Road to Love

Pledge To Vote | 18 Million Rising. Activating Asian America

Jason Chu + Presidential RACE (The Other Color)

Jason Chu + COLORBLIND (Response To La Jolla Playhouse Racism)

Nice.

Christy NaMee Eriksen: Hope You Didn't Miss The Show

Just in case you missed it, I wanted to make sure and post up that if you ever get a chance to see Christy NaMee Eriksen in person - definitely don't miss the chance to see her - because she killed it tonight - and this is coming from a person who's not a part of the die hard spoken word audience.

And yeah - don't we all love those K-Dramas?

Ruby Ibarra - Ching Chong Asian

Lyrics/vocals: R. Ibarra

A spoken word piece about coming into terms with one's Asian American identity

The Giles Li Decade Wrap-Up

In case you've happened to miss it (and it's understandable if you're like me because I'm just happy to know what day of the week it is) definitely check out the Giles Li blog "long live giles li" for his series of decade long recaps including the following lists:

• Decade Wrap-Up: Top Twelve Spoken Word Pieces of the 00s
• Decade Wrap-Up: Top Ten Live Shows of the 00s
• Decade Wrap-Up: Top Seven Commercials of the Decade
• Decade Wrap-up: Top Ten Albums of the 00s
• Decade Wrap-up: Top Ten Movies of the 00s

Nice.

2009 APIA Spoken Word & Poetry Summit

You can follow all of the info via apisummit.com as well as down at their Facebook page (do a search for APIA Spoken Word & Poetry Summit).

Stanford's AASA, Asian Images, Alvin Lau, And Magnetic North This Sunday

For all my folks down at Stanford, close by, or who just want to make the trip - you'll definitely want to make sure to keep your calendar open on Sunday because the Asian American Student Union will be hosting a cool event called "Asian Images" with performances and a panel discussion with spoken word artist Alvin Lau and musicians Magnetic North.

The event will be on this Sunday, May 10th at 8pm in the Oak West Room, on the second floor of Tresidder Union on Stanford University campus. The address is 459 LAGUNITA DR, STANFORD, CA 94305. There is free parking in the large lot in front of the complex. The event is completely free of charge and open to everyone. For more information or directions, please feel free to contact Nguyen Pham (ntpham [at] [stanford.edu) or Kelly Nguyen (knguyen3 [at] stanford.edu).

Here's a link to the Facebook group event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103739125238&ref=nf and here's the description from the group:

INTERESTED IN HIP HOP?
SPOKEN WORD?

FANS OF ALVIN LAU?
MAGNETIC NORTH?

WANT TO LISTEN TO AMAZING PERFORMANCES?

WANT TO BE INSPIRED BY STEREOTYPE-DEFYING API ARTISTS?

THEN COME TO ASIAN IMAGES AND MEET PEOPLE WHO PURSUED THEIR PASSION IN THE MEDIA AND SUCCEEDED.

__________________________________________________
Asian Images is an event that showcases alternative careers in the media as well as the different types of media available. This year, we are focusing on spoken word and hip-hop by inviting Alvin Lau and Magnetic North to perform their works and discuss their experience in their particular industry. Come listen to their pieces and personally ask them any questions you like. This is a chance to really get to know them outside of a performance setting.

FREE EVENT AND FREE MOCHI ICE CREAM!

Cool.

Magnetic North, WAM, Equilibrium, And Changing Identity: Recent Works by Women Artists from Vietnam

I talked about Changing Identity in a previous post and in conjunction with the exhibition they'll be putting on a special rendition of Equilibrium (the spoken word series directed by writer/poet/artist Bao Phi from the Loft Literary Center) which is going to feature Vietnamese American artists including Jennii Le, Sahra Nguyen, and Magnetic North.

When: Friday, April 10, 8:00 p.m.; galleries open at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Weisman Art Museum
Cost: $5/$3 students, WAM and Loft members; tickets available at the door

Spoken Word Meets Hip Hop Meets Vietnamese Cool.

Nice.

Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai

For any fans out there, check out the latest BPR Shuffled!:

Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai is a Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based Chinese Taiwanese American spoken word artist who fights for cultural pride and survival through how she spits and how she lives. Touring extensively worldwide, she has featured at over 300 shows across the continental United States, Hawai’i, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Kenya, and the Netherlands.

Kelly has rocked stages at venues like the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, the House of Blues, the Apollo Theater in Harlem, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and three seasons of “Russell Simmons Presents HBO Def Poetry.”

Read it in full and see what's on Kelly's playlist.

Artist: Katana And Kaotica

I got sent some info on artist Katana who's released her album Kaotica, and from the songs I previewed both on her site (which you can download) as well as her MySpace page - she's definitely worth checking out especially if you're into spoken word and vibin' on the political and personal of being an Asian woman. Standout tracks - "Mama San", "Geisha Girl", "Woman's Worth", and "Night Bird"

Here's some more info on Katana:

Katana is a spoken word artist who was a ghost writer and backup dancer for various mainstream artists. She has now decided to strike out on her own by creating, producing, and writing her own album which is now available on ITunes. Katana has opened for Damian Marley, Mario Africa, Yellow Rage and Public Enemy. Lee Cataluna of the Honolulu Advertiser has said of Katana that "She speaks of broken promises, dead ends and betrayal; but within her words are the seeds of hope and the search for simple dignity."

For more check out the following links: www.katanamusic.com, www.myspace.com/keatika, www.imeem.com/kaotica, www.last.fm/music/poetic+katana.

Yellow Rage - Chinatown - August 1st

Just wanted to make sure to post that if you're down in Chinatown in NY on August 1st that you can check out the spoken word duo Yellow Rage (click on the pic for a larger version).

Good Asian Drivers

A while back I posted on the Kit Yan (who along with Melissa Li make the duo Good Asian Drivers) and I wanted to make sure to let people know that their CD's are out, and although I haven't checked out all the songs and spoken word - what they have available at their MySpace pages is pretty cool - so make sure to check them out and pick up a CD if you like their stuff.

Snippets I like: Badass, Mr Mighty, Strap On.

For more on the Good Asian Drivers check out http://www.myspace.com/goodasiandriverstour which has some selections from Melissa Li's CD as well as Kit's CD.

For individual sites, there are more selections at http://www.myspace.com/kityanpoetry and http://www.myspace.com/melissalimusic.

Events: Beau Sia in August

From the iambeausia myspace page:

08/02/2007 07:30 PM - the bowery poetry club, new york

I’ll be performing for 40 minutes for urban word, then i’ll be doing a question and answer. which will be moderated by queen godis.

08/04/2007 08:00 PM - the brentwood theatre, los angeles

hosted by rob zabrecky. here’s the list of other performers: jeffrey mcdaniel, derrick brown, buddy wakefield, amber tamblyn, mindy nettifie, bucky sinister

tickets at: poetrytickets.com it seems like this will sell out.