I know, I know. I’ve been to Africa and back and haven’t blessed the blog. My Nigeria trip was unbelievable. I got to see Rihanna, Jay-Z, Usher, Mary J Blige, Chris Brown and Fat Joe perform. I interviewed Tyson Beckford. I met some incredible people from both the US and the UK but most of all I left with an intense desire to not only return to Africa for an extended visit but to also trace my roots back there. All of my life I’ve known that my family could not trace our ancestry any further than South Carolina (on my Dad’s side) and Kentucky (on my Mom’s side) and I always accepted it as the way it is. I’m no longer willing to accept that.

From the moment I stepped off of the plane in Lagos, Nigeria until the moment I passed through the final check point to board a London bound plane off of the continent, people mistook me for Nigerian. They asked me what African country I was from and more specifically what tribe I was from. For the first time in my life I felt a deep sadness in my uncertainty. Now I begin my quest for answers.

You can read my blog from the field here and here.

Since I’ve been back I’ve been busy covering events like Ryan Leslie’s Listening Session, Kid Cudi’s Mixtape Release Party, Three6 Mafia’s performance at the Alife store in NYC, and Nas’ protest outside of the Fox News building.

And now, it’s celebration time. Tomorrow is my birthday (the big 2-6) and I’ve returned to the city of my birth (Los Angeles) to celebrate. I’m off to the pool to continue reading the Power of Now. Enjoy your weekend!