Snoop Dogg, Snoop Dogg, rap snacks — (Photo: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

June 27, 2025

Snoop Dogg Settles Lawsuit With Session Musician Regarding Tracks On 2022 Album

The dispute was about backing tracks on the 2022 album, BODR

Calvin Broadus Jr., AKA Snoop Dogg, was sued for failing to get permission to use some music from a studio musician for his 2022 album, BODR, but the two sides have reached a settlement in the legal dispute.

According to Billboard, a joint motion was filed on June 24 in a Los Angeles courthouse by Snoop and session musician Trevor Lawrence Jr., stating that both sides wish to dismiss the lawsuit filed in 2024. Lawrence initially accused the Gin & Juice recording artist of failing to license two backing tracks that were recorded and used on the 2022 project, BODR.

This filing was made after both parties stated in a previous court filing that they had settled with the help of a mediator back in April. Terms of the agreement were not publicly disclosed.

Lawrence’s attorney, Frank Trechsel, told the media outlet that he can’t discuss the settlement but said, “Our client is happy to have resolved the dispute.”

The musician accused Snoop and the label he owns and records for, Death Row Records. He stated that the music used wasn’t cleared for the songs “Pop Pop” and “Get This D**k.”

He claimed that the two backing tracks were given to Snoop “on spec” and in 2020 to “experiment” with in the studio. Snoop was allegedly told that he would have to license the tracks if he decided to use them on the project. However, two years later, when the album was released, a licensing agreement was never made between the musician and the Long Beach rapper.

In the lawsuit, Lawrence even states that the two songs were also sold as NFTs (non-fungible tokens), which purportedly made tens of millions of dollars in profits.

Snoop denied any wrongdoing and stated that Lawrence was paid a producer fee of $20,000. Once that check was cashed, attorneys for Snoop said that solidified the deal made between the parties.

In a December court filing, Snoop’s attorney stated, “If Lawrence is entitled to any monies from defendants, it is the agreed-upon producer royalties offset against the $20,000 that he was already paid.”

The trial was set to begin in September before the parties announced the settlement.

Black-owned businesses, app, Birmingham, Better Auth — Photo by Joshua Woroniecki: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-black-android-smartphone-4554696/

by Sharelle B. McNair

June 27, 2025

Self-Taught Ethiopian Developer Raises $5M For ‘The Best Authentication Tool’ Better Auth

It all started at 18, when Engida started programming after a friend declined to assist him build an e-commerce search app

Ethiopian startup Better Auth is being labeled the “best authentication tool” after its creator, Bereket Engida, raised roughly $5 million in seed funding from top investors, TechCrunch reports.

Better Auth is an app providing an open-source framework, committed to simplifying how developers manage user authentication. Engida, a self-taught developer from the African nation, raised the hefty amount for his startup from Peak XV, formerly known as Sequoia India and Southeast Asia, Y Combinator, P1 Ventures, and Chapter One.

The beauty behind Engida’s genius is that the app was created in Ethiopia before he set foot in the U.S. It all started at 18, when he began programming after a friend declined to assist him in building an e-commerce search app. However, after landing numerous software jobs and building a web analytics platform that enables developers to monitor website user behavior, he continued to notice that authentication was a problem.

In the world of apps, each one has to be able to manage how users sign in and out of the system and reset passwords. After realizing that existing tools had extensive limitations or were too expensive to scale, allowing administrators to handle permissions and user roles, Engida took matters into his own hands. “I remember needing an organization feature. It’s a very common use case for most SaaS applications, but it wasn’t available from these providers,” the developer said.

“So I had to build it from scratch. It took me about two weeks, and I remember thinking, ‘This is crazy; there has to be a better way to solve this.’”

Engida and Co-Founder Kinfe Michael Tariku believed from the start that developers should be able to own their authentication systems rather than being committed to expensive platforms. It’s one of the various reasons why investors are celebrating it. The Addis Ababa native started working on a TypeScript-based authentication framework, making it fool-proof for developers to build secure login, verification, and session management workflows without overthinking efforts, according to Addis Insight.

Peak XV partner Arnav Sahu said the product is the “next generation of AI startups.” With their investment, Better Auth is the firm’s first direct investment from an African founder. “We first heard about the product from numerous startups we’ve worked with,” Sahu, who is a former principal at Y Combinator, said.

“Their auth product has seen phenomenal adoption among the next generation of AI startups.”

As a recent graduate of YC’s spring batch of startups, Engida is still thinking of ways to improve the free app. With Better Auth being the third Ethiopian startup to pass through the accelerator, the developer is focusing on ways to improve its core features and implement a paid enterprise infrastructure to plug into the open-source base. He also wants to scale the startup without getting rid of the community-built feel of the product. Building a team is also on the radar, as Engida is currently writing most of the code himself. “Building this feels important not just because people love the product, but because of what it represents,” he said.

“There aren’t many Ethiopian founders building global products. For many, it feels almost impossible. So seeing that traction gives hope for other people to try to be more ambitious.”

South Carolina, school, Black Education — (Photos: GlobalStock/Getty Images)

by Kandiss Edwards

June 27, 2025

Louisiana’s Public School Ten Commandment Law Struck Down In Appellate Court

The ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came only days after the bill was signed into law.

A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked a new Louisiana law that mandated the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.

The ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came only days after the bill was signed into law, NBC reported. The law, enacted by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, required posters of the Ten Commandments to be sized at least 11 inches by 14 inches. Public K-12 classrooms, as well as state-funded universities, were mandated to “prominently” display the images.

Critics, including organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, quickly filed suit. They argue that the law breaches the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the government from establishing or favoring a religion. This legal challenge argues that requiring religious texts in public schools constitutes state endorsement of religion, a concept long deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Supporters of the law, however, assert that the Ten Commandments are not solely a religious text but possess historical importance and serve as a foundation for American law. They view the displays as a means of educating students on historical legal principles. Despite these arguments, the appeals court’s decision to issue a stay means the law cannot be enforced while the case navigates the judicial system.

This legal dispute is drawing national attention and fueling the debate over the separation of church and state in public education. Similar attempts to introduce religious displays or instruction in public schools in other states have often met with legal obstacles.

The temporary halt from the 5th Circuit Court is just the beginning. Louisiana faces an uphill battle in implementing the law, as the judiciary continues to uphold precedents that protect religious freedom and prevent government-mandated religious practices in public institutions.

Pharrell Williams, Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, — photo credit: Various (cropped and combined together by Shoot for the Stars), CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

June 27, 2025

The Neptunes’ Iconic Label, Star Trak, Makes A Return

The imprint, started by Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, and Rob Walker, is back in business.

Star Trak, the label co-founded by Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, and Rob Walker, has been revived through a partnership with Create Music Group.

The label, once home to artists like Kelis, Clipse, Robin Thicke, Snoop Dogg, Teyana Taylor, and N.E.R.D. (which featured Hugo and Williams), was launched in 2001 and and ended in 2015.

We are excited to announce our new joint venture with Star Trak Entertainment 🔥 Welcome to the Create Fam! https://t.co/zzu8ohlAlg pic.twitter.com/3i2hAM4Xy2

— Create Music Group (@createmusic) June 18, 2025

“This isn’t just about bringing Star Trak back,” said Walker in a written statement. “It’s about building a new chapter rooted in where we’ve been and built for where we’re headed. The energy and vision that helped shape a generation is entering a new era. With Create as our partner, we’re giving artists the space to move differently, think bigger, and tap into an ecosystem of brands and collaborators that Star Trak has cultivated over the years.”

Create Music Group will provide worldwide distribution, technology, and marketing services to the label. The label previously had distribution deals with Arista Records and Virgin Records before joining Interscope Geffen A&M Records.

“We are honored to partner with Rob as he kicks off the next chapter of Star Trak,” said Kyle Bartelman, director of global corporate development and M&A at Create Music Group. “Rob’s creative vision and industry experience will uniquely position our artists for success with their music and beyond. We’re excited to have Star Trak join the CMG family, and we can’t wait to support Rob and the next wave of Star Trak talent.”

There was no mention of Pharrell or Hugo being involved this time around, but Walker did tell Variety that it was the “Happy” producer’s idea to bring Star Trak back. He also stated that there may be some reissues in the future, as well as a chance to showcase some unreleased material.

“Since it was [Pharrell’s] idea for me to rebirth this thing and put it out there, it’s wide open for us to figure out some special, cool concepts or ideas that we could bring some of that old stuff back that people love,” Walker told the media outlet. “Like the prequel mixtape he did for his Clones album, that was never fully released. There’s opportunities for stuff like that that could be cool for us to release and put out.”

LaToya Cantrell, New Orleans Mayor — (Photo: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Pexels)

by Sharelle B. McNair

June 27, 2025

New Orleans Mayor Sued For Continuous Trash Dispute In Famous French Quarter Neighborhood

The council has worked to strip Cantrell of her contracting power at the state level.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is facing litigation due to an ongoing trash dispute that’s stinking things up, WDSU reports.

Felix’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar owner Daniel Conwill and resident Marina Costopoulos filed a civil suit against Cantrell, accusing the mayor of intentionally awarding a trash contract to Henry Consulting for the historic neighborhood. As a result, Conwill and Costopoulos feel the trash pickups will be worse.

Residents and business owners are currently with the services of IV Waste, which holds an emergency contract for trash services. Signs have been posted in support of the firm, saying the French Quarter appears cleaner than ever with their services. They even touched on loving the lemon-scented spray the firm uses that keeps the streets smelling fresh.

“Mr. Conwill and Felix’s are completely satisfied with the services that Felix’s currently receives from IV Waste,” attorney Leonard Levenson representing Conwill and Costopoulos wrote in the lawsuit, according to NOLA. “IV Waste’s services further help increase the number of Felix’s guests by making the area surrounding his restaurant more appealing.”

Conwill and Costopoulos argue that Cantrell’s $73 million deal with Henry Consulting is invalid since it hasn’t been approved or voted on by the city council. Members challenged the bid, citing a 2022 ordinance that permitted the council to have approval authority over some professional service contracts that have a value of over $1 million.

The council has worked to strip Cantrell of her contracting power at the state level. Sen. Jimmy Harris is seeking to let the 13-member French Quarter Management District board enter into emergency contracts in the French Quarter after Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill into law earlier this month.

The new lawsuit is one of two that the mayor and the city have been hit with in correlation to the trash controversy. The other involves IV Waste, Richards Disposal, and Henry Consulting. With Henry Consulting expected to take over the contract Aug. 1 in addition to Richards providing trash services, resentment from property owners has been brewing due to having an issue with the city’s failure to maintain trash services after Hurricane Ida in 2021.

Richards was one of two main vendors that handled garbage hauling during the hurricane.

In the meantime, IV Waste owner and developer Sidney Torres IV said the company is overwhelmed with support and hopes things pan out.

“It’s our hope that the mayor and her administration lets the process play out like originally planned,” Torres said. “We will continue to give the best service until whatever day is our last day.”

Kyrie Irving, SpongeBob x Nike Kyrie 5 — (Photo: Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

June 27, 2025

Kyrie Irving Donates $50K To Fundraiser For Tamir Rice Foundation

Irving's contribution helps to get fundraiser over $85,000

A fundraiser was started by the mother of police shooting victim Tamir Rice, for the celebration of what would have been his 23rd birthday, and Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has donated $50,000 toward the cause.

Tamir Rice was only 12 years old when Ohio police officer Timothy Loehmann killed him at a recreation center park area on Nov. 22, 2014. The boy was unarmed but had a toy gun when Loehmann shot him. Samaria Rice, the victim’s mother, recently posted a fundraiser on GoFundMe to raise money for her nonprofit organization, the Tamir Rice Foundation. This year, Tamir would have been 23 years old if the tragedy had not taken place. Samaria is raising funds and asking people to donate $23 to represent how old Tamir would have been.

The funds will be used to give back to Cleveland youth through a building she purchased to support inner-city children.

“I miss my son so much each and every day. As our family approaches Tamir’s 23rd birthday. I’m asking for 23 dollars for 23 years without him. I purchased a building in the city of Cleveland to give back to our inner city youth with art and cultural developments.”

The goal is to raise $110,000.

The fundraiser was started on June 9 and has raised over $85,000. The campaign got a boost with a $50,000 donation from Irving, who is known for donating funds to many causes, and he came through again on June 25. He joined over 1,180 people who are helping to make Samaria’s vision a reality.

The New Jersey-raised NBA player just recently reportedly opted out of his contract with the Mavericks so he can ink a three-year $119 million contract extension to stay with the team until the 2027-28 season. He helped lead the Mavericks to the NBA championship last season, but the team lost to the Boston Celtics. Irving is currently nursing an ACL injury suffered during the last NBA season and is expected to miss the start of the upcoming season.

AI, artificial intelligence, trends, technology, skills, HiBob, career advancement — (Image: iStock)

by Stacy Jackson

June 27, 2025

EMPWRD AI Platform Connects Marginalized Groups With Equity-Driven Tools

EMPWRD provides users with tailored resources on legal aid, mental health, LGBTQ+ rights, workplace bias, housing discrimination and more.

EMPWRD, an innovative AI-powered platform by Create Labs Ventures, is taking inclusive technology to the next level, connecting users with equity-driven tools leveraged through trusted datasets.

Built upon a community-driven foundation, EMPWRD aims to connect marginalized communities, brands, and its everyday users to tailored resources such as legal aid, mental health support, LGBTQ+ rights, and more. “At EMPWRD, we’re not trying to be everything for everyone,” EMPWRD Founder Abran Maldonado said in a press release. “We’re building a platform with and for the communities who’ve been sidelined for too long—Black and Brown folks, LGBTQ+ users, immigrants, people with disabilities.”

Maldonado, an Afro-Latino technologist and co-founder of Create Labs Ventures, is dedicated to launching innovative projects that will reshape generative AI and digital human design and advance inclusive AI practices for educational and social impact.

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A post shared by Create Labs (@createlabs)

EMPWRD’s chatbot framework utilizes LGBTQ+ best practices from Queerly and incorporates information from the American Civil Liberties Union’s “Know Your Rights” database to provide users with resources and materials on constitutional rights and legal protections. Inclusive datasets by TONL and contributions from creators of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, disabled, and immigrant communities create the intricate details of real communities.

“We want to make sure AI works for us, not against us,” said Maldonado. With previous studies that revealed AI’s frequent misinterpretations of language, tone, an appearance of marginalized groups, “EMPWRD arrives at a critical moment,” the press release stated. “As AI technology becomes increasingly embedded in decision-making systems—hiring platforms, predictive policing, credit scoring—so too do the biases of its training data.”

The platform’s key capabilities include a Community-Trained Chatbot to offer real-time guidance on workplace bias, police encounters, housing discrimination, mental health, LGBTQ+ rights, and more; a Bias Detection Tool to analyze resumes, grant proposals and legal documents for issues before submission; an Inclusive Image Generator which creates AI-generated images that reflect diversity; and Tailored Resource Network to connect users with organizations equipped to provide support, pro bono legal advice, mental health care and DEI consultations.

EMPWRD launched in June, in line with Pride Month and Juneteenth. The AI platform partners with LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, HBCU innovation labs, and social impact organizations. Throughout the year, the platform will unveil new collaborations and community “data drops” from historically underrepresented groups.

Beauty Influencer, Maesa Magic — photo credit: pexels

by Stacy Jackson

June 26, 2025

Maesa Magic Incubator To Offer Early-Stage Beauty Founders $35K Grants

The Maesa Magic Incubator program seeks to award beauty founders with funding, weekly curriculum, mentorship and promotional opportunities.

Maesa Magic Incubator opened applications for its 2025-26 program and welcomes early-stage beauty and wellness founders from historically marginalized communities to apply for its $35,000, no-strings-attached grant funding.

Now in its third year, the fast-track business-building incubator has awarded over $200,000 in funding to entrepreneurs. “The Maesa Magic Incubator was created in direct response to the ever-present entrepreneurial access gap and aims to empower and amplify early-stage, underrepresented voices,” the website states. “The beauty and wellness industry has created an abundance of incubator programs for specific under-served populations over the past decade, but time and time again, early-stage entrepreneurs are ineligible due to a lack of revenue or inability to be shelf-ready.”

The program offers recipients a hands-on entrepreneurship curriculum, in-person workshops, events, funding, publicity, and community. Measa’s Hands-On Entrepreneurial Track offers a weekly curriculum conducted through virtual lectures and fireside chats with successful beauty and wellness company founders, unique major and minor tracks, and a final capstone project to present to a distinguished Advisory Board. Entrepreneurs are granted admission to Emerson University’s “Future of Commerce and Work” program at Harvard Faculty Club, a fully paid trip to Cosmoprof North America Miami in January 2026, and a premium BeautyMatter membership.

According to a press release, “with less than 3% of venture capital going to women and/or BIPOC founders, the industry’s pipeline problem runs deep,” and Maesa aims to change that. The Maesa Magic Incubator program, founded by Kelly Kovack, is “a hands-on, high-impact program” from the team behind Kristen Ess Haircare, Hairitage by Mindy McKnight, Being Frenshe by Ashley Tisdale, and Fine’ry.

Three winners will be selected to receive a $35,000 grant to support their business, promotional support on CEW, BeautyMatter, and Maesa handles, and mentorship from beauty founders, Maesa executive leaders, and industry experts. Previous program recipients include: The Potion Studio founder Aziza El Wanni; Trinoli founder Marsha McBain; House of Foster fragrance brand owner Selah Jael; and Fuzz Clinic hair removal brand owner Keisha Wagner-Gaymon.

Maesa announced the graduating class of the second cohort of the #MaesaMagicIncubator program. The 3 graduating founders are Jadis Montijo, Motivo Scar Care; Marsha McBain, Berri-Clear Skincare; and Aziza El Wanni, The Potion Studio. Read more about the brands below.
➡️… pic.twitter.com/47Rn9Pgx5f
— Beauty Packaging (@BeautyPackaging) March 16, 2025

The application for the Class of 2026 is now open and will close Aug. 6 at 11:59 pm EST. Women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, differently abled individuals, seniors 65+, and those from low-income households are encouraged to apply via Maesa’s official website.

FAMU, Florida A and M University,DI, Black History Month — (Photo: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

by Sharelle B. McNair

June 26, 2025

Florida’s Board Of Governors Blasts FAMU CFO Over Massive Financial Audit Red Flags

With all arrows pointing to Brown, board member and chair of the committee Aubrey Edge feels Brown has been at the job too long to make such vivid mistakes.

The state of Florida’s Board of Governors is questioning Florida A&M University’s (FAMU) Chief Financial Officer Rebecca Brown’s performance after red flags were raised surrounding a recent financial audit, Tallahassee Democrat reports.

A report submitted by the HBCU to the Florida Board of Governors’ audit and compliance committee obtained updates corresponding to findings in the auditor general’s March 2025 reports for the fiscal year ending in June 2024. Several red flags were raised within the report, including a delay in bank reconciliations, which compares cash records with bank statements in an effort to ensure accurate financial recordings, and vendor payment delays.

There were also concerns over internal controls and accounting practices being labeled as weak, in addition to limited staff involvement. With all arrows pointing to Brown, board member and chair of the committee, Aubrey Edge feels Brown has been at the job too long to make such vivid mistakes. “From my perspective, the CFO failed pretty miserably in this job because she’s been there two years and five months, which is long enough to know that you’re not reconciling your statements,” Edge said.

Brown was absent from the June 18 meeting held on Florida Atlantic University’s campus. However, a number of FAMU leaders were there and put forth an effort to defend the CFO, with Vice President for Audit Credentials Joseph Maleszewski blaming the turnover of financial control. “We’ve had instability in leadership, and the turnover has changed the staffing in those functions as well,” the VP said, according to CFO.

The Tallahassee-based HBCU has been negatively trending for weeks following the board’s decision to confirm Marva Johnson as FAMU’s 13th president. The decision was met with massive backlash from current and incoming students, in addition to recent and seasoned alumni.

But the board said it’s more than just leadership, turnover, and Brown. With Edge labeling the financial issue as “systemic,” member Eric Silagy echoed the sentiments and pointed the finger at FAMU’s oversight culture, saying such issues mimic those that may be done in the private sector. “For a chief financial officer to have this systemic breakdown and this loss of risk controls, they would be shown the door so fast it would make their head spin,” Silagy said.

“I personally wouldn’t have confidence in the team you have, and I would ask you to really take a hard look at what signals you’re sending to folks internally so that they understand the gravity of what they’re doing or not doing.”

Edge highlighted how the board started tracking over 30 discrepancies and actions at the home of the Rattlers starting in 2013 to address internal issues. He continued to express how some of the same problems from more than 10 years ago were still an issue within the most recent audits. However, to lighten the load, FAMU’s interim President Timothy Beard stepped in to reassure that the university’s bank transactions were being reconciled and reviewed.

“When I came in, certainly, I could sense some things that needed to be done,” Beard said. “I immediately started working with our VP (Brown) pretty much weekly to look at some corrective actions.” But with the bills being paid on time being an issue for the board, Beard revealed that “significant strides” have been made since 2024, but admitted to work still needing to be done with a corrective action plan put in place in an effort to resolve them.