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☆ The Future of Rap Is Female
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Niela Orr | Photographs Adrienne Raquel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +22 min

The Future of Rap Is Female As their male counterparts turn depressive and paranoid, it’s the women who are having all the fun. In the mid-’80s, the dynamics shifted slightly, when UTFO released “Roxanne, Roxanne,” a comical torch song dissing a woman who rejected the men’s advances. Like good sex, raunchy rap is only fun if all parties are completely enthusiastic, and this music provides necessary female perspectives to match what the men make. In Miami one weekend in late July, Rolling Loud, one of the biggest annual hip-hop festivals, made itself into a microcosm of the rap world. There’s a relentless gender pessimism in the air, too — on the street, on dating apps, in the Supreme Court and, of course, in rap music.

Persons: Sackler, Drake, Foley, Yung Miami, Wu, Da, Tupac Shakur, Nicki Minaj, Cardi, Megan Thee, there’s, ”, There’s Latto, Jung Kook, “, Diana ”, Boy’s, Red’s, Munch, Rodney Dangerfield, munch, ” MAIYA, “ We’re, Lil Baby, Flo Milli, —, ” Flo Milli, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire —, Debbie D, Lisa Lee, Mercedes Ladies, UTFO, Roxanne, Lolita Shanté Gooden, Gooden, ” FLO MILLI, Roxanne Shanté, Clover Hope, M.C, Brian Coleman, Lyte, Ruff Ryders, it’s, Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill, Kash Doll, SKODI LOLA BROOKE, Lil ’ Kim, “ I’m, I’m, ” That’s, Lolita Gooden, Greta Gerwig’s “ Barbie ”, James Harden, P.J, Tucker, KENTHEMAN “, I’ve, Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, Grace Jones, Benzino, blowin, ignorin ’, Berry hairdo, Grandmaster Flash, It’s, ” —, ” Leray, VETTE, CHANEL, ” Flo, Cartier, “ Lyte, Flo Organizations: YouTube, Girls, City Girls, Public, Down Productions, Wu -, Digital, City, Memphis, Brooklyn Locations: Miami, Wu - Tang, “, Bronx, Mobile , Ala, y’all

☆ Read the 17-page pitch deck that helped a former WME agent raise $25 million in VC to capitalize on celebrity-backed brands like Gal Gadot's mac and cheese
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read the deck he's using to raise his first venture round of $50 million. In 2018, he left Roar, the management company he started in 2003, to launch Fourward, a management, production, and investment firm. And Fourward has just announced its first VC fund, Fourward Ventures, an early-stage growth fund focused on investments in health and wellness, sustainability, and consumer packaged goods. Fourward says it's looking to companies that disrupt traditional consumer categories, drive societal change, and have celebrity tie-ins. Check out the pitch deck Fourward used to raise the first $25 million of its planned $50 million fund.

Persons: Will Ward, He's, Adam Sandler, Ryan Reynolds, Chris Hemsworth, Zac Brown, Fourward, Gal Gadot, Jay, Austin Nelson, Ward, Chris Hemsworth's, Mark Bezos, there's, he's Organizations: CAA, Roar, Fourward Ventures, Marcy Venture Partners, Bryn Pharma, Corp, HighPost, Hollywood Locations: Fourward, Hollywood, Nashville, —, Centr

☆ 'iCarly' writers join the WGA strike as showrunner Ali Schouten calls out Hollywood studios' 'corporate greed'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Insider spoke to Ali Schouten, the showrunner behind Paramount+ series "iCarly," about what's at stake. The "iCarly" writers will link up with the picket line outside the lot where the show is filmed, according to Ali Schouten, the series' showrunner and executive producer. Ahead of the "iCarly" writers' picketing on Thursday, I spoke with Schouten to understand what she and her colleagues are fighting for. Lisa Rose/Paramount+The last writers' strike resulted in $2 billion worth of losses for the California economy, and some experts predict the impact of this work stoppage could be even greater. How is the writers' strike impacting you, your business, or your family?

☆ Hollywood writers’ fight previews messy new era
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, May 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Tinseltown scribes are gearing up for a fight. The Writers Guild of America went on strike Tuesday after contract negotiations with entertainment companies broke down. The union backing TV and film writers walked out after failing to reach a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for better pay. This meant the distribution chain paid twice, and the double dip meant more money for both the network and writers, who got a share. As the last strike brought about the reality TV fad, which required less creativity, artificial intelligence is threatening to replace writers.

☆ Kanye West owes millions all over town for unpaid contract work and music samples, lawsuits allege
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

He tried that earlier with his music and has been hit with copyright lawsuits related to sampling. And what followed was a thicket of lawsuits from people who alleged West failed to properly credit their songs when using samples for the album. Worse still, according to the lawsuit, West and his pals used "Life of the Party" to market the Stem Player. The company squandered months on the work, even relocating its headquarters to better closely work with West. In the end, the lawsuit alleged, West used a rip-off of MyChannel's e-commerce technology to sell his clothing at a concert.

These rappers are part of a string of artists who have died by gun violence, with at least one rapper being fatally shot every year since 2018. But experts say the problem is much more complex than that. Elaine Richardson, a professor at Ohio State University who specializes in African American cultures, literacy and hip-hop, said it’s important to prioritize systemic issues when we discuss the killings of rappers. La Rock, who was part of the influential hip-hop group Boogie Down Productions, was fatally shot outside a Bronx apartment complex that summer. “There’s this prevailing notion that rap artists have the most dangerous job, but I don’t subscribe to that.”

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