The forthcoming The Tao Of Wu (Riverhead books, $25) is a hybrid of a book-part memoir, part philosophical discourse-fresh from the brain of the Abbott of golden-era ‘s youth and the early days of his legendary crew, the Wu-Tang Clan, through the tragic last hours of his cousin Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s life. With his production work on the Wu-Tang Clan’s latest Chamber Music, and Raekwon’s well-received Only Built for Cuban Linx Pt 2, RZA’s book also follows his comedic turn in Judd Apatow’s most recent film, Funny People, his own upcoming Kung-Fu flick, The Man With the Iron Fist, and the musical development of Boy Jones, son of the late, great ODB. – STEVEN PSYLLOS

The RZA had difficulty putting his life to paper.
“When it’s music you can just go ahead and be that person, but I’m more introverted. So many things have happened in my life that I try to erase. They may have taught me a lesson, but it’s still not a g eat memory.”

With the book, he’s trying to make some good with the hardships.
“I guess the biggest example of pain is the story of Jesus being crucified, a lesson we learn to this day. So in the that vein I was like, ‘Fuck it, people won’t never learn unless somebody leaves footprints”

Can’t blame it on the alcohol.
“I thought ODB was one of the most original men to walk the planet, but everybody thought that some of his stuff came from being drunk or high. But now that Boy Jones is 19 years old,I’ve been taking him all over with me-he’s just like Dirty, but he don’t get high! Proves it was in his genes.”

For more of the interview with The RZA, pick up GIANT’s Winter 09′ Issue, on news stands now.

Beyonce keeps it coming with her latest video “Ego” from I Am…Sascha Fierce. Continuing to swing back and forth with her releases from the two-disc LP—from softer pop tracks on Disc 1, to more swagger-heavy Disc 2—”Ego” follows “Halo” which received a gang of radioplay. Sure this will do the same…

Also, check out the remix below featuring none other than Mr Ego himself, Kanye—talk about a perfect fit.

Ego (feat. Kanye West) – Beyonce

Common, who is featured in the latest issue of GIANT, is about to extend his filmography stats as Barnes, John Connor’s right-hand man in Terminator 4 tomorrow. But the MC/actor took some time out of his busy schedule to flex his funny bone on a Funny-or-Die skit playing the Dow Jones as a pimped-out blaxploitation style hustler.

Check it out: “The Dow Jones: He’ll put you in debt!”

Brooklyn playwright Lynn Nottage won the Pulitzer for her play, Ruined, yesterday. This is only the second time that an African-American woman won the prize for drama, the first being Suzan-Lori Parks for TopDog/Underdog, which starred Mos Def and Jeffrey Wright in 2001. The prize comes with an $10,000 award.

Ruined is a story of young women who have been raped and brutalized in the Congo’s decade-long civil war. The play premiered last year at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and traveled to the off-Broadway Manhattan Theatre Club’s Stage I, where its run has been extended for a third time to through May 10.

The play stars Phylicia Rashad’s daughter, newcomer Condola Rashad, as Sophie, a rape victim whose genitals have been mutilated. Read more about the star-on-the-rise here.

For the past year, 32-year-old artist Titus Kaphar has been prepping for “History in the Making,” his solo exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum, which opened April 3rd. The painter recently purchased a house in Connecticut, where he earned his M.F.A from Yale, and renovated his garage into a studio space. He and his wife also just welcomed their second son into the world. These days, keeping work close to home is a priority because Kaphar is a family man on a tight schedule.

The Setup
“This is my first solo show of this size. A year ago, they flew me out to see the space and we talked about the setup. Then I figured out what works best: Just make the work and stop thinking.”

Letting Go
Kaphar relied heavily on curator Sandra Jackson-Dumont. “You have to work with someone you trust. You have to have a good idea of their vision because then you can let them do that.”

Negotiation
“Four months ago, Sandra came to narrow down what would be included.” Some selections were obvious, while others were not. “There’s a nice piece that I had to pull out. I have conversations with it, like, ‘You figure out what you want yet?’ and it’s not saying. So I’m waiting. [I also ended up] including things I never intended on showing.”

Methodology
Kaphar’s work is more than painted canvases—he shreds them, crumples them into balls and stitches them together. “If I’m feeling hyped, then it’s time to deconstruct or do a drawing. If I’ve got that focused energy, then it’s time to paint.”

Time Management
With a small family and a budding career, Kaphar doesn’t play. “I get up at 5:30 A.M—my newborn doesn’t sleep—then I get my two-year-old up at 7:00 A.M., make breakfast. At 9: 30 A.M., I come into the studio and my here until 7:00 P.M. All that romantic ‘Ah, I gotta wait to be inspired’ kind of thing is gone.”

KiD CuDi remixed Lady Gaga’s #1 single “Poker Face” and brought along Kanye and Common to make it a party.

The former stripper-turned-Billboard phenom Lady Gaga is the first artist in ten years to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with her first two joints: “Poker Face” and “Just Dance.” Her debut album The Fame is also #1. 

Seems like this little lady is getting a lot of attention…

Mos Def and Talib Kweli reunite for two shows in New York’s Nokia Theater on March 30th. Funny thing is, me and my GIANT peeps were just talking about this duo the other day. With the mighty Mos releasing The Ecstatic in June (his first solo in a minute) and Talib and Hi-Tek finally back in the studio for a follow-up to their instant-classic Reflection Eternal project, Train of Thought, maybe all the creative juice flowing recently will get these two to record together once more. (Whether that will sound good or not is a whole other topic.) 

If you’re looking to get your late 90s hip-hop fix on, this show is yours.

There’s a 7pm show and an 11:30. Tickets on sale now at Ticketmaster.

As Erykah Badu was preparing to leave for her SXSW show on Saturday night, a stalker was subdued by Austin, Texas police officers on Badu’s front lawn. And of course, Badu tweeted the whole account for her Twitter followers. Not surprising as she is Ms. Tweet herself, hopping boldly over the public/private line as often as possible. If you remember, her baby-daddy Jay Electronica recently tweeted throughout Badu’s birthing of their daughter, Mars.

Badu described the stalker as a “White woman, mid to late 20′s, had visited my home a few times, brought w/ her weird writings.” She continues in a later tweet: “Sweet girl, but hopped up on something or skitso.” Seems like Badu warned the lady to back off, but when she didn’t listen, she called the police. “By this time I feel violated for real…cause o girl wasn’t threatened at all.” To the rescue: “6 police cars, a fire truck and an ambulance.” Crazy lady bolts. “When she saw the cops she took off running…obviously she had been to jail b4 because she wanted no parts of that.” (Love this! I wish more tweets were this action-packed.)

“Police just apprehended a stalker in front of my house. Stay tuned for details.” The woman fought off police but was taken to the ground. “I cried as I watched because I knew she was just sick…But the story ends with the poor woman being hogtied and pepper-sprayed.”

Riveting stuff!

For more on Ms. Badu, click here to read about her tweeting while giving birth!

And for more on celebrities who twitter, click here to read about which of your favorite celebs tweet and if they’re worth following!

KiD CuDi changed his mind and decided not to retire while on stage at the SXSW fest. He explained, “Sometimes Spiderman doesn’t want to be Spiderman, that’s kind of like me.” At least his tracks are dope. Check out Consequence and CuDi’s remake of the A Tribe Called Quest classic “Bugging Out” from the Low End Theory.

GIANT talks to I Love You, Man starlet Rashida Jones here.

“I’ve always been a big comedy geek,” declares 32-year-old actress Rashida Jones. “Humor is so subjective, and if you can make an entire group of people laugh, that’s a godly accomplishment.” The task poses little problem for Jones, who is, quite obviously, divine. Throughout her 13-year career, she has quietly owned each of her roles. From Karen Scarfolli on Judd Apatow’s Freaks & Geeks to her run as Louisa Fenn on Boston Public to her “dream job” as Karen Filippelli on The Office, Jones has made a keen impression on small screens.

This March she hits the box office as Zooey in writer/director John Hamburg’s bromantic comedy, I Love You, Man (watch the trailer below). In the film Zooey is engaged to Peter (Paul Rudd), who is looking for a best man. High jinks, hilarity and wildly awkward male bonding ensue. “[It's] the male version of women’s lib,” Jones says about the evolution of bro-on-bro love. “Women can be nurturers, and they can let themselves be nurtured. They can be independent, and they can be a part of a relationship….Guys didn’t have that cultural phenomenon, so they’re constantly looking for their role.” Heady stuff for a flick with a Lou Ferrigno cameo.

Although female characters in dude-centric flicks have been criticized for being flat, Zooey is anything but. “I think there’s still a deep sexism in this country,” says Jones. “But more and more there’s an acceptance that women and all of their complexities are interesting to write about.”Jones, the youngest daughter of music legend Quincy Jones and Mod Squad bombshell Peggy Lipton, certainly has her nuances as well. A far cry from typical tabloid-soiling celeb spawn, she graduated from Harvard with a bachelor’s degree in comparative religion. Jones is also a gifted vocalist, a published writer and has twice been named one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People.”

The total package hasn’t gone unnoticed. Based on I Love You, Man test screenings, Hamburg describes an overwhelmingly positive reaction to Jones’s character. On response cards, many viewers even scrawled, “I wish she was my girlfriend.” “When I read those, I give the audience member her phone number,” deadpans Hamburg, “which I’m sure she’d be cool with.”

Thankfully, the actress can soon be seen weekly when she joins Saturday Night Live alum Amy Poehler for NBC’s Parks & Recreation, a highly anticipated sitcom that will only leave us pining for more.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Daughter of Mrs. Huxtable herself, Condola Rashad stars in the Off-Broadway play Ruined which just opened and has already received an extension through April, with hints of a Broadway upgrade. The young Rashad takes on the difficult character of Sophie, a Congolese woman raped with a bayonet, leaving her genitals mutilated, and left for dead. The play is getting rave reviews from critics, and comparisons to her mother’s recent Broadway takeover (Raisin in the Sun) are abound.

Theater that takes on tragic topics such as war leave viewers cold and disinterested in our entertain us! society but Rashad’s performance makes up for it, grounding the horrors in a survivor with a soul too large to silence.

Ben Brantley of the New York Times says: “Portrayed with a masterly blend of delicacy and resourcefulness by Ms. Rashad, Sophie is something more than a passive, beautiful victim.”

Keep your eye on this young beauty.

My favorite track on Kanye’s album gets the video treatment it deserves.

KANYE WEST “Welcome To Heartbreak” Directed by Nabil from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

It is rumored that Chanel Iman, busy catwalking this week, will appear on an upcoming episode of Gossip Girl but there is no word on whether it will be an ongoing role, or just a breeze-through.

Also, we’re still waiting for confirmation of her post as the new host of MTV’s revised House of Style, a position that Leo DiCaprio’s lady, Bar Rafaeli, is supposedly up for as well.

Looks like Chanel Iman is preparing to invade the small screen in a big way…

Click here to read an excerpt from Chanel’s GIANT feature!

And for more Chanel, click here to see her sexy GIANT photo gallery!

And take a peek behind-the-scenes for her GIANT shoot!

Must admit I was a little weirded out when I heard a song by Grammy Award winner Estelle in the latest Crystal Light commercial. I mean, doesn’t that stuff cause cancer or something? But hearing the track “Star” she’s singing while three oh-so-happy ladies swirl around in oh-so-colorful saccharine la-la land is actually waaay cooler when listening to it on your headphones.

Check it out!

A couple days before this interview, Chanel Iman turned 18. As a fashion model on the rise, the busy teen spent the whole day working. “I flew in from Los Angeles and went straight to an Allure shoot,” she says perched in the dimly lit lounge of Manhattan’s downtown SoHo Grande Hotel. But this is not an occasion for sympathy. “I celebrated my birthday last night,” she reveals, “It was Britney Spears’s birthday party. My friends and I danced all night with Britney.”

Born in Atlanta, raised in Los Angeles and now living in New York City, Chanel Iman Robinson is part Korean, part African American. She is named after her mother’s favorite designer and an aunt, who is named after the legendary model. She has the looks, the cultural mix and the moniker that signify a modern fashionista.

The teenage Iman represents a new generation and proves that a lot can be accomplished in a short amount of time. Her runway debut for DKNY’s Fall 2006 season was a few months after her first “single beauty shot” in Teen magazine. Since then she’s walked for Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen, Dolce & Gabbana, Stella McCartney and Diane Von Furstenberg, as well as virtually every other major designer worldwide. She is also the muse to Philip Lim and wears half of a puzzle-piece charm necklace that her mentor, Tyra Banks, gave her.

FOR THE FULL STORY, CHECK OUT THE NEW MARCH ISSUE OF GIANT ON NEWSSTANDS NOW!

Click here to see all the photos from Chanel’s sexy GIANT shoot!

And for more Chanel, click here to see our exclusive behind-the-scenes video of her!

Click here to subscribe to GIANT today!

And Chanel isn’t the ONLY sistah really doing on the runway! Check out newcomer Lyndsey Scott here!

This was supposed to be another great moment for Shepard Fairey, the LA-based artist who has been on top of the world these days. His portrait of Obama made the cover of Time as well as the Smithsonian, becoming a global symbol of change. For the past two weeks, Fairey has been preparing for his first solo museum exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.

In the end, this week just sucked.

First, the Associated Press accused him of stealing photographer Manny Garcia’s 2006 image of Obama (above left), which Fairey admits to using. AP claims they own the image copyright and are suing him for credit and compensation. You’d think those portraits meant big bucks for the artist, but Fairey claims he never made a cent from it, and all proceeds somehow or another funneled back to the campaign. He claims that he has altered the image into a work of art using the defense of “fair use.” That’s a legal concept that allows exceptions to copyright law based on how much of the original image is used and what the new work is used for. He has since counter-sued, saying he has transformed the photo into a ”stunning, abstracted and idealized visual image that creates a powerful new meaning and conveys a radically different message.”

Heavy, right? But that wasn’t enough. Then, dude was arrested.

Fairey was arrested on two warrants of vandalism by the Boston Police. What would normally merit a $100 fine became a huge ordeal, with several police officers staking out the ICA, waiting for the artist to show up for his opening night reception. As he pulled into the museum’s parking lot, cops surrounded the taxi and pulled Fairey from the car forcefully, ordering his wife and two friends to sit on the curb.

Not cool.

Anyway, the man keeps getting press and I keep writing about him, so cool or not, he’s doing something right.

Just an add-on: Obama wrote dude a letter after the election which I placed below. I love the line: “Your images have a profound effect on people, whether seen in a gallery or on a stop sign.” (Love Obama!)

Chris Brown turned himself into the LAPD tonight and is accused of attacking an as-of-yet unidentified young woman.

It isn’t confirmed that the woman is Rihanna, but the couple both pulled out of their scheduled Grammy performances last-minute and without much explanation. E! News reports the following:

“Los Angeles police have confirmed Brown, 19, is being investigated for felony domestic battery. Sources tell E! News that the alleged victim was Rihanna, 20, and that she had visible bruises on her face.”

The couple were photographed leaving together in a Lamborghini moments before the incident at the 2009 Grammy Salute To Industry Icons in Beverly Hills. Several reports say the woman assaulted was traveling with him in his car. When police were called and arrived, he ditched the car and jet…

This story is getting crazy!

For more on the 2009 Grammys, check out Beats & Bars Grammys Live Blog here!

And for more Chris Brown, check out the GIANT List here!

Check out yet another single from Sir Luscious Leftfoot, the newly released “Ringtone” from Big Boi.

At this rate, we’ll probably hear the entire Big Boi album track by track before he ever releases it. It’s been months since its initial release date but Sir Luscious Leftfoot sounds dope and I haven’t given up on it just yet. Especially since Big Boi has said that he is simply holding onto it for a good reason: It will be a three-album package including a new Outkast album and a solo project from his boy Andre 3000.

Kinda makes it worth the wait!

Brooklyn’s McCaig-Welles Gallery keeps doing what it does best: 1) gathering top-notch graffiti artists for quality exhibits, and 2) throwing the best opening night parties. Melissa, owner/curator, is a friend to all aerosol addicts ensuring that at any given reception you may meet Logik One or Cope2 while sipping a brew.

The latest show, “All That Glitters Is Gold,” is a group show featuring graff greats CRIME 79, Can2, Carlos “Mare139″ Rodriguez, Chris Smith aka “Subtexture,” EWOK5MH, Indie184, LogikOne and many more. (In other words, real deal cats.)

Opening reception is this Saturday at 7. Be there…

Graff giants Pose and Ewok from MSK/The Seventh Letter collaborate on this video spot for Australia’s “first” spraypaint, Ironlak. It was shot in the Cream City skate park in Milwaukee, and will be used as part of Ironlak’s ad campaign. (Whatchu got Krylon?)

These guys are respected for a reason, look at the detail on that burner.  

You may remember Chicago artist Nick Cave from Brian Keith Jackson’s “30 Americans” feature in the latest issue. His “Soundsuits,” named for the sound they create when they’re worn, are extensions of the artist’s work in fashion and dance. Cave studied and danced with Alvin Ailey before launching his own fashion line and boutique. To see those elaborate “Soundsuits” in motion is a marvelous experience (see video below), one that enables you to fully understand what the work is really about. Fusing elements of the ritualistic and the fantastic into living sculptures, Cave’s colors and compositions erupt as if a painting flared out into the third dimension.

At the Jack Shainman Gallery in NYC through February 7th you’ll find a small army of still soundsuits, almost muted, lined up on a pedestal waiting for someone to climb in and take them for a whirl. Created from found materials, woven hair, beads, etc., these bold works are impeccably ornate and detailed. Makes me want to see what world this garb would be worn in.

Also on view are Cave’s more “traditional” (not really) sculptures that further explore issues of race and identity.

Martha Cooper is not reinventing the wheel with her latest exhibit, “Street Shots,” merely diggin’ in the crates. The difference between her and other photogs on the same beat is Martha’s files are DEEP. This show covers 50 years of her work.

Featured are images from legendary graff bible, Subway Art—which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year with a deluxe reprint—as well as her five other photography books. Also on view are peeks at her latest title, Going Postal, which focuses on taggers who use postal stickers to lace the city.

“Street Shots” is up through February 13th at LA’s Subliminal Gallery

Head over to Cubeecraft and browse through a lengthy list of your favorite pop characters—from the ’60s version of Batman to our new super-prez, Barack Obama—and follow the easy steps to print, fold, and construct your little friend.

The list of characters offered is pretty amazing. There’s Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper, Spider-Man and Venom, Indiana Jones and a fertility idol, Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach, Michael Meyers and Jason Voorhees, Mulder and Scully, Two-Face and the Joker, Pee-Wee Herman and Chairy. And every week they drop someone new for your desktop collection.

If you’re feeling adventurous, there’s some characters on there that may test your patience…

Gotta love a brilliant design scheme. Better stockpile your office’s printer paper.

New Ancient Structures is a two-man show in Philly’s Space 1026 featuring hometown hero A.J. Fosik, known for his insane sculptures (I guess they’re sculpture, they are 3D), and Andrew Schoultz, a San Fran painter who creates a storm of colors on the canvas. The two have collaborated to create an installation that is pretty trippy—with  bears bursting through the walls and laser beams bouncing throughout the gallery space—that stems from both artists’ shared love of comics, street art and pop surrealism. Exhibition closes on the 30th, so don’t sleep. Definitely not the same old, same old…

Israeli street artist Know Hope’s exhibit at the Ad Hoc Art Gallery in Brooklyn is straight-up amazing. He is known worldwide for pieces that focus on one set of stringy characters, which are featured scaled down and drawn on cardboard for the gallery. His illest street work are his lanterns (pictured above) where he inserts a candle into a temporary sculpture on the street.

With his latest show, titled “The Insecurities of Time,” Know Hope continues to obsess over time and the ephemerality of his medium. Fusing gallery skills and street edge, the work is somber, hopeful and fresh.

To add to Mary’s Obama swag roundup from yesterday, the indefatigable Shepard Fairey presents a commemorative plate set sold exclusively at The Future Perfect. The limited-edition set, one red plate, one blue, runs for $89.

(Is this guy smart or what? Cha-ching!)

Elizabeth Alexander will read a poem for the Inauguration of Barack Obama this morning. She will be the fifth poet selected by a president: JFK chose Robert Frost, Jimmy Carter chose James Dickey, Bill Clinton had Maya Angelou for his first swearing-in and Miller Williams for his second. Alexander has been applauded as the perfect selection by Obama by many, as her work is both intellectually complex yet stays true to her roots.

Alexander was born in Harlem in 1962. She attended Yale, where she is now a professor and will assume the role of Chairship over the university’s department of African American studies later this year. She received a BA at BU, and a PhD from University of Pennsylvania. Alexander’s father was an adviser to Lyndon Johnson and secretary of the Army, her mother is a professor of African American history at George Washington University. Her brother works along with Obama on his transition team. Alexander has two children. She has five published books of poetry, one of which was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2005. Her work has been featured in listless poetry collections.

The poet, as a tiny little one-year-old was in a stroller with her parents close to the Lincoln Memorial when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech. Some 45 years later, she will preside over a crowd that shadows even King’s, with literally the whole world watching the African American president sworn into office, and recite her verse as a blessing from which we as a country can begin again.

***

The following is a letter she wrote late last year concerning the honor our new president has bestowed upon her:

“Words matter. Language matters. We live in and express ourselves with language, and that is how we communicate and move through the world in community.

President-elect Obama has shown us at all turns his respect for the power of language. The care with which he has always used language along with his evident understanding that language and words bear power and tell us who we are across differences, have been hallmarks of his political career. My joy at being selected to compose and deliver a poem on the occasion of Obama’s Presidential inaugural emanates from my deep respect for him as a person of meaningful, powerful words that move us forward. And as his campaign was a movement much larger than the man himself, I understand that as a country we stand poised to make tremendous choices about our collective future. The distillation of language in poetry, its precision, can help us see sharply in the midst of many conundrums.

This is a powerful moment in our history. The joy I feel is sober and profound because so much struggle and sacrifice have brought us to this day. And there is so much work to be done ahead of us. Poetry is not meant to cheer; rather, poetry challenges, and moves us towards transformation. Language distilled and artfully arranged shifts our experience of the words – and the worldviews – we live in.

This is only the fourth time in our history that a President has featured a poet at his inaugural. I hope that this portends well for the future of the arts in our everyday and civic life.”

-Elizabeth Alexander
December 2008

Prepare for the deluge of coffee table books that have the words “Barack Obama” on their front cover in 2009. Just as ridiculous as some of the memorabilia that have our new President’s visage stamped to it, I cannot wait to see what publishers will think up to cash in on our first African-American President. Quick to the plate are three publishers with a solid product.

HarperCollins presents Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs, edited by Dr. Deborah Willis with an essay from Kevin Mirada of the Washington Post. Willis is a professor of Photography and Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. She pulled together images from various sources: from professional photojournalists to students on cell phone cams at the various rallies. The result is a well-orchestrated, somewhat familiar, visual ride through the man’s campaign.

Powerhouse Books presents Yes We Can, shot by award-winning photograher Scout Tufankjian. Noted to be the only photographer to have followed Obama from the very beginning of the campaign to its victorious end, the book is a very personal view of the man and his inspirational effect on the people around him.

Triumph Books offers a little bit more with The Rise of Barack Obama, shot by Pete Souza, covering Obama from his first day in the US Senate through the Pennsylvania primary. Souza, the official photographer for former President Reagan, has accompanied Obama to seven different countries including Russia, Kenya and South Africa. Alongside the images, many unpublished, Souza includes personal notes from that moment to lend an added depth.

Seems like the peeps at Legoland California couldn’t wait for the president’s inauguration day so they “pre-created” it for themselves. Think of how much time went into making this model…

Graffiti has always been used as a vehicle for political expression. This past election, the illest street and graff artists came out in droves to support President-Elect Barack Obama. While street art is, by its very nature, ephemeral, these works will somehow remain…