from:
03.29.08:
South Beach & Dream :: Miami, FL
Not from Florida, but waddup FAM.

Lately, every show we’ve been doing there’s been at least one Filipino dude/dudette that pops out and says, “Heyyyyy I saw you on The Filipino Channel!” (yes, the “The” gets capitalized). Now, contrary to the popular belief that Adriel and Nico are Filipino, Ruby’s actually the one that waves the PI flag in one hand, and dips mangoes in shrimp paste with the other. Yummmmmmm…

You know what else is yummy? This clip of her throwing down on the Filipino American talk show, SpeakOut

Our iLL-Homie Senbei of Richmond/Vallejo power-duo Broken Halos has just released his long awaited joint with supersickwiddit producers Akiyoshi Ehara and Kumar Butler, The Literary Ca(n)non. It’s a dope concept, with all the tracks named after Senbei’s favorite books. Read homie’s album dissertation at his blog, then cop a feel below:

Also: New Broken Halos @ their Myspace page!

Hello folks, it’s noon here in Charlottesville, VA, where we were just woken up by the hotel maid who politely informed us that checkout time was at 10am, causing us to fall into a flustered scramble, only to find out that she had lied.

B-More is next…but in the meantime do enjoy our log of last night’s conquests posted above. And for those of you who missed Part 1 from last year, it’s conveniently beeelooowwwww. VirginYEAH!!

begins today. yippee.

More goodness from our iLL-Homie and dopalicious mentor Marc Bamuthi Joseph! Filmmaker Phillip Rodriguez and United States Artists recently featured Bamuthi in their film series. It’s a refreshing look at artists changing the world…take a look at their description:

Artists change the world…

In an effort to share artists’ work around the globe, United States Artists (USA) and film company City Projects introduce Encounter: USA Fellows featuring video shorts profiling artists and their work. Unique in tone and content, each video provides a glimpse of the creative process.

United States Artists (USA) is a new non-profit organization celebrating the fearless impulse that compels every great artist to create and inspire us to think.

In collaboration with filmmaker Phillip Rodriguez , USA Broad Fellow, USA will release a total of 14 video shorts as part of Encounter: USA Fellows. The first eight videos are now live on YouTube and the USA website. Six additional videos will be released this Spring.

Share our videos on your site with others or join our community at Myspace.

Here’s a sneak peek at the new official iLL-Literacy t-shirt collaboration with our homie/sponsor Kiser that’s going to be hitting the streets and stores soon! They just got sent to print yesterday and we’ll be getting them shipped to us probably while we’re in New England in early April…so be on the lookout if when you’re at one of our spring tour dates, or keep it locked at KiserNY.com where it’ll be available online.

And now to tickle your tastebuds…people you know wearing Kiser shit.

M1 of Dead Prez

Talib Kweli + Duo Live

Lupe Fiasco + A-Trak

Kanye West

Some poser ass spoken word crew

Cop yours at KiserNY.com

The annual Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam Finals hold a special place in iLL-Lit’s heart. It’s the stage where Adriel debuted “Slip of the Tongue” back in ‘03, where Dahlak took the champion as a new iLL-Literate back in ‘04 and ‘05, and where Nico graced consecutively ever since waaaaaaaay back when he started as a 15 year old. Probably more poets than you’re aware of have come up through Youth Speaks…who will be next?

This year we watch from the seats. Come join us!

Tickets & info here.

And just for fun, the recording of Dahlak’s feature at the Finals in ‘06: “Just Another Routine Check.”

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Yessiree (darn you Erykah for bringing that back) our iLL-Homies from Sacramento are rocking tonight with Little Brother! Check out Rogue Scholars and Random Abiladeze, and give them a big ol proud hug from iLL-Lit.

Ohhhhhh snap!

Our iLL-Homie Ise Lyfe stars in this super-sickwiddit one-person show tonight…OAKLAND STAND UP! Along with the fact that this play is incredibly well-written and staged, you gotta give him credit for so accurately resembling El Debarge:

Bonus: Learn more about Ise at his Myspace page. His website used to be iselyfeline.com (pronounced “ise-lyfe-line dot com”) but last year it was tragically bought out by the cat fanatic blog, iselyfeline.com (pronounced “isel-y-feline dot com”)

Meow, snitches.

While Ruby does the damn thang in Atlanta this month, she’s taking a quick break from the mic and working behind the scenes at the A3C Hip Hop Festival, which will be featuring hellllllllllllllla people.

Hop on through if you’re ridin’ dirty.

The other day while on her way to an iLL-Lit show in Berkeley, Ruby randomly got stopped by CW Bay Area to do a lil drop, as well as a photo homage to her favorite singer:

Peep it in the video thingie on this page…it’s along the navigator, named “Street Wars in Berkeley.”