50 Cent, who has been one of the most prominent rappers turned entrepreneurs in the game, has turned his stake in Effen Vodka into a massive profit.
The Queens native will sell his part of the company, which he once co-owned, into $60 million. For years 50 has marked most of his social media posts with the #EFFEN hashtag, but in recent weeks people have taken notice over the absence of the hashtag.
While most social media rumors don’t reveal much, it turns out those monitoring 50’s hashtags were right.
“I have an album that I’ve been waiting to put out… I think we do have to kinda dumb down material to fit into where the culture’s producing. Because now it’s a little more melody driven; it’s not as sophisticated as it was when I first came in. I guess it’s a place for it… [My album] it won’t be as smart as the Jay-Z record. I want to make music that people have fun to, so you don’t have to stop. You can get it immediately without having to uh sit and analyze,”
50 has always been a thinking man. We look forward to any and all new music from the “Many Men” artist.
Also you can put down that bottle of Effen now that 50 is selling.
Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre are now best known as executives that completely changed the landscape of the music business, but that wasn’t always the case.
Music was Dr. Dre’s first love growing up in Compton and he used his massive record collection as a creative outlet to avoid falling into the violence around him.
Dre’s mother Verna would host house parties and Dr. Dre, who was still a toddler, would be in charge of the music.
Verna introduced Dre to soul and funk music, laying the groundwork for a full musical education that would expand across all genres.
As a teenager, Dre became known in his neighborhood as a DJ. He would mix the old school hits he used to play at his mother’s parties with the new school hip-hop that was just starting to become popular.
That combination of genres and styles would become a Dr. Dre trademark. He’s known as the godfather of G-Funk, a subgenre of hip-hop that uses funk-inspired guitars with hip-hop percussion.
After changing hip-hop in the studio, Dre would try his hand as an executive, spotting young talent and giving them the opportunity to take off.
Jimmy Iovine went from studio janitor to engineer to rock super-producer in ridiculously quick fashion.
After his cousin Ellie Greenwich, a singer-songwriter on the NYC rock scene in the ’60s, got him a job at a local record company, Jimmy got a call on Easter Sunday asking him to come in.
There was an artist trying to work on a record and the studio needed an extra pair of hands. But in an Italian-American family, Easter Sunday isn’t just another day and Jimmy’s mother was having none of it.
Somehow Iovine escaped his house and went to the studio. The artist waiting for him? John Lennon.
Yes, Jimmy Iovine’s first work as a music engineer was with John Lennon.
After that, Jimmy worked on Bruce Springsteen’s legendary album Born to Run. Bruce would spend hours on end in the studio working to find that perfect sound. It became an obsession.
From there, Jimmy Iovine would produce for Patti Smith, U2, Stevie Nix, and some of the biggest names in rock music before moving to the boardroom.
Dre and Iovine first connected in 1992 when Dre and Suge Knight came to show Iovine The Chronic.
Iovine was floored. He and Dre had an immediate connection.
When Dre left Death Row, Iovine gave him his own company Aftermath. When the other executives at Interscope told Iovine to drop Dre because of outrage over the ‘gangsta rap’ label, Jimmy refused.
As business partners, Dre and Iovine forged the perfect partnership.
The unlikely duo of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre went from creatives behind the scenes to executives that changed the way business and music interacted forever.
Yesterday, Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine published a piece on Kendrick Lamar. What’s even cooler, Dave Chappelle is the one who profiled him.
I’m definitely jealous of the people that got to witness this interview in real time. I wonder if Kenny and Dave got a little smacked.
During the interview, Kendrick talks to Dave about the content of his music, who he thinks about when he writes his music, his “Oh, shit, I made it” moment, and his new album DAMN.
Tons of great questions from The Age of Spin comedian. One of the most interesting questions was Chappelle’s comparison of writing comedy to Kendrick creating his music.
Chappelle touches on the Kathy Griffin issue (for those who don’t remember) and wonders what Kendrick thinks might be “too far” when it comes to self-expression.
Here’s what Dave asked:
“I want to start by asking you about a recent scandal in the comedy world: Kathy Griffin and the picture of her holding Donald Trump’s decapitated head. My question for you is not about politics, but about the content in your work. In comedy right now, the issue is, “When does a comedian go too far?” And I imagine in hip-hop that’s been a long-standing debate… When you write, how much do you think about the repercussions of anything you might say?”
Kendrick’s reply? Self-expression is paramount:
“When I look at comedy—at Richard Pryor, at you—it’s all self-expression. I apply that same method to my music. I came up listening to N.W.A and Snoop. Like them, it’s in me to express how I feel. You might like it or you might not, but I take that stand.”
Besides discussing self-expression, Kung Fu Kenny revealed the truthfulness behind his track “Duckworth,” which he also revealed to Dave to be his favorite track off of DAMN. In the track, Lamar narrates the story of his father, Ducky, trying to prevent an armed robbery at his job at KFC. Can you imagine years later rapping about the incident to millions of fans? Insane!
Kendrick told Chappelle that “Duckworth” was all about perspective:
“The idea that I wanted to put across from that event was one of perspective. Everybody has their own perspective, and recognizing someone else’s perspective blows my mind a hundred thousand percent. The way that event unfolded… I had to sit down and ask my pops, ‘What was your perspective at the moment?’ And, ‘Did you ever think it would come around full circle like that?’ That always fascinated me.”
HBO’s four-part miniseries The Defiant Ones documents how the unlikely partnership of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine became one of the most fruitful partnerships in music history.
While the film, which debuted on Sunday, begins with the drama around Iovine and Dre’s $3.2 billion deal with Apple over Beats headphones (I won’t ruin it for you, but there is drama) The Defiant Ones goes way back in time, detailing the two producers’ journeys separately.
Dre and Iovine had very different starts in the music business.
Dr. Dre was a musical prodigy from an early age and became known for his DJ skills around his neighborhood.
Iovine, on the other hand, was a college dropout who didn’t want to go work on the docks like his dad and uncles.
While Jimmy Iovine was looking for work, his cousin Ellie Greenwich, a songwriter on the scene in the 60s, got him a job at a recording studio mopping the floor.
As the story goes, Jimmy would pester the main producer in charge of the studio to let him work on the boards and on one Easter Sunday, Iovine got his break.
“It’s Easter 1973. I’m 19. Doing clean-up work. Sunday the record studio called. Come in. Answer the phone. They had a slot open. I said, ‘On my way.’ My mom, upset, said relatives were coming over after church. I said, ‘Going to work. I’m saying no to nothing.’”
It’s clear that Iovine saw the recording studio as an escape route from his surroundings,
“This record place looked to me incredible. Better than my dad working on the docks. I saw future possibility.”
Turns out Jimmy was right. Guess who was waiting for him at the studio?
“And my first recording session? John Lennon.”
Imagine the intimidation. John f*cking Lennon. But Iovine talks at length in The Defiant Ones the key to his success is being able to “turn fear into a tailwind instead of a headwind.”
“Bruce Springsteen is as afraid as any of us, but he knows how to conquer it. If you’re great, that means you’re freaked out that the next day you’re not going to be great. You keep trying. Never be satisfied.”
Pretty awesome stuff.
All four episodes of The Defiant Ones are available on HBO and its streaming services. Go watch that.
What were you doing when you were 12? I’ll tell you what I was doing: jack shit.
However, 12-year-old Mikaila Ulmer of Houston is making a splash in the business world.
According to the Houston Chronicle, a group of 10 NFL player investors, led by the recently retired Arian Foster, is funding Ulmer’s Me & The Bees lemonade brand.
With a homemade recipe given to Mikaila by her grandmother, the company’s mission is to put money and awareness towards preserving bees, which are low key going extinct.
She appeared on Good Morning America when she was just 11 and was already clearly more focused than your average child.
But just how much capital is she reeling in?
How sick would you be if I told you that she’s already raised $810,000 in investments for her company? What if I told you that she just partnered with Whole Foods for an $11 million deal?
Well, as sick as you are, you should also be inspired. Foster spoke about his business partner at an event in Texas recently saying,
“She’s so humble. You always have to be open and willing to learn, and she is. I’m learning from her, too. It’s a cycle. You have to keep an open mind and continue to grow.”
After appearing on Shark Tank, Mikaila has gotten a lot of amazing press and support from her community. First starting with Texans players, other investors now include Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner and Lions safety Glover Quinn.
Just goes to show you, it doesn’t matter how old you are to get your success going. If you have the fire product and vision, anything is possible. Foster continued,
“We look for companies that match our main focus of developing a good product, but are also good people and do it for the right reasons. It’s more than about money to us. We believe that investing in small black businesses is extremely important.”
Jay-Z went from being a hustler on the streets of Brooklyn to an international icon. How does a rapper out of the Marcy Projects become a mogul? Genius marketing.
Over the years, Hov has managed to market himself and his brand by collaborating with the right companies and people.
For the marketing campaign Jay-Z placed ads all over NYC, including several subway stations like the Jay St. stop in Brooklyn as well as Times Square. Signs were also spotted in Los Angeles.
The Brooklyn rapper didn’t stop there. He proceeded to premier an ad during Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The ad cast Mahershala Ali and left Jay-Z fans with hints of a possible short film featuring Academy Award-winner Lupita Nyong’o as well as Donald Glover.
To make the hype even crazier, Tidal tweeted last night that you have to sign up for the streaming service before midnight in order to experience 4:44.
If you didn’t sign up for Tidal before midnight, you are basically fucked. The only way you could experience the exclusive content is by switching to Sprint.
Genius marketing. Especially since Sprint acquired a 33 percent stake of Tidal, bumping the music streaming service’s worth to $600 million. The partnership also makes Tidal available to Sprint’s 45 million retail customers.
Looking back, this isn’t the first time International Hov has used his business savvy to promote an album.
Remember Magna Carta Holy Grail? Jay-Z paired up with Samsung to release his 12th solo album on July 4th back in 2013.
https://youtu.be/ZNlciK_2qCA
You know what’s boss af?
Pairing up with Samsung and not only striking a $20 million deal, but having them pay for the marketing and front $5 million to purchase 1 million copies of your album.
Let’s take another look at a small step Jay-Z took and turned it into a big business. His promotion of Armand de Brignac, the iconic gold bottle with an ace of spade on it.
No one had ever really heard of the champagne before Jay-Z premiered it in his video for his hit song “Show Me What You Got.”
Back then everyone was poppin’ Cristal, but Jay-Z was responsible for everybody changing their expensive beverage of choice.
So why Champagne Armand de Brignac? Three minutes into the video above you see a waiter bring Hov a bottle of Cristal Champagne but he dubs it and tells him to fetch the gold bottle with the ace of spade.
Why all the beef? Hov boycotted Cristal because of offensive comments from the managing director of Cristal, Frederic Rouzaud. Rozaud spoke to the Economist in regards to the association between Cristal and the bling lifestyle and if it could actually hurt the brand,
“That’s a good question, but what can we do? We can’t forbid people from buying it. I’m sure Dom Pérignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business.”
Hov pulled the champagne from his small chain of popular sports lounges — where bottles of Cristal sold for $450 and $600. In response to Rouzaud’s comments, he said,
“It has come to my attention that the managing director of Cristal, Frederic Rouzaud views the ‘hip-hop’ culture as ‘unwelcome attention,”’ Jay-Z said. “I view his comments as racist and will no longer support any of his products through any of my various brands including the 40/40 Club nor in my personal life.”
Guess what Hov’s next move was? Copping his own champagne. Jay-Z was paid millions of dollars and equity in Sovereign Brands to promote the champagne brand, Armand de Brignac, that no-one had heard of.
In Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went from Street Corner to Corner Office, Zack O’Malley Greenburg broke down Jigga’s profit:
“The production cost per bottle of Armand de Brignac is about $13; the wholesale price is $225. The maximum output is 60,000 bottles per year. If Jay Z splits the $212-per-bottle profit evenly with Cattier and Sovereign, a back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests his annual take would be a little over $4 million.”
Moving on to the next venture that Jay-Z absolutely crushed, his work with search engine Bing and his autobiography Decoded was revolutionary once again.
Bing and Jay-Z collaborated and created probably one of the best marketing campaigns the web has ever seen. Media was calling the campaign “Rap’s Rosetta Stone.”
For the collab, Bing and Hov dropped a page of the book every day in a new location over the course of a month leading up to the autobiography’s release. Each location was inspired by a different story on each page.
Pages were placed in 13 major cities in the US. This allowed fans to experience Hov’s story in real time, putting the entire biography in context.
A bronze plaque was installed in the Marcy Projects, an entire Cadillac was wrapped in a page and paid homage to the birthplace of hip-hop, and a page was even transcribed onto the floor at the Delano Pool in Miami.
Facebook
The campaign helped Bing acquire an 11.7 percent increase in visits, enter the global top 10 most visited sites, and earn 1.1 billion media impressions.
Jay-Z’s Facebook followers grew by 1.1 million and Decoded was a NYT bestseller for 19 weeks. This was all in the course of one month.
https://youtu.be/XNic4wf8AYg
Let’s not forget about Jay-Z’s entertainment company Roc Nation. Founded in 2008, the full-service entertainment company houses a record label, talent agency, a touring and concert production company, music, film, and television production company, and a music publishing house.
The client list includes some of the world’s most recognizable names: from Rihanna, Shakira, J. Cole, and Big Sean to Yoenis Cespedes, Kevin Durant, Dez Bryant, and Robinson Cano.
To jump start Roc Nation’s music distribution, Hov signed a 4-year distribution deal with Sony Music back in 2009. Following their success in 2010, Roc Nation partnered with London-based entertainment company Three Six Zero Group.
In February 2013, Roc Nation made major moves, signing a worldwide music publishing administration deal with Warner/Chappell Music.
Even after the Sony deal expired, Hov managed to get a multi-year partnership with Universal Music.
Music is not Roc Nation’s only money maker. The sports division brought in a whopping $19.2 million as of September 2016, representing less than 20 clients. That is a major move.
Jay-Z has got the Midas touch. Just this year, Roc Nation announced the formation of Arrive, a new division of the company that will focus on investing and nurturing promising startups. Hov will own the past, present, and future.
Last Friday, the Earth Goddess Rihanna started tweeting at some of the most powerful politicians in the world asking them to commit to providing funding for the Global Partnership for Education.
“Is a multi-stakeholder partnership and funding platform that aims to strengthen education systems in developing countries in order to dramatically increase the number of children who are in school and learning.”
Rihanna, as Global Ambassador for the GPE, is using her celebrity and influence to ensure that countries will commit to funding education for impoverished and disadvantaged communities.
Rihanna tweeted at the German Government Spokesman Steffen Siebert, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Argentinian President Mauricio Macri, and France’s President Emmanuel Macron.
Hi @Rihanna, education is a key area of German development policy. We have nearly doubled spending since 2013.Thanks for spreading the word! https://t.co/ff4QX1rb0s
Rihanna is perhaps the biggest pop star in the world, but she uses that fame to effect change in the planet’s most at-risk communities. I mean, it’s quite the testament to RiRi’s standing in the world that she can literally tweet at leaders of entire countries and have them clamoring to answer.
The GPE aims to raise $3.1 billion by 2020, but it needs the help of countries all over the world. According to the Global Citizen website, GPE works by,
“Giving funds to and working closely with governments and Ministries for Education in 89 of the world’s poorest countries to create stronger education systems that will benefit every child and support lasting change for over 800M children.”
This is truly one of the great initiatives on the planet and Rihanna is fighting on behalf of the GPE, using her clout to force commitments from the world’s superpowers to help the partnership.
The interactions between Rihanna and these world leaders, and their subsequent responses, also revealed how damn trash our own country is. Donald Trump is too busy tweeting out Breitbart conspiracy theories to commit to funding education for the world’s poorest children.
Shoutout the countries with actual leadership and, like, normal people in charge. Must be nice.
As for Rihanna, as many on twitter are quick to point out, that woman is simply a miracle worker. All praise to the GOAT.
Les Brown is one of the most revered and well-known motivational speakers in the world, but that was not always the case.
Born in an abandoned building in Liberty City, a poverty-stricken area in Miami, Brown was labeled “educable mentally retarded” in the 5th grade due to his hyperactivity and inability to concentrate. Because of that Brown was placed into special education classes until high school.
Despite this setback and having no college education, Brown has become a bestselling author of several books on achievement and is looked at as an icon by some of his peers for his motivational speaking engagements.
The dynamic personality has given speeches to McDonalds, AT&T, and all over the globe to share his powerful story. So how exactly did Brown do it?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVxFazbDh1w/
Well, after graduating high school, Les Brown became a city sanitation worker, but he had bigger dreams than that.
Brown wanted to pursue a career in radio broadcasting. He loved the cadence and style that disc jockeys had so he decided to go after it.
One day, after constantly practicing his DJ skills in his home with a brush as the microphone, Brown decided to head down to one of the local radio stations in hopes to become a DJ. When he got into the station manager’s office, the manager asked, “Do you have any background in broadcasting?”
Les responded “No, sir I don’t.”
“I’m afraid we don’t have a job for you then.”
The station manager figured that would be the end of Les Brown bothering him. But that manager gravely underestimated Brown’s determination to become a disc jockey.
Brown marched into the general manager’s office every day for the next week, hoping a job would be available. Finally, the station manager relented and gave him a job as an errand boy.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVvaqG8DJsS/
Soon after, given Brown’s enthusiasm to learn the tricks and trades of being a disc jockey, the station allowed him to pick up visiting entertainers like the Fort Tops, Diana, Ross, and the Temptations in those classic Cadillacs. Mind you, Brown didn’t even have a driver’s license.
Brown did whatever was asked of him and more. He taught himself the hand movements of the DJs on the control panels, staying in the control room until they would ask him to leave.
One Saturday afternoon, Brown was the only one at the station when a DJ named Rock was drinking on the air. Brown walked back and forth in front of the booth saying to himself, “Drink Rock, drink Rock!
Brown kept filling up Rock’s drink at his request. Soon the phone rang and it was the general manager:
“Les this is Mr. Klein.”
“I know,” said Les.
“Les, I don’t think Rock can finish this program.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Would you call one of other disc jockeys to come in?
“Yes, sir.”
But when Brown hung up the phone, he said to himself, “Now he must think I’m crazy.”
Brown wasn’t about to waste this golden opportunity. This was his moment to drop the hammer and realize one of his dreams. Ain’t shit was stopping him.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVhytXtjEBA/
He called his girlfriend and mom. “Turn up the radio and come out on the front porch because I’m about to be on the air!”
Brown waited 20 minutes before he called the GM. “Mr. Klein, I can’t find nobody,” Brown said.
Klein asked, “Young man do you know how to work the controls?”
“Yes sir,” Brown answered.
Brown couldn’t wait to get behind the control system and show Miami what he was made of. He sprinted into the booth and moved Rock out of the way so he could grab the spotlight.
He sat down behind the turntable, put on an old Stevie Wonder record and said,
“Look up this me LB, triple P-Les Brown, your platter playing poppa. There were none before and there will be none after me. Therefore, that makes me the one and only. Young and single and love to mingle. Certified, bonafide, indubitably qualified to bring you satisfaction, a whole lot of action. Look up baby I’m your l-o-o-o-ove man.”
He was HONGRY. Yes, I just created that word because spelling it with a U doesn’t do Brown’s desire for success any justice.
Brown’s performance blew away his audience and the owner of the station so much that he rose to become a full-time disc jockey.
From that memorable moment, Brown continued to achieve greatness as he landed a top radio show in Columbus, Ohio in the late 1960s and started his path to becoming one of most respected motivational speakers in the world.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVcoc8yDFQz/
After moving to Detroit in the 80s, Brown found himself in some hard times while starting his business.
Brown needed to share his office with an attorney. It got to the point where he had to sleep on the floor because he couldn’t afford an apartment. Guys in the building would laugh at him and say,
“There’s the guy talking about becoming successful and look at him. He’s bathing in the bathroom upstairs on the 21st floor. He sleeps on the floor. Look at him.”
The only one laughing now is Brown, because he persisted, prepared, and persevered to get to a place where his high-energy, passionate voice has earned him the honor of being on of the Top Five Outstanding Speakers worldwide by Toastmasters International.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP_vw1Jdvr4
Plenty of people won’t be able to envision your dream or they’ll want to tear it down because of where they are in life. Their way of thinking produces purely ‘reasonable’ results.
But in order for you to achieve your dream, you’ve got to be an “unreasonable person, you’ve got to be an uncommon person,” as Brown says in many of speeches.
As long as YOU know what you’re capable of and what it will take to achieve your dream, nobody else’s opinion matters.
Amazon is making its move. Last week the company purchased Whole Foods, entering into the American grocery market. On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journalreported that Nike has agreed to sell some of its items on Amazon.
For millennials, Amazon is dope. It provides us with an easy one-stop shopping solution that is unmatched anywhere else on the Web.
But as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, arguably the most powerful man in tech with a net worth of $84 billion, dips into every sector of the economy and Amazon swallows up smaller companies, we should be concerned that the online behemoth will eventually stifle competition. If I told you that Amazon would become an online marketplace for health insurance in five years, would you be completely shocked?
An op-ed in the New York Times Wednesday compared Amazon’s domination to the railroad monopoly in the 19th century.
Not only does Amazon produce television series, manufacture products like Alexa and the Fire TV Stick but it is also one of the world’s largest logistics networks and marketing platforms, as well as the dominant provider of cloud computing, which counts among its clients the Central Intelligence Agency.
Amazon’s easy-to-use interface and Prime membership service has bought good-will with consumers (including me). It may be years before any of us wake up and realize Amazon has integrated itself into every facet of our lives.
By then it may be too late. A MarketWatch article shows the reach of Bezos’ investments and it is pretty terrifying. Additionally, Amazon is also building brick-and-mortar stores which seems like a big “F U” to the competition.
Amazon doesn’t need Apple-esque stores in affluent neighborhoods but even if they don’t turn a profit it keeps the company at the forefront of everyone’s mind.
In 2013 Bezos purchased The Washington Post for $250 million. He brought a new approach to the newspaper industry and reimagined the Post, which is now rivaling the New York Times in online subscriptions.
At the Future of Newspapers Conference in Turin, Italy, Bezos said,
“We run Amazon and The Washington Post in a very similar way in terms of the basic approach. We attempt to be customer-centric, which in the case of the Post means reader-centric. I think you can get confused, you can be advertiser-centric — and what advertisers want, of course, is readers — and so you should be simple-minded about that and you should be focused on readers. If you can focus on readers advertisers will come.”
So, as Amazon introduces technology that delivers goods to our homes in minutes, is it crazy to think we will all become little Bezos bots who live in the United States of Amazon?
But based off of what he’s accomplished in just the past four years alone, you can already make a movie based off that shit.
There’s no denying that he has the biggest mouth arguably in all of sports, but he writes checks that his ass can cash.
But oh yeah, he’s been cashing in like a mad man as his intentions are clear: he’s in it for the money and isn’t stopping until he’s atop that Forbes Top 25 Highest-Paid Athletes list.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BViyARhgVPx/
Considering that he’s been in the game for not even half a decade, he’s already cemented himself as the cash cow of the UFC and most recently set up a dream match against Floyd Mayweather which is gonna make him stupid bread.
Win or lose, you’re looking at a guy who’s already pretty damn rich and gonna transition that into being wild fucking rich.
The craziest part is that it wasn’t too long ago when he was dead broke, working a job that not most would do, and dreaming of one day making it.
4 years ago, Conor McGregor picked up a welfare check of $235.
He'll likely walk away with $100,000,000+ from Mayweather fight.
Not only did he make it but he far surpassed anything anyone would’ve expected from him. Now he’s ready to take all the money he can from sports and transition that into a movie career (most likely) where he isn’t going to risk his health and make even more BREAD.
No doubt he’ll be raking in cash for a long time to come but he started as a young boy in Dublin who knew he wanted to fight and didn’t want to be broke anymore.
Check out the video above highlighting Conor McGregor’s story and rise to the top.
