Writing: Since 1994, I have been writing on pop music, culture, and politics for a variety of publications. I have regularly contributed to National Public Radio, KCET’s Artbound, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and KPCC’s Take Two. In the past, I’ve written for: Vibe, Wax Poetics, the LA Times, Oakland Tribune, Village Voice, SF Bay Guardian, URB, LA Weekly, Scratch, SJ Metro and Minneapolis City Pages, amongst others. I keep an online portfolio of my published work.
In 2003, I edited and co-authored the book, Classic Material: The Hip-Hop Album Guide.
Scholarship: I am a Professor of Sociology at CSU-Long Beach, teaching courses in popular culture, social issues and race/class/gender.
My book, Legions of Boom, came out in spring of 2015 on Duke Univ. Press. It’s focused on Filipino American mobile DJ crews in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’ve also written on Asian Americans and hip-hop (1,2), retro soul music, and the critical geography of the Kogi BBQ truck, among other essays. A portfolio of my scholarly writing is available here.
I am currently the project curator for an upcoming exhibit at the Japanese American National about the history of Japanese American car culture in Southern California.
I am available as a speaker for campus and community events.
Audio: Thanks to my audioblog, Soul-Sides.com, I was able to produce my first official CD compilation in 2006, Soul Sides Vol. 1. The second volume followed in the spring of 2007.
Since 1993, I have been a DJ. I was at KALX FM in Berkeley for 10 years. I DJ private events in case you need one.
From 2014-2016, I was co-host on the Pop Rocket podcast and from 2017 through 2021, I was the co-host of Heat Rocks, an album-oriented podcast I tape alongside music supervisor Morgan Rhodes. (Heat Rocks is currently on hiatus).
Personal: I reside in Los Angeles, along with my wife Sharon Mizota and daughter Ella.