HOME FEATURES COLUMNS FILM LIT MUSIC CONTACT		Features Orienting the East U. Michigan Psychologist Richard Nisbett Asks: Do Asians and Westerners Think Differently? Village Voice In 1944, the eminent Chinese anthropologist and sociologist Fei Xiaotang accepted an offer from the State Department to spend a year working in the United States. Fei's stint began with all of the excitement and wonder promised by this still-rising star among nations, but as the months drew on he grew exhausted with the fidgety, restless nature that outlined every feature of American life. Go to article Foucault's Turntable Hip-Hop Scholars Bumrush the Academy Village Voice "Like Craig Mack said, here comes a brand-new flava in your ear!" Professor Todd Boyd is hyping his latest book, The New H.N.I.C.: The Death of Civil Rights and the Reign of Hip-Hop (NYU Press), but it's not so much what he's saying as how he says it that captures the ear. His argument begins in a rich, methodical tone, elegantly scripting the fall of the previous generation alongside the rise of a new hip-hop ethos, occasionally punctuated with a line lifted from Jay-Z or Nas. Go to article Amerikkka's Formerly Most Wanted: Ice Cube's solo reissues and the fire next time San Francisco Bay Guardian In 1992, Ice Cube was scary. A couple of months after riots had permanently wounded the soul of Los Angeles, the former N.W.A. rapper found himself onstage at the Shoreline Amphitheatre as part of that summer's Lollapalooza tour. In a scene that was surely replicated at all of that summer's shows, Cube prefaced "The Nigga Ya Love to Hate" by asking the crowd to yell at him "Fuck you, Ice Cube." The crowd--confused, a bit frightened--threw back a stale effort, the half-hearted words hanging in the air and dying somewhere short of the stage. "Louder," he teasingly boomed, until thousands who would probably cross the street if they saw him coming were cursing him to high noon. Cube laughed--it sounded like it was pointed back at the audience--"Good." Go to article #1 with a Bullet The truth behind the tales of 50 Cent Boston Phoenix Some artists acquire the wisdom to turn their lives around after a brush with death. Others embrace the darkness, wearing their wounds as a badge of honor and returning from the experience angrier and more self-righteous than ever. Queens rap phenom 50 Cent falls into the second category. And his sudden ascension from controversial novelty act to record-setting hip-hop star owes as much to the scars on his body as to the devil-may-care passions that inspire his raps. The tone of his extraordinary debut suggests we could already start referring to him as "the late 50 Cent." Go to article Favorite Things: Blackalicious just make you feel good Boston Phoenix On their most recent single, "Make You Feel That Way," Bay Area hip-hop duo Blackalicious commit the ultimate hip-hop sin: praising corporate life. The loping, horn-driven cut finds rapper Gift of Gab ruminating on life's little pleasures: sunny days, getting paid, home-town championships — and "earning a promotion to upper management." Not exactly the stuff that street cred is made of, but then, neither is taking inspiration from The Sound of Music. "With 'Make You Feel That Way,' it was almost like a hip-hop rendition of 'My Favorite Things,'" Gab explains over the phone from Oakland. "Just a song about things that make you feel good, you know what I mean?" Go to article Unblunted: Tricky's Blowback Boston Phoenix It's been six years since Adrian Thaws, a lanky black kid from the mean streets of Knowle West, boldly introduced himself to the world beyond Bristol as Tricky, the mercurial presence behind the lethargic grooves and dark techno-organic textures of Maxinquaye (Island, 1995). And in that time, it's become easy to forget how universally regarded Maxinquaye was as a groundbreaking artistic statement. For starters, it marked Tricky as the most unconventional and adventurous creative force in the brooding new realm of trip-hop, a sound that had grown up around Bristol's Massive Attack collective and come to encompass everything from that group's reggae-tinged rhythms to the cinematic sweep of Portishead to Tricky's own dystopic dreamscapes. But Maxinquaye also set Tricky apart from his trip-hop peers by raising the tantalizing possibility that in Adrian Thawes, Bristol might have unwittingly produced a uniquely British hip-hop auteur who had more to offer than just a paler imitation of American rap. Go to article Gimmie Indie Rap: Rhymesayers and Atmosphere Boston Phoenix Printed on the back of the T-shirts sold at last year's Rhyme Sayers tour are two words: "Midwest Music." Given hip-hop's urban bias, it's odd to find the Minnesota-based Rhyme Sayers collective trumpeting their flatland roots with such pride. After all, nothing's going to change the fact that hip-hop was born in the streets of NYC and bred in gritty, post-industrial sprawls like LA, Miami, and Houston. Midwesterners may have bought the music, but they sure didn't live it. Go to article Anticon: Hip-Hop's Oddball Alliance The Wire Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but tonight it's just an excuse to pose, preen and pass 40-ouncers. Costumed in powder blue suits, eyepatches, thuggish stocking caps and a healthy dose of Adidas, members of Bay Area HipHop oddballs Anticon are on stage in San Francisco affectionately slaughtering some of HipHop's classic moments. Covering everyone from Gang Starr to Das EFX to Eminem, Anticon's motley crew of lyricists, wellwishers and flakcatchers are doing the unthinkable. The beautiful absurdity of the situation is illustrated by Alias, an imposing but shy MC who launches into a pristine, rhyme-by-rhyme version of a Masta Ace throwaway freestyle. "We were all passing 40-ouncers around, just like it should be, "Anticon brainchild Sole jokes after his solo rendition of the ten-strong MC- posse's cut, "Heal Yourself". Through HipHop has never really taken to the idea of cover versions, these kids are either geniuses or heretics. Maybe both. Go to article Ethnic Media Grows Up: Will Increasing Mainstream Attention Alter the Ethnic Media Landscape? ColorLines From Arab American newspaper competition in rural Michigan to Hindi pop tunes anchoring Radio Asia in Tampa, Florida, the past decade has seen an inspiring spike in the number of national and local radio stations, newspapers, magazines, web portals, public and cable television networks catering to the nationŐs various ethnic communities. But paralleling this somewhat grassroots growth, ethnic media has become a major player aboveground as well, seen most noticeably with NBC's recent acquisition of the national, 24-hour Telemundo network. Go to article Imagining Chinatown: Local filmmaker takes ambitious look at contested traditions AsianWeek Imitation is usually the sincerest form of flattery, but for local filmmaker Eric Lin the choice of naming his feature film debut Chinatown was a calculated political decision. Though he shares the name with Roman Polanski's 1974 film noir classic, Lin's Chinatown is no homage. With just a sly reference to the nefarious way Chinatown is portrayed in Polanski's film and beyond, Chinatown is a beautiful, meticulous, and challenging drama about a young woman's struggles in the midst of a fierce community controversy. As part of PBS' ongoing Independent View series, Chinatown airs on KQED and selected PBS affiliates May 12 at 11 p.m. Go to article Acting Like an Auteur (Profile on playwright Isaac Ho) AsianWeek When he was just a child, a wide-eyed Isaac Ho informed his family of his intentions to become an actor. He remembers a conversation with his aunt, who was an actress at the time. She said, "Well, Isaac, if you're going to become an actor, here's what you have to do: get plastic surgery, fix your chin, and learn kung fu." Go to article		Shortlist U. Michigan Psychologist Richard Nisbett Asks: Do Asians and Westerners Think Differently? Village Voice Hip-Hop Scholars Bumrush the Academy Village Voice Ice Cube's solo reissues and the fire next time San Francisco Bay Guardian The truth behind the tales of 50 Cent Boston Phoenix Blackalicious just make you feel good Boston Phoenix Tricky's Blowback Boston Phoenix Gimmie Indie Rap: Rhymesayers and Atmosphere Boston Phoenix Anticon: Hip-Hop's Oddball Alliance The Wire Will Increasing Mainstream Attention Alter the Ethnic Media Landscape? ColorLines Imagining Chinatown: Local filmmaker takes ambitious look at contested traditions AsianWeek Profile on playwright Isaac Ho AsianWeek