Tay Keith Opens First Black-Owned Studio in Nashville, TN
Tay Keith came out of the gate with BlocBoy JB over five years ago, and the Memphis native hasn’t slowed down since.
Tay Keith sat down with the head honchos of the Earn Your Leisure podcast, where he discussed his career and opening the first Black-owned studio in Nashville, TN.
“Nashville is known as ‘music city.’ Why’s it known as ‘music city’? Because it’s the home capital for country music and pop,” Keith said during the interview. “The thing is you have all of these big pop records and big country artists blowing up out of Nashville, Tennessee. Why can’t it be a first Black-owned Hip-Hop studio in the middle of the two? So I was like, it’s a big fish, small pond.”
He added: “I feel like you spend $100,000 on jewelry. You spend 200 racks on cars. You could go buy property. You could go commercial. You ain’t got to buy cribs, the least you can do is rent them out.”
Tay co-produced Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode,” which capped at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. He also laid the backdrop on BlocBoy JB’s “Look Alive,” which peaked No. 5 on the Hot 100, and Drake‘s “Nonstop,” which landed at No. 2 on Billboard.
He also produced Beyoncé’s version of “Before I Let Go,” which he spoke about during an interview with HuffPo.
“I mean, I get so much love from the Beyhive. Beyoncé fans show me so much love because it’s not just a Beyoncé record, you know? This one connects with Frankie Beverly, so it’s kind of a “Black People Anthem.” Anybody could just remake a song, but when I work with Beyoncé and remake it, that takes it to a different level. I got a lot of support from the Beyhive, and a lot of her fans always send me love.”
In 2018, as Keith was gaining fame as a producer, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.
He was nominated for Best Rap Song for his work on “Sicko Mode” at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.
Cordae Partners with PUMA After Turning Down 95% of Deals, ‘I Can’t Be a Slave to the Brand’
Cordae isn’t willing to affiliate his name with just anyone. The rapper is opening up about how selective he is when it comes to securing brand deals amid the release of his official collection with PUMA.
The HI-LEVEL collection launched on Thursday with an RS-X, Suede, and a range of apparel including a jacket, hoodie, sweatpants, and three T-shirts. It’s an organic partnership Cordae described as a “full-circle moment,” due to his lifelong respect for the brand.
“In middle school, the public school I went to in PG County, we had to wear uniforms,” Cordae toldNice Kicks. “It was a white shirt, khaki pants, and all-black sneakers, so I always rocked the PUMA suedes.”
The rapper aims to maintain integrity with his brand and the companies he aligns himself with. While speaking on his newest partnership with Bootleg Kev, Cordae explained how careful he is when agreeing to a collaboration.
“I’m not never going to be myself bro for the sake of a brand,” Cordae quipped.
“I’ve turned down millions and millions of dollars because it’s a brand that’s kind of off-brand for me as a person.”
The 25-year-old rapper also touched on the “95 percent of brand deals” he has turned down, “no matter how big or small.”
“I’m still an artist at the end of the day, and I try to just move with my heart,” he said. “I try to just move with my feelings. I can’t be a slave to the brand.”
Continuing on his natural respect for PUMA, the DMV native explained why he had no issue partnering with the veteran sports brand.
“PUMA [does] hella community outreach. They do hella giveback stuff,” he said.
With a baby on the way with tennis champion Naomi Osaka, Cordae is making sure to secure the bag and move toward generational wealth. Aligning himself with PUMA was “organic,” considering the fashion brand’s work in the community.
“All the extracurricular stuff they do for communities across the globe is tight,” he said. “They gave me a lot of creative control and let me bring some of my friends, it turned out dope.”
Ben Stiller Isn’t Apologizing for His Controversial Role in ‘Tropic Thunder’
Ben Stiller is proud of his work in Tropic Thunder, despite the film’s past controversies of Robert Downey, Jr. in blackface, and its portrayal of people with disabilities.
In the film, which is satirical comedy, Robert Downey Jr. plays a method actor who undergoes a pigmentation alteration surgery to darken his skin so he can play a Black character in a war movie.
Blackface isn’t the only cringeworthy thing about the movie. Tropic Thunder was also criticized for its portrayal of disabled people. In the movie, Stiller plays actor Tugg Speedman, who portrays a character named Simple Jack in a film within Tropic Thunder.
A fan took to Twitter to tell Stiller to stop apologizing for his role in the film.
“I noticed on Twitter how liberals have been trying to ‘cancel culture’ the movie, Tropic Thunder…Now people like Ben Stiller are actually apologizing…for what????? it’s a classic movie…funny af!!!!
The user added: “it was and still is funny AF … Even funnier now with cancel culture the way it is. It’s a MOVIE. Ya’ll [sic] can just get over it. I was DYING laughing when I first saw it back in the day and so was everyone else,” the user wrote.
Stiller replied: “I make no apologies for Tropic Thunder. Don’t know who told you that.”
“It’s always been a controversial movie since when we opened. Proud of it and the work everyone did on it.”
@BenStiller Please stop apologizing for doing this movie. It was and still is funny AF… Even funnier now with cancel culture the way it is. It’s a MOVIE. Ya’ll can just get over it. I was DYING laughing when I first saw it back in the day and so was everyone else. pic.twitter.com/HEyR0ztQD4
According to The New York Post, Robert Downey Jr. addressed the controversial character during an interview on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast in 2020, where he argued the role is about “how wrong [blackface] is”.
“[Ben] knew exactly what the vision for this was, he executed it, it was impossible to not have it be an offensive nightmare of a movie,” Downey Jr. said. “And 90 per cent of my black friends were like, ‘Dude, that was great.’ I can’t disagree with [the other 10 per cent], but I know where my heart lies. I think that it’s never an excuse to do something that’s out of place and out of its time, but to me it blasted the cap on [the issue].
“I think having a moral psychology is job one. Sometimes, you just gotta go, ‘Yeah I effed up.’ In my defense, Tropic Thunder is about how wrong [blackface] is, so I take exception.”
Downey was nominated for Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the role.
Black Doctor Makes Inclusive Hair Kits for Coily-Haired Patients
This hospital has a textured hair care council.
Pediatric intensive care physician Dr. Nekaiya “Kay” Jacobs is making her patients at Advocate Children’s Hospital in Illinois feel valuable with inclusive hair kits filled with textured-hair products for curls and coils.
According toGood Morning America, Jacobs launched her initiative this past January with the help of colleagues and funding from the hospital’s diversity and inclusion budget.
“Our patients who have coily or kinky or wavy hair textures, or our patients with more protective styles like braids, really didn’t have the tools that they needed to be able to care for their hair texture,” Jacobs said.
“We just sat down and said, ‘These are the tools that we would want if we were in the hospital.’ And then we went from there, talking to a lot of our administrators who were really excited to hear about the project and really just supported us,” Jacobs explained.
Jacobs’ small clear kits are stuffed with textured hair products, including shampoo, conditioner, wide-toothed comb, bristle brush, and colorful bonnet.
Screenshot via YouTube/Good Morning America
“Doing hair is a very important part of the day for our patients because we try to keep them, if possible, on a morning routine where they’re able to wake up, brush their teeth and do something as simple as put their hair in a ponytail,” Jacobs said. “So this part of the day being able to do so with supplies that are specific to their hair texture has been really important to [the patients], and they get really excited about them.”
Jacobs and her colleagues started by distributing about 200 kits for each Advocate Children’s campus, drawing in several requests from other service units interested in offering them.
Screenshot via YouTube/Good Morning America
“We’re doing our best to provide kits in the different units within the hospital,” Jacobs said. “That has shown us one area where we definitely have an opportunity for growth, as well as outside of the children’s hospitals.”
NASCAR Joins Bethune-Cookman University for New Campus Lab Program
NASCAR will be joining forces with Bethune-Cookman University for its new Campus Lab Program. The program is for students who express interest in the sports industry.
According to NASCAR.com, students who are accepted into Campus Labs Program will develop the experience in market activation. Students will work with mentors, as well as with Black employment resource groups.
“The NASCAR Campus Lab Program will provide exposure to the motorsports industry, career readiness guidance and valuable real-world experience for Bethune-Cookman students,” saidCaryn Grant, Senior Director of NASCAR Diversity and Inclusion, to NASCAR.com. “We look forward to developing the next generation of sports professionals while strengthening NASCAR’s relationship with this historic university.”
Students who complete the program will get a scholarship prize, and at least one student will get a chance to work at NASCAR Diversity Internship Program.
“We’re extremely excited about the opportunity to expand our long-standing relationship with NASCAR and the Daytona International Speedway,” said Dr. Lawrence M. Drake, interim president at Bethune-Cookman University. “The NASCAR Campus Lab Program will provide B-CU students with direct access to NASCAR and the world of motorsports through experiential learning, mentoring, and professional support. We believe this kind of exposure will not only help our students further develop the skills and competencies they need to compete in the 21st-century knowledge economy, but will open their minds to an industry that probably wasn’t previously in their consideration set.”
The NASCAR Campus Lab Program is available to sophomores, juniors, and seniors who major, minor, or have a concentration in business at Bethune-Cookman University, and have a demonstrated interest in working in the sports industry.
Additional program details and application information will be available to Bethune-Cookman University students through the College of Business and Entrepreneurship beginning February 19. Applications for the fall 2023 cohort will close March 24.
Black Mom Faces Continuous Rejection in Attempts to Patent Skin Tone Emojis
Katrina Parrott invented the idea of emojis with diverse skin tones long before smartphone users had access to them on their screens. But she is still awaiting recognition and a patent for her innovation.
According to BuzzFeed, Parrott’s situation has moved lawmakers to question the U.S. Patent and Trademarks Office regarding the treatment of people of color, women, and other underrepresented creators. Following Parrott’s approach for help, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas sent a letter to the office addressing the issue and demanding answers.
“We are writing to express our concerns regarding the disproportionate challenges that small businesses, women, people of color, and other underrepresented minorities face in the patent approval process,” the letter wrote, with a demand for a response by Feb. 28.
“When giant tech companies like Apple are granted patent after patent by the USPTO, women and entrepreneurs of color face steep hurdles in getting credit for their ideas — and too often see their patents rejected,” Warren said in a statement.
“The USPTO needs to do a full accounting of how and why entrepreneurs of color disproportionately have their patents rejected and level the playing field for small business owners taking on Big Tech,” she added.
“The USPTO has undertaken extensive and concerted efforts during the Biden Administration to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the US patent system, as well as to identify any reasons those who apply for patents are not awarded them,” the office told BuzzFeed.
Parrott, 64, pursued her idea in 2013 after her daughter observed there were no emojis that reflected her skin tone. After conducting some research, the innovator used over $200,000 of her savings to hire a screen engineer, illustrator, copyright specialist, and videographer.
Later that year, she launched iDiversicons in Apple’s App Store, where customers had access to over 300 diverse emojis.
The Washington Post reported that even after a successful presentation at the Unicode Consortium and a meeting with Apple executives that later led to Unicode members agreeing to add five diverse skin tones, the tech company still declined to partner with Parrott, saying they would design their own, directly into the iPhone, according to Unicode standards.
Parrott attempted to file a lawsuit against Apple for copyright infringement, but the case was thrown out.
Bishop T.D. Jakes Plans to Bring Affordable Homes to Black Americans
Homeownership forBlack Americans has always lagged behind white homeowners. Bishop T.D. Jakes wants to do something about it.
T.D. Jakes Real Estate Ventures was created to make homes affordable for Blacks.
“This is organic to me,” Jakes said, according toThe Root.” It’s part of my DNA, and it’s part of things that I’ve always done. Beyond the communities that we built prior to TDJ REV, it gave me some experience and equity in understanding the crises that we’re facing.”
Forbes reports that Jakes Real Estate Ventures will also have mixed-income housing, and it will help build grocery stores and hospitals.
“We wanted to create living spaces that included green spaces, biking trails, access to healthier foods, and covenants in our properties that protected us from loan sharks and things that have been as pervasive as cancers eating into the fabric of the African American community,” said Jakes.
Jakes also spoke about the government’s failure to bring imperative information about equity and Real Estate Investment Trusts and finances to the Black community.
“I’m really trying to leverage my entire platform to be a conduit so that we are knowledgeable about what’s out there, and we are not afraid of what’s out there. Information moves away fear.”
Jakes hopes to build his idea on 95 acres of land next to Tyler Perry Studios, including townhouses, family homes, and apartments.
“We’re due those opportunities, and we’re due those chances,” Jakes said. “We’re also acquiring some pre-existing Malta income facilities (no annual property tax) where it’s feasible to make sure there is a hand up for workforce and underemployed people to have access to adequate living—as well as people who are gainfully employed.”
Headded: “We might have a great church service, but we’re not having a great community and we’re not having a great life. Ultimately, my vision is to stand at the epicenter of ministry and marketplace in such a way that not only are we ministering to your spiritual needs but we’re also a ministry to your natural needs by forming [partnerships] within the marketplace for the upward mobility of people of color”.”
Petition Filed in Miami Claims Unborn Fetus Hasn’t Received Proper Care with Incarcerated Mother
In a bizarre twist in a second-degree murder case, the rights of an unborn fetus are in question.
NBC Miamireported representatives for Natalia Harrell, an inmate at the Miami-Dade Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, have filed a petition to have her unborn baby released from detention. The petition claims the unborn fetus, spending approximately eight months in the womb, hasn’t received proper prenatal care while the mother is being held without bond.
William Norris, an attorney representing the unborn child, claims the fetus has a right to justice. “An unborn child is a person,” Norris said. “A person has constitutional rights and one of them is the right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law.”
According to reports, the fetus’ father, Michael O’Brien, filed the petition, raising growing concern for the wellbeing of his child. Attorneys claimed Harrell’s last OBG-YN appointment was in October and the Miami-Dade Corrections Department failed to bring the 24-year-old to a scheduled prenatal medical appointment at a local hospital.
HuffPostreported the inmate was once left in a 100-degree transport van without air conditioning. “I am asserting the right of someone who is a person who has not been considered in the decision to incarcerate his mother,” Norris said.
The unique case is eye-opening to experts across the country. With Roe v. Wade being overturned last year, many are saying more cases like this will come to light, especially in states like Florida.
“A woman’s right to an abortion has been erased from the U.S. Constitution; What we’re beginning to look at more closely is what are the rights of an unborn child and at what point do they begin to arrive?” Kendall Coffey, attorney and legal analyst, toldNBC Miami.
“Florida, like most states, has spoken to the rights of an unborn child with respect to the right to be free from homicide — so the homicide statutes include unborn children in Florida and many other places, but other constitutional rights, other statutory rights, are just being developed as we’re all beginning to absorb the new age of post Dobbs.”
Harrell is accused of fatally shooting Gladys Yvette Borcela after an argument in a Uber last July. She pleaded not guilty and is set for trial in April.
Data: Nearly 80% of Black Entrepreneurs Believe They Run Thriving Businesses, Yet Gaining Access to Capital Still a Hurdle
Despite facing ongoing challenges, Black entrepreneurs remain resilient and are focused on growing their businesses and helping build generational wealth.
New Bank of America data showed that 79% of Black business owners believe they run a successful business. “The pandemic may have disproportionately affected Black business owners, but they’ve successfully navigated economic uncertainty and record inflation,” Sharon Miller, Bank of America’s president of Small Business and head of Specialty Banking, told BLACK ENTERPRISE by email. The report by the nation’s second largest bank looked into the outlook of women, Black, and other business owners nationally.
She pointed out that many Black entrepreneurs are committed to building generational wealth and supporting other Black-owned businesses. Simultaneously, the findings showed that Black business owners are hungry for advice and educational resources, two key areas with the highest potential for growth.
Still, challenges linger for Black business owners, with 46% of them saying they have dealt with issues accessing financing. Some 39% reported not feeling properly qualified or informed about applying for capital. And 38% disclosed no relationship with a lender and 21% stated not knowing where to apply for capital.
“Starting off, it’s important to gather key information, statements, and documents ahead of applying for capital. Having this together before you apply saves time and reduces the risk that you will omit anything important from your application, Miller shared. “Additionally, it’s smart to work with an outside resource, such as your accountant or business advisor, to best tell your business’ story and enhance your application to increase your loan’s approval odds.”
Regardless of the lender you may work with, there are actions to consider to help maximize your chances of obtaining grants, loans, or other types of capital. Before seeking money, Miller indicated there are six “Cs” lenders look at to help determine the creditworthiness of a business applying for financing:
“Capacity: Lenders will evaluate your business’ financial capacity to support the loan obligation, as well as operating expenses. Typically, a business needs to have $1.25 of income to support every $1 of debt service.”
“Capital: Your business may own capital assets such as cash and equipment that could be used to support your credit application. The amount of capital assets and equity you have on hand will say a lot about your prospects for receiving financing.”
“Collateral: Accounts receivable, inventory, cash, equipment, and commercial real estate are all forms of collateral — assets lenders may accept to secure loans. When estimating the value of your collateral, a lender will look for liens — existing debt owed — on that collateral. The existence of a lien may disqualify the collateral as a supporting asset for the loan.”
“Conditions: The state of the economy, industry trends, and pending legislation relative to your business are all conditions lenders consider during their evaluation of your loan application.”
“Character: Work experience, experience in your industry, and personal credit history are all character traits that lenders will consider. Your personal integrity and good standing — and the integrity and standing of those closely tied to the success of the business — are of the utmost importance.”
“Communication: Your willingness to communicate candidly with your banker and your other advisors about the opportunities and challenges your business faces is key to a productive financial partnership.”
Moreover, Bank of America and Seneca Women last year launched the Access to Capital Directory for Black Entrepreneurs. The database is intended to help Black entrepreneurs learn about funding opportunities for their business, including equity, loans, and grants.
William Michael Cunningham, an economist and owner of Creative Investment Research in Washington, D.C., said that while there have been many reports offering advice to Black people on how to gain financing, there needs to be new approaches on how to achieve that goal.
For instance, he suggested one approach might be having the Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Agency make loans to Black business owners instead of simply making grants to intermediaries to non-profit groups, colleges, and universities that counsel Black businesses.
“That would help directly address the main issue that all of these reports are citing tied to the lack of access to capital,” he says. “Until that is done, then it means that the problem won’t get solved.”
