For more than a decade, the Japanese American rapper (born Tom Shimura) has kept the Bay Area on the hip-hop map, at first through collaborations with DJ Shadow and Lateef, and lately as a solo star with songs on TV shows such as "Entourage" and "Gossip Girl." His latest album, "Everywhere at Once," has kept him on the road since it was released earlier this year. . We caught up with him by phone at a tour stop in Amsterdam.
Q: You tour with your wife, Joyo Velarde. Doesn't that take out 90 percent of the fun of being a rapper?
A: It's a great thing. I don't think we would be able to do it we didn't do it together. It's just too much time away from home.
Q: Aren't you worried about some Fleetwood Mac drama going down?
A: That is disgusting. I can't even think about that.
Q: You also produced her album. Don't you need some space?
A: As a guy, I have what is known as "man time." So occasionally I take man time to kind of do what guys do, which is, like, sit around and watch TV and be a dummy.
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