I switch between a few different hats on any given day:

1) I just finished my PhD in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley, having written my disseration on the social history of Filipino American DJs in the SF Bay Area. In general, my research interests are focused around youth culture, popular culture, identity and community. For example, I just finsihed an essay for an upcomning NYU Press anthology on hip-hop as a site for Afro-Asian cultural crossings.

2) I've been writing on music, film and other popular culture since 1994. I mostly write on music (mostly on hip-hop at that) and my reviews and features have appeared in Vibe, the Village Voice, NPR, XXL, Scratch, Wax Poetics, LA Weekly, SF Bay Guardian and other publications. My writing portfolio is linked to on the left sidebar and I help maintain a blog, Poplicks.com, which focuses on pop culture and politics.

3) I've been a DJ since 1993, mostly doing radio on KALX FM in Berkeley from 1993 until 2004. I still do a few club gigs around S.F. and when I'm not buried under other work, I try to knock out mixtapes but these days, I mostly audioblog at my site, Soul-Sides.com.

4) And last but definitely not least, my wife and I just had our first child, a daughter, in February.