I had one more week at home after that, and then I hit the road for, well, 2 months. I started off in Detroit where we did a Kanye show during Superbowl week. Freeway was at that show. His beard is longer than ever, like at least 6 inches of beard power. And he has a grill now, so he looks like a superhero. From there I went to New York to play at the Rub, and you can check out that Fader diary for a detailed rundown of the Grammys which came right after that. It’s juicier than anything I’ve ever written on my own site!

Now I’m in England where we kicked off the World Tour a couple days ago. First off we played at the Brit Awards, which is like the Grammys out here. I saw Prince perform for the first time, which is something everyone should experience in their life. But I wish he would’ve done his new joint. Then I saw Coolio backstage…. that was odd.

But frankly the craziest part was our performance. I’m just saying, I’m happy I was there. For Golddigger we had 76 girls covered in gold body paint, parading across the stage. It was a heavenly experience. Add to that the 20 girls in the string section and Joi the background singer, we had 97 girls up there! Dayum. It’s a celebration.

One thing that’s crazy when I go to Europe with these guys is the paparazzi. Not just for Kanye! If we’re showing up to an event and Ye’s in one car, it could be like me and IB coming out of another car and as soon as we walk out we’ll be blinded by all the flashes of their cameras in our faces. And they obviously don’t know who we are. I guess they’re just trying to cover any possible scoop. It’s a little overwhelming. Honestly I have no problem understanding how actors can get to punching them. And I’m a peaceful jew.

On the 16th we did the first show of the tour in Manchester without rehearsing. In front of 16,000 people. 2nd show in Glasgow, we had 9,000 people. This is killing our US tour already, as far as crowds and energy. And I’m loving the new stage set-up because I’m so close to the crowd.

I just wish we had Karriem and Omar with us (the percussionist and keyboard player from the US tour and from Common’s shows). We’re still at the stage where the show changes every day, so every show is still a bit of an experiment, but they’re turning out really good. We’ve got Sa-Ra and Keyshia Cole opening for a couple of shows, and Lupe is here for the London shows too. So it’s pretty GOOD Music’d out right now.