The intercontinental lovescapades that Lupe Fiasco narrates on Paris, Tokyo are the stuff dreams are made of. Okay, maybe not everybody’s dreams, but speaking for myself, globe-trotting with a special someone or two would definitely be the perfect way to spend the next few weeks.

With spring now in full swing and bulky winter jackets chillin’ in the back of the closet, daydreams of beautiful summer days are livelier as the senses and imagination are slowly waking up to the season’s bright colors. Paris, Tokyo is a smooth-like-the-perfect-pina-colada track you can dream to year-round, but any spring or summer playlist would be incomplete without it. Peep the visuals above.

It’s halfway through the month and I forgot to mention it’s National Poetry Month - sorry! Go to poets.org for more information, and/or check out FSG’s excellent blog, The Best Words in their Best Order. There are a lot more poetry readings going on this month than usual in the NYC.

Monday, April 14, 7:30pm
Greenwich Village Barnes & Noble (396 Ave of the Americas @ 8^th Street)
Marcus Reeves: Somebody Scream! Rap’s Rise to Prominence in the Aftershock of Black Power

If Jeff Chang’s Can’t Stop Won’t Stop or Nelson George’s Hip Hop America didn’t do it for you, pick up Reeves’s new history of hip hop, Somebody Scream!, which tracks hip hop from its roots in NY to now with a special focus on it’s politics and what it has meant to a post-black power generation. Reeves will be talking or reading tonight, and likely be doing a Q+A. Also, check out the TRACE insider we did with Reeves last month before his book dropped.

Tuesday, April 15, 7:00pm
Housing Works Used Bookstore & Café (126 Crosby just south of Houston)
Mark Yakich and Aaron Baker

In celebration of National Poetry Month, the Academy of American Poets hosts a night of poetry at Housing Works. Poets Mark Yakich (Unrelated Individuals Forming a Group Waiting to Cross) and Aaron Baker (Mission Work) will read from their work, followed by a Q+A and signing.

Wednesday, April 16, 6:30pm
Mercantile Library Center for Fiction (17 East 47th Street)
Beatrice.com + the Merc present Ed Park and Jane Kotapish

Among other things, Ed Park is the founding editor of The Believer, former editor of The Voice Literary Supplement and publisher of The New York Ghost. He will be reading from Personal Days, his debut novel which focuses on a New York office. Jane F. Kotapish is a native of Virginia, a current resident of Brooklyn and has danced professionally for ten years. She’ll be reading from her debut novel, Salvage.