A Grain of Sand in Smithsonian Folkways Magazine

Sojin Kim recently wrote an excellent, in-depth article on the legendary A Grain of Sand album by Chris Iijima, Nobuko Miyamoto and Charlie Chin. Progressive Asian American music pretty much starts with this album. In the Smithsonian Folkways Magazine cover story, Sojin provides a background on all three artists as well as the movement that inspired them. A must read! Read it here.

Taiyo Na performs "War of the Flea" with Nobuko Miyamoto and Charlie Chin in NY

Last Saturday at the Basement Workshop Reunion in New York the homie Taiyo Na performed "War of the Flea" alongside Nobuko Miyamoto and Charlie Chin. Taiyo has always mentioned Chris Iijima as one of his biggest influences and inspirations as an artist so I can't imagine how amazing it must have been for him to sing Chris' lyrics with his old music partners.



Listen and download the original "War of the Flea"

Here's the filthy Senz of Depth Remix featuring Bambu off the A Song For Ourselves Mixtape:

Fatgums X Bambu Release Party Video

i finally cut some of the footage eric and i shot at last month's release party for fatgums and bambu's "a peaceful riot" ep. as you can see and hear, it was an amazing day at the beatrock store, one of those events that really makes you thankful for the community we've created down here:

Under The Influence

someone made the mistake of nominating me for angry asian man's 30 most influential asian americans under 30, and the angry guy picked me! it's a huge honor to make this list which includes karen o from yeah yeah yeahs and the co-founder of youtube. i really have to thank phil yu (aka. angry asian man) for always covering my back, his blog is phenomenal and continues to inform and unite asian americans across the country. speaking of karen o, "zero" is one of my favorite songs this year:

A Song For Ourselves MIXTAPE!!!

The much anticipated A Song For Ourselves Mixtape is finally here!  Produced and mixed by DJ Phatrick this compilation includes exclusive tracks from Bambu, Kiwi and Geologic of Blue Scholars who will all be performing live at the film's premiere on 2/28.  The mixtape also includes songs off the historic A Grain of Sand album by Chris Iijima, Nobuko Miyamoto and Charlie Chin.

DOWNLOAD MIXTAPE HERE FOR FREE!

Download directions:

1.  Click on link above
2.  When zshare page opens, click on "Download Now!" button at bottom of page
3.  Wait until "Download link will appear in 45 sec" turns into "Click here to start your download
4.  Click highlighted "here" link and you will automatically start downloading zip file
5.  Once the download is complete double-click on zip file on your desktop to "unzip" file
6.  A folder named "ASongForOurselves Mixtape" should appear on you desktop where you will find all the mp3's and mixtape cover

Tracklist:
1.  Iijima, Miyamoto, Chin - "We Are The Children" (Intro)
2.  Blue Scholars - "Cornerstone"
3.  Native Guns - "Slave Thinking"
4.  Native Guns feat. Geologic - "Agitation Propaganda"
5.  Iijima, Miyamoto, Chin - "Jonathan Jackson"
6.  Bambu - "When Will The Time Come?" prod. by Will Bracy
7.  Kiwi - "Gaza 2 Oakland" prod. by DJ Phatrick
8.  Blue Scholars - "Back Home"
9.  Chris Iijima - "Vietnamese Lament"
10.  Iijima, Miyamoto, Chin - "War Of The Flea" (Senz of Depth Remix feat. Bambu)
11.  Bambu - "Chairman Mao" (Paper Planes edit)
12.  Blue Scholars - "Fire For The People"
13.  Kiwi - "Cause"
14.  Native Guns feat. Geologic - "Said It" (Asi Remix)
15.  Iijima, Miyamoto, Chin - Divide & Conquer (Fatgums Remix feat. Geologic, Kiwi, & Bambu)
16.  Chris Iijima Soliloquy
17.  Kiwi - "Imagine"
18.  Bambu - "Seven Months"
19.  Blue Scholars - "Life and Debt"

Meet Kiwi

looking back, one of the most influential stages of my life was the time i spent as an undergrad at ucla. not because of the classes i took, but because of the people i met and the inspiration they hit me with. one of the people who had a huge impact on me was this brotha they called kiwi.

"I felt like there were many parallels of his experience that I could relate to myself, in terms of reclaiming our culture, finding identity and purpose through music, and standing by the idea of art for the people (as opposed to art for art’s sake)."

--- Kiwi on Chris Iijima

having seen him spit on stage and featured in the classic film beats, rhymes, and resistance, kiwi was one of the first superstars of the community that i really looked up.  along with artisits like faith santilla and wendell pascual, kiwi really opened me up to the power of creativity combined with grounded political expression.  i can honestly say that i would not be making films today if it were not for this dude...

kiwi was one of the first people to see a cut of a song for ourselves and has been supportive of the project ever since.  i'm so honored that kiwi will be performing at the premiere of Song on the 28th!

"War Of The Flea" (Senz of Depth Remix Feat. Bambu)

here's another leak from the upcoming a song for ourselves mixtape (slated to drop next week!). this track is a remix of "war of the flea" (a grain of sand) by the phenomenal producer senz of depth. bambu insightfully draws the parallels between the political climate of chris iijima's era and now...



senz of depth is just one of the many projects of the talented musician miles senzaki. i've been lucky enough to have been able to collaborate with miles on all three of my films. for a song for ourselves he flawlessly re-created the instrumentals of some of chris iijima's songs, miles explains the evolution of the remix here.


his debut album under the senz of depth alias titled "boundary waters" will blow your mind! here's just a sample of what i'm talking about:

Trailer For 2.28.09 Premiere

in the final stretch!  final sound mix session tomorrow and color correcting on saturday. in the meantime here's the trailer for the big LA premiere:

if this video is taking too long to load you can watch the trailer on youtube.

after a month of mainly meetings, e-mails and phone calls this trailer was hella fun to cut!

Bambu Exclusive- "When Will The Time Come"

since starting this film, the parallels between the political climate of the late 1960's and today have become more and more apparent. as long as america's foreign policy continues to bully and devastate other countries in order to protect it's economic interests...there will also be voices to protest it.

"When Will The Time Come?" by BAMBU

DOWNLOAD SONG

for the upcoming a song for ourselves mixtape, bambu dropped an exclusive titled "when will the time come?" which samples "jonathan jackson" by chris iijima, nobuko miyamoto and charlie chin. just as chris wrote about the human emotions behind the death of a young black panter on "jonathan jackson", bambu spits the truth about the horror and destruction of the recent attack of the gaza strip by the u.s. funded israeli military.

look out for the whole mixtape produced by dj phatrick to drop at the end of the month.

Blue Scholars - "Coffee And Snow" Video

daymn, and you thought you got your grustle on over the holidays! blue scholars started off '09 by droppin a new track and video: like all the scholars' videos, this one was directed and cut by zia mohajerjasbi. i've become a big fan of zia over the last couple of years. his cinematography and production value can't be touched. i've always been up on his music videos but I was blown away when i saw his film manoj. this mockumentary is not only hella funny, but its really smart in the way it unfolds the issue at hand... manoj - directed by zia mohajerjasbi:

Bambu's "Crooks & Rooks" Video on OkayPlayer!

my dood bambu is doin' it big! his new music video for "crooks & rooks" premiered today on okayplayer! please click on the link and leave a comment, let okayplayer know that politically focused artists like bambu need to be supported. big ups to the homie a.j. calomay of xylophone films for cutting and producing the video.

"Like Us" by Bambu

one of the good things about making films is that i'm able to build with other creative people. over the last 3 years i've been able to work with bambu, one of my favorite hip-hop artists. when his street classic self untitled album dropped i was an undergrad at ucla hungry for anything community-oriented in hip-hop. that album had such an impact on me that i used "rear view" for the opening song of my first film yellow brotherhood. in grad school me and fellow filmmaker eric tandoc followed bambu, kiwi and dj phatrick (at the time they were still together as the legendary native guns) on their westcoast tour. that footage was used for bambu's first video off his new album exact change: Bambu "Like Us" from Xylophone Films on Vimeo. don't miss your chance to see bambu perform live at the premiere of a song for ourselves!

Blue Scholars - Bumbershoot '06

i first saw blue scholars perform in '05 at fais do-do in LA. since then, geologic (mc) and sabzi (dj) have become one of the strongest forces in hip-hop today. the only thing bigger than their hustle is their dedication to their community and the creation of music that inspires others to do the same. here they are performing on of my favorite joints "sagaba" when they opened up for kanye west: blue scholars generously allowed me to use some of their music for my last film pilgrimage. after 2 years of trying to do a show together, they'll finally be performing with on of my films at the premiere for a song for ourselves! more from bumbershoot 2006: