So here's a quick rundown on what's been keeping me busy lately:

The European Tour was great! Everyone showed me much love. I've got to make sure I don't wait so long before getting out there again. There's a bunch of pictures up on my MySpace if you want to check 'em out (more are on the way, too). Again, a big thanks to everyone that made it out to see me in all the places I don't normally get to. The trip was a bit of a whirlwind. I only had a few hours most places and most of that time was spent getting ready for shows or flights, so I didn't get to see as much as I would have liked. All the more reason to go back, though, right?

As soon as I got back I had to turn around and get on a plane to Canada for a couple weeks of shows, and that was great, too. I really love Canada—the crowds are always dope, and super open-minded. There's a generally chill vibe just about everywhere I play up there.... For the record, whenever possible, I'm always down to go to Canada....

Speaking of which, I AM heading back at the end of August for the Rifflandia Festival in Victoria, BC. It's a 3 day festival with a whole bunch of acts.

I'm headlining this year with Black Mountain (stoked to see them), who incidentally have one of my favorite discs to come out in the past few years. Definitely check it out if you haven't heard it yet, and if you're near enough to come out to Rifflandia, it's gonna be dope and definitely worth the trip.

Another upcoming show I'm amped about is right around the corner. Shepard Fairey and I have decided to throw a party/fundraiser for Obama.

It's in LA on Friday, August 1st, and you can buy tickets here. Also, Shepard is giving away 100 Obama prints to the first folks through the door. I'll be doing some sort of an amendment to the Anti-War Mix I did in 2003. This time with a bit more focus on hope and change. If you are down, come through.

There have been a few things going on in my studio lately too, but there's one project in particular I'm finally able to speak on (well only just a little). I did some work for another video game, and this time they're putting the disc in along with ALL of the games they ship out. I can't really go too far into it, but I think I definitely DESTROYED the mix. Plus, for all the DJs out there, there is a sweet little bonus beat I threw in that will be hella fun to scratch to, or mix vocals, or whatever.

Last thing I want to mention is I'm going to China (Beijing and Shanghai) for 3 shows. I'll be out there a week after the Olympics start and I just know I'm going to see some crazy shit. I'll most definitely have some wild pictures and stories to drop on you when I get back.

As always, there will be more updates and changes soon, but that's a wrap for now because I'm running late to the airport. Again. Always something....

Peace,

Z

This Sunday I'm playing the afterparty for Soundset 08 in Minneapolis with the Rhymesayers posse. I don't get out there as much as I'd like to, and I'm amped to be rocking in their hood, those dudes are all mad cool.

In a week, I'm headed off to Europe for a mini tour! I'm hitting a lot of spots (info to the right), so if you happen to be out that way, come check it out.... Will be good times for sure. It's my Z-TRIP “NO SLEEP TILL ZURICH” TOUR.... Ha ha.

Threw a brand new track on the downloads page for everybody.... I'm betting the Ladies Love it.

Summer is shaping up to be hot like an Inferno, but I've got some cool news to drop on you real soon. In the meantime, I've got to get ready for this Rollercoaster through Europe. Just wanted to give a heads up about that Urb article before I left the country.... Speak with you Humans later.

Peace,

Z

Operation MySpace is the name of the show. Pretty bizarre line-up if you ask me, but yours truly is representing the DJ slot, so wish me luck. (I think I may be the first of my kind to do this sort of thing.)

Anyway, for those of you wondering why I would take on something like this, I wanted to speak on it here. When first approached, I was really on the fence about it. I mean, growing up listening to the kind of music I did (and still do), this is really the last place I would've thought I'd be playing. Naturally, I don't support the war, or wars in general. But something about this whole opportunity made me curious. It made me ask myself all sorts of questions: Is it right for me to go over there? Is it wrong to support this sort of thing? Will people equate my doing this as a support of the war? I've never been asked to do something like this, so I'd never really thought much about it in this context....

Before I gave them an answer, I felt like I needed to speak with some people that could help me sort it all out. I approached Chuck D, and Henry Rollins (via Shepard Fairy), and asked them their thoughts. After picking their brains a little bit, they all gave me plenty of things to expand on, as well as a vote of confidence. It totally helped. It reinforced what I was feeling all along, which was that under the circumstances, it would be best to keep my views out of it and just focus on the people there and giving them a show that could take their minds off of things for a while. Rollins said it best: “You're just visiting, they live there. You get to come back home.” I knew that, but to hear it come from him somehow had a different effect on me. It really stuck with me. (BTW, Henry has gone out there a few times already, and he also opposes the war.)

So I kept thinking.... Home. I like being home; I like it a lot. I'm always on the road, and coming home, that's the best. When you are out on tour for months at a time, getting a visit from your lady or getting to speak to someone that reminds you of home is the next best thing to being there. That feeling makes it all go away for a little while; makes you forget where you are. Now, I know a show from me, no matter how great, won't come close to a wife, husband or child coming to see them (or fuck, getting them all back home for good would be the very best thing), but if my show has any relation to the the feeling they get when they think of being home, then I'm glad to help out....

So with that being said, it's on.

You can check the show out live on MySpace. I plan on bringing back plenty of pictures too, as well as a journal of my experience. It should be pretty interesting.

If you want to chime in on any of this, there is a thread going on in the forums.

Also, real quick, we've just re-stocked the Shepard Fairy/Obey designed t-shirts in the store, they won't last too long, so check 'em out before they are gone.

Peace,

Z-TRIP

In the spirit of new things, I just did a mix for Indie 103.1 FM with a bunch of new music to promote this show coming up next month with MSTRKRFT and Shepard Fairey. Click the image below to download the mp3:

Hit up the forums and let me know what you think of it....

Peace,

Z

Big thanks to everyone that came out to a show, picked up a t-shirt/cd, or even just played some of my music for your friends. I couldn't do any of this without your support. So with that said, here's a chance for me to give back a little something to ya'll...

Nirvana - Lounge Act (Z-Trip Remix)

Z-Trip - M@shUptight

Z-Trip - Soundclash

Okay, here's [maybe] the last skate. video I'll post here.... Check the shirt!

(embedded video removed from feed)

See you next year....

Peace,

Z

First off, if you haven't heard, I'm going to be down under for two weeks on the Elements Tour with the Jungle Brothers, Swollen Members, DJ Format, and others (Masta Ace is on one of the shows too, what?). I'm bringing Soup (of J5), Pete (my man on the drums), and my visuals guy with me. We've got some definite next-level shit for everybody out there.

The other breaking news is we finally got the Shepard Fairey shirts in stock at the store. And just to catch everyone off guard, I'm also dropping a brand new, super limited white label 45.... I only made 500—they're hand numbered—and half of them are coming with me to Australia, so the only other place to get them is in the store.

If you haven't checked out skate. yet, you really should. Aside from all the music I produced for the soundtrack, I just think it's a really fun game.... I haven't had as much time to play it as I want to lately, but I've been having fun checking out the videos people post every once in a while...

(Embedded YouTube video removed from feed)

That's just a little preview, but you can peep a better looking version at goonskate where they've got tons of other great shots too....

In a bit of a tribute to Galactic's new record (which I have a song on), and Zeppelin's big reunion show (which I'm opening for...just kidding), I'm throwing up a cover of Custard Pie I did with Galactic a while back. It's from a show we both did in New Orleans, and I think you're all really gonna dig it.

Anyway, I gotta jet, but check back Christmas morning because I heard the imaginary fat man with the flying reindeer might leave a little something special here for all ya'll....

Peace,

Z

So, a quick recap: The All Pro Tour was great! If you missed it, I feel bad for you... but it was dope. I had the visuals, the MCs, the drums, etc... shit was poppin'. My personal highlight was rocking on stage with Rakim in NY. We did six songs together and I have to say, that was some dream come true shit. I never thought I'd be working the decks for The R! It was also great getting down with Whipper Whip in Michigan, that dude is a master on the mic. Hopefully I'll have photos and some tour audio up soon, stay tuned.

Let's see what else... Oh, if you missed it, my latest CD All Pro is in stores. It's the soundtrack to the new video game of the same name from 2KSports. Also, speaking of video games, I'm hella excited to let you all know that the new EA Sports game skate. is out now for Xbox 360 and PS3. If you don't have it already, make sure you pick it up, because I did a whole bunch of music exclusively for this game too, so check it out. The big news for me on this one is that I remixed Nirvana's "Lounge Act" from Nevermind, and to my knowledge, I'm the first person to ever do a legal remix of that band, WHAT?!?!... Me and Q-Bert teamed up on a track too. But more than all of that... the game is super fresh and pretty realistic... I'm having a hard time putting it down.

Yo, I've got another tour coming up in AUS and I'm pumped—I love it out there. Gonna bring the same set up as the last tour, but with a couple new surprises. Soup from J5 is coming out with me to get down, and there are some seriously heavyweight opening acts on the bill: Jungle Brothers, Swollen Members, and DJ Format. Speaking of AUS, the new download is from one of the last times I was out there with Supernatural at the Good Vibrations Festival. Check out the crowd response... Pretty wild.

Also have a show coming up in Brooklyn at Studio B with my homies MSTRKRFT, as well as some dates in CO and SD, so be on the look out....

I threw some new tunes up on my player on MySpace too, so check 'em....

And last but not least, I've got a couple T- Shirts from the tour (guys and girls). Shepard Fairey did exclusive designs for me (thx, homie) and they went pretty fast on the road... If you want one before they're completely gone, get on it... They won't stay around for long. They'll be up in the store in the next few days.

Peace,

Z-TRIP

Also, I have to say... this is, hands down, the best tour I've ever put together (and I don't usually say stuff like that).

I've got a full video crew, a drummer, MCs Gift of Gab and Aceyalone, as well as my homie Tricky T on the decks. It's a full on production. I don't know when I'm going to pull something like this off again, so please if you are close, try and make it out. I would really hate for anyone to miss this....

Z-TRIP

The tour is lined up and it looks like it'll be a crusher—drums, visuals, MCs, tour bus.... It's gonna be big.

Just freshened up the MySpace page with some new pictures and songs on the player, and also threw a couple new tracks up on the downloads page.

Gotta get back to work preparing, but I've got lots of stuff on the way and I should have some good updates for you from the road.

Word.

Z-TRIP

Also, I've been told the routing for the tour is finally complete, though we're waiting on confirmation of the venue in El Paso.

Official update from Z is brewing, but things are crazy busy here getting ready for the tour. Expect a real update in the next few days; this one is just to make sure people knew about the Stingaree show in two days.

For those of you reading this and not in San Diego or El Paso, I'll make it worth your while by linking to something nobody else has: But keep it quiet till the real update....

• August 15 - Los Angeles, CA - House of Blues
• August 16 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto
• August 18 - Austin, TX - Elysium The Parish
• August 19 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre
• August 21 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theatre
• August 22 - Phoenix, AZ - Brickhouse
• August 23 - Anaheim, CA - The Grove

Also added SoCo fest in San Diego on August 25th with the Flaming Lips.

I got hit up to do the soundtrack for the new 2k8 Football game a while back. It came together pretty fast (about 2 months). The soundtrack and game are both coming out late July. The soundtrack is coming out on Decon records. I remixed some stuff, as well as recorded new tracks with homies like Chali 2na, Aceyalone, Gift of Gab, Pep Love and Casual, as well as DJ Faust, Dead Prez, Dub Trio, Clutch, Deftones, Rush and... oh yeah, RAKIM!!

Dates are still being finalized for the tour, I'll post them up shortly, but it looks like I'll be starting the tour in the Northwest (around the same time the game and album drop). Try and make it if you can, the tour is going to be dope. Aceyalone and Gift of Gab are coming out with me, as well as Tricky T... and, if you know me, you know I've got a couple other surprises up my sleeve as well....

Anyway, I gotta get back to work, lots to do before we unleash the dogs. Make sure you check back, there are all kinds of crazy things jumping off this summer. I can't speak on everything just yet, but I know you'll dig it once I can fully break it all down. BIG things, yo!

Peace,

Z-TRIP