Peace... I am across the waters right about now finishing up lectures in Scotland. Three cities, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh, brought me in to speak on the usual... Rap, Race Reality and Technology, as part of the TRIPTYCH cultural music and film festival. The audiences were great and I ran into NTH DEGREE (PANIC MERCHANTS) in E town. It was a great experience rummaging through the castles and such, and we look to play over here in NOVEMBER as part of the PE tour. I am still amazed at peeps in the US who think that this is such a big deal, speaking overseas. I’ve played in Scotland a gang of times, plus done lectures here when promoting my book in 1998. I’ve said in past t-domes that Glasgow has been the spot of some of the most hyped gigs on the planet. The last time PE played there, in 2000 promoting Poison, it was an extremely cold night in May and we played with Roni Size.

Kenyon College in OHIO was a great time. It was so remote that it actually felt like I was further away than I presently am in Glasgow. Still the energy of the students was exceptional.

Just finished up the REVOLVERLUTION album for PE, to be released thru SLAMJAMZ by the way of KOCH distribution. The point we’re trying to make with this record is that rap situations over ten years old ( this is PE's 15th year anniversary) need to formulate other methods to penetrate the marketplace. Our trilogy within a trilogy concept can form a structure for older cats to roll with. Big ups to some last minute final touches, the single ‘GOTTA GIVE THE PEEPS WHAT THEY NEED’ was done by DJ JOHNNY JUICE in the last hours. Beyond that my West Coast Plusside rhyming friend PARIS is rejuvenated, and has dropped a verse on the extended J JUICE REMIX masterpiece of PEEPS.

Some sad notes; Jazz-hip hop musician WELDON IRVINE took his life earlier this month on Long Island. Weldon would always show up and lend his skill and expertise to many young artists (many of them rap) and captivate young crowds with his positive raps. When he was recording with the major sharks one of his best known works was Young, Gifted, and Black. He was always a kind cat, and I’m kicking myself because I always would tell him about us hooking up doing something since the Strong Island studios were built. Never got around to it. Life and time is too short to miss grand opportunities to create things to shake a planet. Indeed Weldon we’re feeling it right here… damn.

Over here I get the news that LISA ‘Left Eye’ LOPES was killed in an automobile accident in British Honduras. Real tragic. To me peeps need to show just as much respect as they did to Alliyah. She was just as much a princess and tried to do so much, working with artists and so on. I’m a TLC fan and I always dug their style. I wish her family and friends my condolences. On another note, it was reputed that she wasn’t wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the car. I continually thank my friend HARRY ALLEN for getting me into the habit of wearing a seat belt even before it became a law. In college at Adelphi if HARRY was driving he would not move the car if we didn’t have our belts on. We, on some macho stuff, would joke or clown about it but none the less comply in order to get where we had to go. If I was driving he would pester me until I did it anyway. A turning point is when former baseball manager of the Yankees BILLY MARTIN was killed when his car fell into a ditch moving 5 mph, thus snapping his neck when he was hurled. This stunned me and really put home what HARRY was telling us. It has been something I’ve strongly enforced with family and friends, although some still fight me over it. In more ways than one, again, thank you HARRY.

STEVE ZUCKERMAN’S INTERNET EXPO in NYC this past March was a fantastic event again, with many contributors to this parallel music world as the other continues to crumble. Many have alluded to the fact that music has been reduced to a mere audio component of a larger multimedia industry, therefore we shouldn’t place our faith into one dimensional delivery without overstanding the present and future technical terrain. Today and tomorrow’s record company will have to transition into multimedia companies for their survival. The revolution is already here in DVD. All one has to do is check the portability factor. Cars not only having the players within but you can carry a vast collection of movies in your average CD holder ( a long trip with kids makes this oh so necessary). Peeps sitting on bus trips catching flicks on many of today’s laptops and computers… I wouldn’t advise the subway play of these toys right about now for the ROBB FACTOR…. Long story short, audio is just one component on a DVD whereas video, text, Internet connects and video games are all within this same format that’s the same size as your CD. It’s just that if the public is gonna pay $15 for something that does all of this, how seriously are they gonna pay for something that gives you far less and you can burn away freely at home? Face it, when more people are going to Office Depot or Staples for their music (CDRWs) than the local record chain, that should tell you to adapt… At the conference HANK SHOCKLEE was dropping jewels as usual on the producers panel, and NONA HENDRIX and BOB EZRIN were among many that made some highly relevant points in a confusing period for many artists…

KYLE JASON, DJ JOHNNY JUICE, PETE COSEY, MARSHALL CHESS and I were finishing the final touches on the MARK LEVIN/MARTIN SCORCESE Blues film for PBS. We were joined this time by ?uestlove from the ROOTS, COMMON, and the rhyme orchestra himself, RAHZEL for the completion of I’M A MAN... MANNISH BOY 2005 or something like that. All put parts down for this film doc that MARSHALL and his son JAMAL have musically produced. Also, I must continue that AMIR ?UESTLOVE THOMPSON is probably the most astute musicologist of this present day as far as artists go... period. A collector of visual archive and other artifacts the student is a teacher indeed and soaking up every place he walks…it’s cool working with him (Burn Hollywood Burn for BAMBOOZLED), but it’s even better knowing him and sharing his already vast collection of worldly tales…

Getting myself into shape for touring in 2002, starting in late August, has me getting dunked on at ATLANTA’S famous RUN & SHOOT gym. Presently at 195 lbs. I usually tour at 185 and get as low as 180 although it doesn’t show on camera. The camera adds 10 lbs. and makes short people look huge and big peeps look smaller. At 5’9" 185 is right…195, although not terrible, and decent if a person is in shape makes one seem like HEAVY D on film. We are gonna do a batch of filming for future DVDs as we’re creating a DVD imprint as we speak. So far with REVOVERLUTION coming out late July, possibly early AUGUST, the plans are to hit CUBA for BLACK AUGUST in late August, a US SLAMJAMZ Interactive college tour for 3 weeks September-October. Then Canada in late October… EUROPE for 3 weeks in November…AUSTRAILIA and SOUTH AFRICA in December, with JAPAN and ASIA possible for March 2003.

Just did a commercial for AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS with my moms, encouraging parents and school curriculums to educate and further inspire young people through the arts. This commercial will run next fall at a TV set nearest you.

Quite immediately GARY G WIZ, AMANI K SMITH and yours truly have completed this year’s theme for ESPN’s SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL GAME OF THE WEEK. Interspersed excitedly with the voices of play-by-play baseball announcer JOHN MILLER and co-HALL OF FAME color man JOE MORGAN, this theme is a piece of work and I’m going to film the spot in early May at TURNER FIELD in the ATL. I’m going to a few baseball games this summer around the map, in the words of the great MEL ALLEN ‘how bout that’?

Finally grats go out to DOC DRE and ED LOVER for returning to NY radio at the new 105.1 FM. The station is managed by STEVE SMITH who started rival HOT 97 back in the early 90s. It was the format change that shaped the present day music scene, the one that pushed hip hop and rap music into the top 40. This was built along with the explosion of PUFF/BIGGIE/BADBOY on one hand and WU-TANG on the other. These format changes were copied throughout the nation, then followed across the planet. When the record corps realized this they began powering rap music like pop music, thus making it a major game; i.e. big budget video, mass funding for promotion, and crayola ( colored radio payola). When Jammin 105 aired they presented a mix of old school and new records and songs that were integral in launching HOT 97 in the 90s. Speaking to Steve in a conference room where FLAV was also present (he is presently the stations morning traffic reporter) I told him that it sounded like he sent four interns out to TOWER and VIRGIN to pick up rap catalog. Although the station is owned by CLEARCHANNEL, the same cats that fired DAVEY D in the bay area, I told Steve that he could win NYC by making the station more connected to the community, the people that catch the bus and go to the Laundromat. They’re hip hop too but of an older demographic. The question is can a station get young heads programming to a 23-35 hip hop market better than a 12-21 station trying to get older heads for ratings. The ratings game is all garbage to me anyway but this summer can be interesting indeed in the northeast, as catalog play might do to rap what classic rock radio has done for that genre. Still they need to reach out to DAVEY D for ideas to win back the community.... that would be smart.

For now I’m in the wind heading to AMSTERDAM to hang a bit… Catch yall back stateside next week…