not much to report. New column, though.

If you are in Van City, check this out...

So Simple

Chilling in a cabin in the mountains in Canada, where I'm trying to make some major progress on my book. It's coming. Like anything else, it's up and down. Somedays it's magic and everything flows, and other days I feel like the words are being dragged out of me.

The cabin is surrounded by woods and sometimes deer come by and hang out just outside my window. It's been raining a lot and I've been listening to Alicia Keys and drinking tea and writing. It's very serene, which is the opposite of what my life has been like for the last little while. For once, I don't even feel restless.

On the hip-hop tip, here's the latest Northern Touch.

And...check out my fetaure on Saigon in POUND Magazine.

This and that

A couple more columns to check out at XXL:

Mind playing tricks

The week in review

Drunk in Jerusalem

And while I am throwing out links, here's some newsworthy tidbits:

Hip-Hop takes the blame one more time

Hip-Hop takes it to church

Hip-Hop may take over military radio

Lazy Sunday

To all those who keep checking Global Beat despite the fact that I keep neglecting to update it: thank you. I'm going to get more regular again, promise. There's just a lot going on right now. And not stuff that's blog-worthy.

Today is: grey skies, rain, coffee, writing, Dido, Tupac, and Sade. Last night was: Mexican dinner party with 6 friends and 2 dogs. Yesterday was: long walks and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club on repeat.

Another column over at XXL:

Internet Thugs Ruffle Rappers' Feathers

More new columns

On protest music and the growing generation gap in hip-hop.

New column...

on hip-hop Moms.

You know my steez

Sunday morn in Van City and it's bright and sunny and I'm listening to Coldplay. That band makes me feel blue, but in a good way. I am going to bake some banana bread and put on some Ne-Yo. It's that kind of weekend. Yesterday me and my girl Dukes spent the afternoon in the kitchen, baking a couple of cheesecakes for her man's birthday. Last night, twenty of us went to celebrate at a local Italian restaurant. Course after course arrived on heaping plates. Bocconcini salad and marinated eggplant and artichoke hearts and prosciutto with melon. Homemade penne in a simple tomato sauce. Crisp salad with olive oil and tart balsamic vinegar. A few kinds of meat in a rich sauce. The clatter of plates mingled with loud bursts of conversation.

There was an in-house singer that sounded a bit like Roy Orbison and looked a bit like Tony Soprano. (Sorry to my Italian peeps for a lazy and possibly offensive comparison--it's all I could come up with right now). I was surprised by how utterly enjoyable his set was. I found myself, along with all my friends, belting out all the songs. You would have to know me to know how totally unusual that is for me. (First, I have an awful singing voice. Second, I tend to be a little on the reserved side. OK, a lot.) But it just felt so good to sing and eat and laugh. Sometimes that's all you need in life: friends, food, and music. Books too, of course, but not at a dinner party.

The week in review

Back from my mini hiatus from the blogosphere. You can check out my latest XXL post here, on Paris Hilton, shock jocks, Meth's new joint and various other tidbits.

Be easy

Saturday afternoon and I'm chilling when I should be doing, um, at least 101 other things. I wanna hear Saigon and Tru-Life's "Yep, Yep" right now but I don't have the Drama mixtape and Hip-Hop Game took down the damn audio. (Boooo.) So I'ma settle for some Ghostface.

I'm pretty much on top of the world this weekend (and in general right now). Having lots of fun these days. Writing loads. Listening to music. Getting out my cute spring clothes. Thinking about what color I want to paint my toes. (It finally stopped raining. Was at the coffee shop the other day and the staff had colored a little sign for the tip jar. It was a girl in gum boots and a bikini and the banner read "Ready for flip-flops." Cosign. Something so sexy about the spring. Everyone loosens up and looks all fly and walks around with an easy smile.)

Been kicking it a lot with my girlfriends. My girl Ayesha made me amazing Thai food one last time before she heads back to Pakistan for a month. My girl Chrissie is in town right now. She lives in China, doing interior design for a big multinational, but she's back for a week. I made dinner last night and we talked up a storm. I told her all the stories. You know how it goes. Today we went with the rest of our girls for dim sum. Jac is back from London, which makes me very happy. My friend J is preggers. I'm gonna be an auntie!

There's been a lot of stuff going on in my life lately, which I won't get into here. Good and bad. But, anyway, suffice to say it's time for a big change--which is scary and thrilling and then scary again. Best Friend and I had a big talk this week and as usual she said just what I needed to hear. BF knows me so well. We are years deep.

Going out to a little Ne-Yo.

New XXL Column

Women don't like music nerds.

More on hipsters

Here's my XXL post on hipsters and the disappearing generation gap.

Press Clips

It is so damn beautiful in Van City right now. As in flip-flops and baby tees.

A couple things to report. Some new XXL columns:

The Queen of Joburg

Be Healthy

Trinity International Hip-Hop Fest

It's Beef Week over at DOSE. Check this quote from Xzibit on beef:

"I'm a father, a grown-ass man. If I have a problem with someone, I'm going to go up and talk to him. The best way to handle it is individually. Don't belittle the consumer. They don't want to have their time wasted by my personal vendettas."

Laina Dawes on gun violence.

Glum girl

Not to be Ms. Poopypants or anything (an irate letter-writer called me that once and I've always thought the name was hilarious), but I am having an awful week. First, I got a bad cold. Then I broke a tooth (I don't have time to tell you how). And then my computer crashed. If you have emailed me or messaged me and I haven't gotten back to you, sorry. I will eventually. My tooth is fixed now and my computer was supposed to be, but now the stupid thing is acting up again.

But enough of my kvetching, some people are dealing with real problems. Rest in peace Proof. My condolences to his fam and friends, Em and D12.

Monday

I'm back, baby. Went on a writing retreat last week to beautiful Bowen Island. Three whole days away from cell phone and email and internet and MySpace (which I have quickly become addicted to). I went for long walks in the woods, ate lovely food, and worked for hours on my global hip-hop book. I'm happy with how it's coming.

I've gone through so many formats now. First it was going to be straight journalism, but the writing turned out a little dry and plus, there's something arrogant about hitting a city for a few weeks and acting like you know something about their scene. At best, you can really only get impressions. You can't hope to know the scene inside out.

So then I was going to do the book as an edited compilation of hip-hop writers around the world writing about their own scenes. I still may do this in the future, but not as my debut book.

Now I am basically writing a memoir of my travels, which feels right. All the words are tumbling out of me. Finally.

A couple of new XXL columns to check out:

K'naan wins a Juno

Male groupies: the real reason rappers need security

MySpace

I just joined MySpace after a good six months of being harassed by everyone I know. Anyway, I'm already a little addicted to it. Do drop by and say hello. I only have 7 friends right now.

Another new XXL column

On a woman's place in hip-hop. Check it out.

Also, just now read about the situation with that evil Lacrosse Team in North Carolina and I'm feeling deeply disturbed about it. Kind of at a loss for words. And anyway, Humanity Critic has already said it so well.

This and That

Chilling, drinking coffee, and listening to the Busta Rhymes/Kelis track (which is highly addictive). Been spending far too much time on the Internet lately and I really, really need to get out and have some fun. Last night I broke out with Jacquie and we went for sushi (mango and prawn rolls!) and dessert (chocolate cake with marshmallow icing!) and then went to see our friend Charlie's stand-up comedy set. Hilarious. There were half a dozen comics doing their thing and it felt so good to be out late, in a room full of people, laughing so hard my stomach hurt.

One of my fav moments was a broke comic talking about the humiliation of moving back in with his parents. He referred to himself as a "stay at home son" and talked about his denial about living with his folks. "My friends come over and I'm like, 'yeah, my roommates aren't here right now,'" he said. "'Anyway, let me give you a tour. Here's my china hutch, and here's a bunch of framed photos. Here's one of my roommate breast-feeding me." LOL. He went on to talk about how he had recently paid for a banana in a super market with a credit card. The checkout girl was like, "Come on. Tell me you don't have 23 cents?" And he pretended he was indignant, all, "Of course I have 23 cents. I just, um, want the airmiles."

Anyway, tonight me and a bunch of my girls are off to Maestro's birthday party, so it should be good times (see flyer a couple posts below). If you are in Van City, drop by and say hello.

P.S. Thanks to all my friends in Africa for all the email love!

New XXL column

On African Hip-Hop.

The Sound of the...

Have to be quick. New XXL column on Friday that I forgot to post. Also, my feature on chick lit came out in last Friday's DOSE (scroll to page 12/13).

The reason I can't write right now is cause I'm too upset. Van City hip-hop pioneer Sol Guy is currently on tour with K'naan and Damian Marley, and he was beaten by rent-a-cops and arrested by real ones in Sweden. He was never charged and was released from jail after they wasted a good eight hours of his time. You can see all the footage on K'naan's site (Gothenburg 1 & 2). Some truly awful racist bullshit.

It's fucked up to see someone you admire and respect--a leader in the community, an amazing husband and father, a savvy businessman, a friend--treated so brutally. I've traveled with Sol and I know the way he moves, how he does business, and I know he didn't do shit to provoke that attack.

I'm fully aware that this shit happens all the time, all over the world, to all kinds of good people just like Sol, but still. I'm shaking I'm so mad.

Press clips

Toronto Artscape has put out a very thorough article on the subject of global hip-hop and activism in the recent issue of their journal. The story includes an interview with yours truly. If you want to read me "gushing" about African hip-hop, click here.

Why the South is on top

One word: beef.

Check out my latest XXL column on the subject.

Bubba Sparxxx controversy

My take on Ms. New Booty.

Maestro Fresh Wes party in Van City

For all the heads in my hometown, come on out to this party. It's gonna be crazy. (What up 'Stro!) Partial proceeds go to the African Aids Angels Society.

Out of the frying pan...

and into the fire.

Shout out to The Georgia Straight for the article on my new XXL column.

Allow me to (re)introduce myself

Yeah, so as some of you already know, I've got news here on Global Beat. Haven't even had time to get to it, with deadlines and whatnot. And by whatnot, I mean loads of congratulatory emails from around the globe. Thanks for the love! To the few haters in the mix: your hate is just fuel for my fire. :)

I'll be blogging for XXL from now on, along with Elliott Wilson, Byron Crawford, Sickamore, DJ Drama, kris ex, and a gossip blogger that goes by the name of Isabella. My column is called Northern Touch, an homage to Canadian hip-hop pioneers The Rascalz (what up Red!). The first post is about my hometown. Check it out.

Don't know how often I'll be updating this here blog, given the fact that I will now be juggling 2 blogs with writing my book, plus all my various freelance assignments. But we'll play it by ear.

EDIT: Clyde at ProHipHop had some concerns about the timing of my new column at XXL re: my blog post on the site's re-launch last week and my recent DOSE article on the music blogging phenomenon. Myself and my XXL editor Brendan cleared it up for him. The gist of it is that the DOSE story was written and filed months ago (we closed the story post-edits last week and it was run on Friday) and the blog post was up the day before I was invited to be a columnist for XXL.

Press Clips

Check out my feature on music blogs in today's DOSE newspaper.

Quotes from Brian Hiatt (RollingStone), Elliott Wilson (XXL), and Manny Groneveldt (MuchMusic).

Featuring bloggers Byron Crawford (hip-hop), Simon Reynolds (electronic), and Scott Lapatine (indie rock).