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Pharrell Williams’ Black Ambition to Award $2.7 Million to Empower Next-Gen Entrepreneurs at 4th Annual Demo Day

November 7, 2024 by newhiphopnews

Pharrell Williams’ non-profit, Black Ambition, is gearing up to host its highly anticipated 4th Annual Demo Day on Friday, November 15, where the winners of the 2024 Black Ambition Prize Competition will be announced. The event will showcase the top Black and Hispanic-founded startups, awarding over $2.7 million in funding to companies that exemplify innovation and potential in Consumer Products, Healthcare, Media, Technology, and AI. Key sponsors, including Visa, Comcast, Louis Vuitton, and Adidas, support this exciting initiative, which aims to break down barriers and advance diversity in entrepreneurship.

This Demo Day marks the culmination of a rigorous nine-month journey for these emerging businesses, with eight finalists vying for a grand prize of $1 million. These promising founders have undergone a 3-month mentorship program, public voting, and pitch training to prepare them for the big stage. Beyond the national competition, Black Ambition’s HBCU Pre-Accelerator also prepared top innovators from Historically Black Colleges and Universities for a chance to join the final cohort and secure awards of up to $250,000.

“With mentorship to over 1,000 founders and generating over $265 million in revenue, we’re excited to continue showcasing the next generation of innovative companies,” said Felecia Hatcher, CEO of Black Ambition. “As other corporations scale back support for businesses of color, Black Ambition is doubling down on its commitment to accelerated growth for Black and Hispanic business owners.”

The day’s program will feature a live pitch competition judged by prominent CEOs and industry leaders, with the grand prize awarded to one outstanding venture. Following the pitch, Pharrell Williams and Hatcher will lead a discussion on the future of Black Ambition and the ongoing mission to support underrepresented entrepreneurs. The celebration will continue with a cocktail hour and VIP networking reception, inviting attendees to connect with the Black Ambition founders and network partners.

“Each year, the pool of talented innovators, thought leaders, and business owners grows,” Williams said, “further affirming Black Ambition’s mission to unlock the potential of underrepresented entrepreneurs.”

Since its inception in 2020, Black Ambition has awarded $10 million in capital to 101 entrepreneurs, extending beyond financial support to include holistic business development resources. From executive coaching and mental health workshops to bi-weekly office hours with industry experts from brands like Heineken, Adidas, and Microsoft, Black Ambition ensures that founders are well-equipped to tackle entrepreneurial challenges.

The impact of the Black Ambition Prize is profound. “Winning the 2023 Black Ambition Prize has been transformative,” said Antoinette Banks, CEO of Expert IEP. “The prize provided essential funding and an empowering community that drives our positive impact forward.”

As Black Ambition prepares to crown this year’s top innovators, it continues to make strides in bridging the gap for Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs, laying the foundation for a more inclusive future in business.

To connect and learn more about Black Ambition, please visit www.blackambitionprize.com.
Follow us on Facebook (@blackambitionprize)Twitter/X (@blackambitionpz) and Instagram
(@blackambitionprize) to stay up to date with the Black Ambition community.

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Today In Hip Hop History: Wu Tang Clan’s GZA Released His Sophomore LP ‘Liquid Swords’ 29 Years Ago

November 7, 2024 by newhiphopnews

On this date in 1995, the head of the Wu’s “Voltron” released his first solo LP under the moniker “the GZA”.

“We form like Voltron and GZA happens to be the head.” -Method Man

After appearing as the closer on the Wu Tang’s premiere single “Protect Ya Neck” and dropping his own solo joint “Clan In The Front” on WTC’s classic Enter The 36 Chambers LP, The Genius, who changed his name to the GZA after the formation of the Wu Tang Clan in 1992, fulfilled the expectations of a solo album with Liquid Swords, which was released 27 years ago today.

This should not, however, be confused with the first solo album Words From The Genius, which was released under the alias “The Genius” before his claim to fame with Wu Tang.

With in-house album cover art of a war-torn chessboard from Wu Tang DJ/Producer Allah Mathematics along with Milestone Media creative director Denys Cowan and released on Geffen Records, the debut album of one of WTC’s founders was recorded in RZA’s basement, as was the rest of the early Wu projects including Meth’s Tical and OB4CL. It also featured all of the original members as well as introduced some of the supporting members of the Killa Bees including Killah Priest, Dreddy Krueger and Allah Life, who sung the hook on “Cold World”. Other smash singles from this album include “Labels”, “4th Chamber”, “I Gotcha Back” and the timeless title track.

Salute to the GZA for one of the most formative concept albums in Hip Hop during the 20th century.

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Today In Hip Hop History: Goodie Mob Released Their Debut LP ‘Soul Food’ 29 Years Ago

November 7, 2024 by newhiphopnews

On this day in Hip Hop history one of Atlanta’s oldest collectives, Goodie Mob, stepped on the scene with their hit debut Soul Food. As the second release by Georgia’s own Dungeon Family collective, Soul Food confirmed that the south truly had something to say.

In the early 90’s, southern Hip Hop’s appeal was purely commercial. Club anthems and summertime jams monopolized the southern air waves, not allowing any room for the conscious to make much headway between the NoLa bounce, Miami bass, and Houston’s Chopped and Screwed sub-genres. What made Goodie Mob stand out was their ability to build on the style created by close co-conspirators, OutKast. That innovation coupled with the collaboration with LaFace‘s own production powerhouse Organized Noize, Goodie Mob was able to create one of Atlanta’s first hit albums.

Soul Food was the world’s introduction to the ‘dirty south’, with the household term being first coined on this album. Musically, Goodie Mob was a synthesis of southern gospel, jazz, blues, with a touch of Atlanta’s signature marching band sound. As lyricists, the crew had a righteous gangster appeal with very by-any-means-necessary undertones. Their poetic and harmonic style allowed them to play as a voice of the south sonically and through their subject matter.

Commercially, the album was a success from the otherwise unknown group. Within the first few months of its release, the album had both been certified as gold by the RIAC and sold over 500,000 copies in the United States. The album’s singles, “Cell Therapy”, “Soul Food”, and “Dirty South” all became southern classic making The Top 10 Rap Singles chart. The album itself peaked at #43 on the Billboard 200 chart and #8 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart.

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Today In Hip Hop History: N.W.A. Released Their Debut Album ‘N.W.A. And The Posse’ 37 Years Ago

November 7, 2024 by newhiphopnews

On this date in 1987, a compilation album consisting of all of South Central Los Angeles and Compton’s hottest Hip Hop artists entitled N.W.A. And The Posse, originally released on Macola Records. It was re-issued by Ruthless as well as Priority Records. This is the group’s first, but unrecognized album, unlike their 1988 multi-platinum descendant Straight Outta Compton.

At the time, N.W,A.(Niggas Wit Attitudes) only consisted of Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E and Arabian Prince. DJ Yella and MC Ren were not yet a part of the legendary collective, even though Ren did appear on the album’s cover photo(seen above). Other extended crew members aka “The Posse” included the late DJ Train(J.J. Fad), Tha Lench Mob’s Sir Jinx, Candyman, who is known for his platinum single “Knockin’ Boots”, K-Dee, Krazy Dee, MC Chip and DJ Scratch(NOT of EPMD). Six of the album’s 11 tracks came from N.W.A.’s core members, but four of the album’s tracks came from the Fila Fresh Crew, the clique from wich Dr. Dre plucked Doc-T aka The D.O.C.

Some of the album’s highlights include “Dope Man”, *8 Ball” and the classic “Boyz-N-The-Hood” anthem, which has been sampled and copied numerous times since its 1987 inception. All of the above singles along with an additional two tracks were written by O’Shea Jackson aka Ice Cube.

Salute to Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E(R.I.P.) DJ Yella, MC Ren, The D.O.C., Arabian Prince and everyone else who took part in this important part of Hip Hop history!

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Plies Sues Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, GloRilla AND Soulja Boy For Copyright Infringement

November 6, 2024 by newhiphopnews

Watch Plies Says Women With Plastic Surgery Only Attracts Ugly Men

Maybe Plies is still hot over Kamala losing the election.

Nobody really knows what prompted the Florida rapper to come for the hottest female rappers in the game, but no one’s neck was left unchecked. According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Plies has filed copyright infringement lawsuits today (November 6) against Megan, Glo and Cardi for their unauthorized use of his 2008 “Me & My Goons” track. Big Draco also felt the wrath too, for his unauthorized use of the same track on his Soulja Boy anthem “Pretty Boy Swag”.

Megan and GloRilla’s collaboration on “Wanna Be” did numbers this year, sparking a summertime remix with Cardi B, but now Plies names all of the above in his lawsuit. Soulja’s use of the song dates back to 2010, but that didn’t make him exempt from the “Bust It Baby” rapper’s legal wrath.

Plies’lawsuit names Meg’s Hot Girl Productions, Soulja’s former imprint Collipark Productions as well as Universal Music Group, Collective Music Group and Interscope as defendants.

TheSource.com will update this story as more details develop.

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[WATCH] King Combs Announces He’s Taking Over Diddy’s Instagram Page

November 6, 2024 by newhiphopnews

Even with the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars, disgraced music fashion and liquor mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs still has his sons riding for him. In what looks like the most recent post on Diddy’s IG post since the entire Combs family wished Diddy a happy 55th birthday, his son Christian has now taken control of his dad’s social media page and letting the people know that even a federal indictment won’t keep the Bad Boy name silent.

Christian, Diddy’s third born who adopted the title “king”, took to Diddy’s Instagram page to let his almost 20 million followers know that he will know be manning the ship on Diddy’s most visible social media page. Check out King Combs’ announcement HERE

There was a lot of backlash from the public for King’s social media post, which is simply captioned, “Tune in!” There were some critics, however, that saluted Christian for standing by his father amid the heinous allegations.

Nevertheless, there were scores of commenters who weren’t feeling ANYTHING coming from Diddy’s page, even if it wasn’t coming from Diddy himself.

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[WATCH] Kodak Black Raises Concerns About His Opioid Addiction Following His Bizarre Behavior On Kai Cenat Livestream

November 6, 2024 by newhiphopnews

Kodak Black had admittedly been fighting problems with addiction since before his 2019 incarceration and declared himself sober after his presidential clemency release by President Trump in 2021, but now those concerns have been raised once again following his appearance on Kai Cenat’s livestream early this week.

Kodak joined the famed streamer’s 30-day “Mafiathon” livestream and his behavior immediately caught the attention of all who witnessed his behavior, which many observers described as “tweaking”, a description given to those who are visibly intoxicated or high.

The “Super Gremlin” rapper was sweating profusely and rambling while talking for a large portion of his appearance. At one point, Black even successfully lands a seal shot, where he threw a pill (presumably a Percocet) in the air and caught it in his mouth, which stunned Cenat, who questioned Kodak about what he’s just popped in his mouth. Kodak replied, “It was a glitch for the Twitch.”

Earlier this year, Kodak admitted on IG Live that he had a serious problem with Percocets, saying, “I remember a point in my life when I was chewing a lot of Percs. I’m proud of myself. I’ve never been this happy in my life. I don’t know where this came from, what the fuck going on.”

He added, “Before I just went to jail — I can talk about this because it’s my testimony, ain’t no shame in my shit — I was taking at least 100 Percs. My average was 40 Percocets… to the point where I look at this shit and be like, ‘What the fuck was wrong with me, bruh?’”

With an acute relapse visibly on the horizon, it’s safe to say that Kodak needs to get help before he faces the same fate of so many addicts, both unknown and famous, have faced since the beginning of the opioid crisis in this country almost a decade ago.

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Today In Hip-Hop History: The Source Magazine Remembers Def Squad Member and Erick Sermon’s BM Hurricane G Two Years After Her Passing

November 6, 2024 by newhiphopnews

“Yo yo Redman! What the fuck, man? Get the fuck off that punk shit! Get with that rough shit! You know how we do..” -Hurricane G on Redman’s “Tonight’s Da Night”

For many Hip-Hop fans, the above intro was the first time they heard Gloria “Hurricane G” Rodriguez on wax. Even though it was three decades ago, that unforgettable voice making that arduous demand will forever be a part of the Def Squad legacy and Hip-Hop history.

On this date in 2022, Hurricane G passed away in a hospice after a long battle with lung cancer. She was 52 years old.

G’s 1997 debut album All Woman, along with its lead single “Somebody Else” (which samples The Jones Girls’ 1979 hit “You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else”) reached the top 10 of the Hot Rap Singles chart. The album also featured an appearance by fellow Hit Squad alums Das EFX. The Brooklyn native also worked with artists such as Diddy, Smif-N-Wessun, Thirstin Howl III, Tony Tocuh and the father of her daughter, EPMD’s Erick Sermon.

Sermon shared his memories at the time of her passing on social media, saying, “My heart is hardened today. One of my good friends…. my oldest daughter’s mother passed away today #HURRICANEGLORIA was also a legend in her own right in the Hiphop community,” Sermon wrote on Instagram. “One of the first puertorican female rappers She rapped with me. @redmangilla she paved the way.”

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