On the month eve of releasing yet another PE album, August 7th by the way, I'm back to writing full blast. In 2004 I set out to reissue a flurry of new and classic recordings through CD, DVD, and digital download. Along with Paris' brilliant Rebirth Of A Nation, NEW WHIRL ODOR, and BEATS AND PLACES were fantastic efforts in establishing a great recording tempo alongside our touring frenzy. I would've enjoyed more cooperation from UNIVERSAL regarding our classic masters after the POWER TO THE PEOPLE AND THE BEATS greatest hits, especially in the DVD area, but their legal tape is of the same toxic paralysis that has the labels choking on their own blood. They just cannot move their dinosauric asses to the technology tempo of right here, right now. There is a market for the PE videos and some LIVE pre 1998 stuff on DVD like reissuing our previous home videos 1989 FIGHT THE POWER LIVE, 1990 TOUR OF A BLACK PLANET and 1992 ENEMY STRIKES LIVE @ The Apollo. It is no wonder these people are on a shrinking raft, they're simply stupid.

And so the updates read like this: 58 tours, 55 countries and 1500 performances. ROCK THE BELLS festival is within two weeks and our goal is to set precedent with power, purpose, and precision speed. As if we're proving ourselves like SLY at WOODSTOCK. Coincidentally we were first asked to do WOODSTOCK 25 in 1994 but both Terminator and Flavor were injured from respective motorbike accidents. In 1999 WOODSTOCK 30 we weren't invited at all, as we were becoming public enemy number 1 to the then music industry. We have also never gone to SOUTH AFRICA also because of various reasons, I've always been ready. Twenty years and on these ROCK THE BELLS concerts, I have something to prove. As grateful as we are I feel that hype is not enough to justify legitimate residual. Often I heard that we've been omitted from much of the advertising. I personally think that RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE is justified, and CYPRESS HILL truly underrated. Everyone else has their thing, I love it. Bring it on, this is gonna be like an all star sport event. I expect EPMD to be a sleeper in their set, again underrated and after twenty years ... still overlooked.

CULTURE SHOCK
Now here we are, I appreciate PHAROH MONCH for his cover of Welcome To The TERRORDOME, and thanked him. He said in an interview that while many heads dig it, a lot of them never knew an original existed. So this is our cultural global warming taking place. The greed of the industry has gutted out the culture. I hear this MOTOWNish record called 'Rehab' by AMY WHINEHOUSE on urban radio and wonder if a black artist would or ever could be allowed to make such a record. Still as Hank Shocklee says, the black artist-producer-exec decisions are so far behind or non existent that the notion of black music has very little to do with its origin. BET
The nation caught the edge of the millennium PE show at the awards on JUNE 26. I must say I do enjoy these occasions to witness who, what , where... about today's music industry. Myself, POP DIESEL and JAMES BOMB definitely enjoyed DESTINY CHILD rehearsing their performance. BEYONCE is a hard worker, as she kept challenging the stage crew to make the electronic risers pop up 'toaster speed'. She handled it well mind you.....in sweats. During the show which I didn't see at all, I was backstage talking to many journalists and BET staff. Saw QUEEN LATIFAH, KELLY ROWLAND, DOUG E FRESH and much of the security staff, who all reported that the business had changed. During our JB TRIBB rehearsing was fun with the horn section as they felt our real folk vibe and not the pretentiousness of the status quo. It's from the book of treat like you wanna be treated. Mr BOOTS, BOOTSY COLLINS, fit in like glue between us and the licks he invented with the godfather. Kudos to PROFESSOR GRIFF and HARDGROOVE for arranging a flawless medley. Thus in effort to make things better as well as giving us USA current credibility, I dropped my bashing of BET and look to work with the network in some positive capacity. In fact I gave BET head STEVEN HILL credit for coming up with the idea of the JB-PE medley. REGGIE HUDLIN orchestrated the BET TOWN HALL, RAP VERSUS AMERICA the following day. Many were still in town, politician, artist, and music exec-management. Discussions were figuring it out. MATHEW KNOWLES... is funny. A nice guy and a cool cat. I brought my two daughters along for BET. He was pleased and asked me how old they were. I responded 19 and 14. He looked at me and said 'shotgun time, eh?' I looked back at him with a look like 'well wouldn't you know?!'

SOUL N FUNK DOCUMENTARY
I'm a collector of docs and thanks to YOUTUBE, I peeped this incredible BBC documentary of SOUL and Funk...gotta get it. And isn’t YOU TUBE the greatest ?

AHMET ERTEGAN - LYOR?
The AHMET ERTEGAN documentary was as cool as advertised. I couldn't believe LYOR COHEN really knew anything about him, as this was the same cat who didn't know whose who and thus rejected my tribute song of WE'RE A WINNER for MR. CURTIS MAYFIELD? Now not only is LYOR some authority on the necessary concerns of cultural history but now as Warner's head he's telling all about the reality of the digital era and how companies should cope and adjust. CHINA
PE is slated to do BEIJING, CHINA September 8th. From there an ASIA tour is possible which would clock in as #60 for the red, black, and green machine.

FLAVOR ROAST
I'm gonna appear and participate in a FLAVOR roast for COMEDY CENTRAL. I plan to be at the top of the show and get the hell out before KATT WILLIAMS, SNOOP, and BISHOP DON JUAN pimpflood the air out. I think I will drive FLAV there and drop him off. And they better film that because I'm out after that.

DETROIT
My Detroit lecture has been moved to October from JUNE 25. Poor tix sales, then again I tell peeps although my conversation is a bit seasoned and exciting, it shouldn't be a pressure for people to come. It's not a gig. However in MAY, AKRON PUBLIC LIBRARY brought me out to a capacity crowd. The reason was that it was free to the public. The system flew yours truly out.

STAX 50
Memphis is like a stomping ground to me. I felt honored to co-host STAX50 with AMERICAN IDOL star, RANDY JACKSON. We got through the awkward beginning of the show, where’s the teleprompters were down in the orchestra pit. Considering that circumstances, the bringing on of WILLIAM BELL, EDDIE FLOYD, THE SOUL CHILDREN, MS MAVIS STAPLES, DR MABLE JOHN, BOOKER T AND THE MGS, and SIR ISSAC HAYES was smooth, I thought. The new STAX as purchased and re ignited by television producer NORMAN LEAR'S LA based CONCORD RECORDS introduced SOULLIVE and ANGIE STONE. Sat on a plane flying back from LA to ATL was walking behind some big brother directing on the phone SCOOTER LIBBY ...and how naive can many Amerikans be in thinking that SON OF A BUSH wouldn't let his boy off? Cmon. The game of politics is a notch over gang life, maybe a tad below. It's the old boy bathroom network, handshakes from the zipper.

WARPED TOUR
Was in Ventura and the 4th of July traffic on the US101 was ridiculous. Happened to be from the WARPED TOUR was taking place. Again props go out to KEVIN LYMAN for his innovating a tour that made great use of stadium parking lots while bypassing the buildings for everything but its power.

MIDWAY GAMES
Was in Chicago in June to complete the announcer voices on NBA Ballers08. Never play video games but I would tell you that the announcing has always been a focal point in myself following sports. In fact its very difficult for me to attend the games without the voices navigating the flow. By now you should know that my flow is more from that realm, than the rap game itself. Maybe listening to Marv Albert and NY radio soul DJ Hank Spann in the 1970s brought that flow on. Anyway the game is due to debut All Star Weekend FEB 008. Bring The Noise!

ROLAND MARTIN CHICAGO
I saw Mr. RO-MO on CNN where he's a contributor doing an investigation on the 30, under 17 school murders on the outer rim of CHICAGO. I was committed to go to that city to use my celebrity to lend a voice of reason to adults that they should drop whatever differences they have to figure better ways of cross generational communication. I refuse to tell grown folks what they shouldn't or should do. Instead I'd rather inspire them. The week heading into it, I spoke on fellow brother and longtime NOI member GREGORY SAIN'S radio show on WVON and among the many at the all men rally at the HOUSE OF HOPE. I saw brother SHULTAN also of the NOI. These brothers and others in the NATION OF ISLAM had brought me to CHI TOWN on many occasions to help folk in CABRINI GREEN and the infamous ROBERT TAYLOR project homes to inspire and bring up. Now gentrification has moved black folk to the outskirts of town, where the housing is better but some new and old attitudes prevail. So I did my short speech at the HOUSE OF HOPE the first arena church I'd been in. Holds 10,000 peeps. The second largest arena in CHICAGO limits... no doubt the BULLS can play in there too. That bugged me out. With the anti-rap billboards put up by churches in the city we would continue to hope these houses can close the communication gaps in the black community. We are at war as Sis Souljah said.

RHYMEFEST
Reached out to me, and I'll reach back. Just did a short verse on a NELLY record as well. 2008 is gonna be more collabs and individual projects as well as tightening and arrangement of the past four year blizzard of material. I'm not slowing down, rather I'm doing new videos of past cuts and tidying up the catalog.

50 CENT VITAMIN WATER
Regardless whether he got 10% or 00.2% my cap tips to 50 Cent for at least being involved with such a thing. It's no secret that I've dug into liquor and cigarette companies for exploiting rap music youth into alcohol. I cannot front I've drank more vitamin waters than bought CDs. The basic needs remain food, clothing, and shelter. Plus I still think 50 is the best interview out off ALL the artists out there. If he wants to dialogue about millennium rap gangsterism there's room for it given his background. What I don't dig is cats that wanna follow him for money sake, even if they don't believe it themselves. For example this REMY MA shooting incident is so stupid. I would like to send some of these folks a printed note on the sad tale of PHILLY's HILLTOP HUSTLERS :STEADY B and COOL C - the latter who is on the same death row list as MUMIA ABU JAMAL. Whereas MUMIA'S case is asking for justice and innocent in a accused cop killing of suspicion, COOL C was a triggerman in the death of a single Black mother policewoman in a botched bank robbery attempt. Beside the almost forgotten death of EASY E, this is another rap tragedy that needs to be introduced to new heads as much as BIG and PAC, which seems to be trivialized by the week.

HARDER THAN YOU THINK
Now get up comes from SOULONE on the ENEMY BOARD. It's a theme around the lead single of the latest album where’s anything that happens to be positive will go against a helluva grain. The record companies have now been knocked down to realizing that greed not technology has brought it down to one knee. Clearly after following these Tterrordomes for nearly ten years you know what’s exactly on my mind. It's been no secret. How can I beg the record business for better distribution and radio to support me when I was out to reduce them? Same with BET I saw greed, and that's what made me soggy. This is a day where any support north of a head nod should be appreciated, and head nods should start being counted as well. The Tdomes have been sparse in my finishing the projects. Now I gotta work em. GARY G WIZ rips this PE record, DJ JOHNNY JUICE heads the TRIBB TO JB project in time for the one year date from Godfather Of SOUL's passing. More on this in the next Tdome. You ain't gotta wait long. Now get up Mistachuck