Once a predominantly African-American form of expression, hip-hop has taken root around the world, becoming a dominating part of pop culture from Halifax to Hanoi. Vancouver-based freelance journalist Tara Henley has observed the phenomenon from her home turf, but she's about to take a firsthand look at hip-hop's international influence. Henley, a regular contributor to the Straight, recently received a $10,000 grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, which will allow her to travel to a number of locales to research her upcoming book, Global Beat: The Hip-Hop Diaries. "It's going to be a nonfiction book, kind of half travelogue, half investigative reporting, looking at global hip-hop around the world, but from a really personal angle," Henley said. "A lot of people have a pretty emotional connection to hip-hop culture, so I'm really interested in looking at 1) how other scenes around the world adapt American hip-hop to totally different contexts, and 2) individual artists in those scenes: what their stories are, why they're interested, why they feel such a deep connection to it, how they feel about other hip-hop artists around the world. Is there some kind of common bond? That type of thing."

Henley departs on April 25. "I'm going to Tokyo first, then Hong Kong, then Bangkok, Sri Lanka, India, New York, Mexico, and Cuba," she said. "And if I get more funding, I'm going to go to Tanzania and [other countries in] Africa."

While she's on the road, Henley will be posting updates to her blog, which can be found at www.tara henley.com/.