If a person were to ask how does one amplify African American voices through a storytelling medium, that person can point to EBONY’s Head of marketing, Kera McCain.
Kera McCain prides herself in curating, shaping and amplifying the stories of the most influential Black voices. While she says it took time to get there, “’I’ve been doing that my entire life.”
“It’s an honor to be in the position to amplify the stories of people with the energy and ambition to shift culture,” says McCain.
While she has assumed the role as Head of Marketing at the historic EBONY Media, the goal and intention remains the same.
Kera McCain joined EBONY in November 2021 after more than a decade of executing marketing initiatives for top brands such as Live Nation Entertainment, Revolt TV, Ticketmaster, Condé Nast, Allure Beauty, Vogue and more.
She arrived at her purpose after a personal soliloquy of her potential career as an actress. McCain was aware that she would not commit to the craft as a thespian, but could establish the runway to take off in another way.
“I knew I wanted to help magnify a connection from a person to a brand,” she says. “I knew I wanted to maximize the visibility of whatever I was involved in. I learned what that was in particular and it was making an emotional connection to something, which is marketing.”
She references the importance of her community of friends
In last month’s cover story, EBONY Media featured Teyana Taylor, Iman Shumpert and their two daughters, Julie and Rue.
These are the stories that EBONY has continued to amplify throughout its illustrious history. Under new leadership with owner Junior Bridgeman and Chairwoman, Michele Gee, the publication gears up for another era of Black excellence that will keep flame burning on the EBONY legacy. At its marketing helm, Kera McCain is thankful for their style of leadership.
“I feel a sense of rocket fuel being here,” says McCain. “Both Mr. Bridgeman and our Chairwoman, Michele Gee, are leading us in a way that does not have to be conventional or safe. To be at a company that prides itself on, ‘I may not be sure of what it looks like, but let’s try it,’ there is no better place to be.”
May is Mental Health Awareness month and artist Kehlani is using her platform to explain why she is planning on anymore interviews, citing protecting her mental health.
The announcement came late last week after the Morning Hustle’s interview with Kehlani was released with much speculation that the artist “did not want to be there.” Kehlani was doing the interview as part of her promotional tour for her new album, Blue Water Road. (The full interview can be seen here for complete context).
Fans were divided, with many feeling like Kehlani was uncooperative with other criticizing the show’s hosts for the way that they addressed the artist’s pronouns. (Kehlani’s official Instagram account says “she/they.”)
Following the interview, Kehlani wrote on Instagram Live: “No more interviews,”“support the music or don’t Im done,” “all I care about is my fans,” “only people I care about serving is the fans,” and “i’m here for y’all and that’s it.”
She followed up by criticizing fans who shared clips out of context and encouraged her followers to check out all of the other great stuff she had been up to recently.
On Sunday, Kehlani, who is a mother of one, celebrated Mother’s Day by sharing a photo of her daughter in a celebratory post and also posting a quote by Alex Elle on Instagram Live, which she titled “a note for manifesting generators” that read: “I’ve started to learn that everyone isn’t going to be happy with me for changing and choosing myself. it is not my job to please anyone. I have one life to live…am allowed to create a joyful life for myself even if outsiders do not understand.”
Blue Water Road is Kehlani’s third full-length studio release and features guest appearances from Ambré, Justin Bieber, Blxst, Jessie Reyez, Syd, and Thundercat.
Rick Strike may have been the winner of the 148th Kentucky Derby, but Jack Harlow and Drake may have been the center of attention. Jack Harlow and Drake didn’t just make a surprise appearance at the famous horse race, but also shot part of Harlow’s “Churchill Downs” video (Drake is also on the track).
Harlow is a Kentucky native and often references the state on his tracks. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, Harlow (in an all-white suit) made a surprise appearance on the event’s iconic red carpet with his parents and friends, including Louisville rappers The Homies before making his way to his box seats that he shared with Drake. Footage from the event will reportedly be used for the “Churchill Downs” video.
“Churchill Downs” is a track off of Harlow’s second studio album, “Come Home The Kids Miss You.” The album was released Friday and includes several big-name collabs, including Lil Wayne, Pharrell and Justin Timberlake.
Harlow had also made an appearance on Friday at a pre-Derby party at 21c Museum Hotel and made an appearance at Guestroom Records, a local Louisville record store on Sunday.
Though it has yet to be confirmed by his family, it has been widely reported that self-proclaimed relationship guru and image consultant Kevin Samuels has died. He was 56 years old.
Several reports revealed that Melanie King, a friend of Samuels, said she received “family confirmation” that the creator of Modern Women was dead. King, who has been described as his female counterpart, says “This is 100%.”
Albeit no one from Samuel’s family or reps from his team has confirmed or posted any statement, the unconfirmed reports have stated that Samuels passed away from a heart attack. The Instagram account for Plug Talk claimed Samuels died from “cardiac arrest,” but the post offered no verification. Other Instagram accounts have touted that same narrative, but have no confirmation.
Samuels took social media by storm, unapologetically handing out lifestyle and relationship advice through his Youtube channel. Known for what is viewed as misogynistic and insulting commentary about Black women, many people strongly disagreed with his opinion, while others, including some women, followed Samuels and his unconventional advice faithfully. His channel, which has 1.42million subscribers, feature videos such as ‘”modern women are average at best” and “women should let men use them.”
Samuels’ controversy is unparalleled. In a recent episode of his podcast just last month, Samuels said, “If you have made it to 35 and you are unmarried, you are a leftover woman, You are what is left. Men know that there is likely something wrong with you. Whether you want to hear it or not, I’m going to go there with you. I’m telling you the truth that you don’t want to hear. Men know that there is likely something wrong with you—that you can not be an adjustable six or higher—something is wrong with you. That’s where men automatically come with it. And here’s the thing—when you were between the ages of 22 and 25 and you didn’t want to settle—you were trying to get the CEO, the pilot, the investment banker, you were trying to get flewed out…”
With the demand for the coveted Birkin bag among women being almost a prerequisite for relationships, Quavo of the Migos, who may know a thing or two about relationships himself, decided that it was time for the guys to smoke the Birkin instead of giving it away to women.
The Huncho has created his own unique marijuana strain called Birkin because the guys have spent too much money tickling the women’s handbag fancy. “We got tired of buying the girls Birkins, so we started smoking it, that’s all.” says Quavo.
Just as Hermès’ Birkin bags can range from $40K to as high as almost $300K, Quavo’s weed is going to be a high-end strain of bud, meaning a super high cost exactly like the Hip Hop name-dropped handbag. When asked if Birkin Bagz would be affordable for regular smokers and he vehemently replied, “No, sir. No broke smoke. This will be the highest weed you ever smoked.”
To add even more flavor to the release of the “most expensivest” weed strain, Quavo teamed up with established streetwear brand Awful Lot of Cough Syrup and dropped a “Birkin Bagz” clothing collab to accompany the new 420.
Ladies’ Night R&B Super Jam is ready to kick off your Mother Day’s weekend with a return to the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn. R&B stars such as Boyz II Men, Keyshia Cole and Brian Mcknight set to grace to stage with timeless music to sooth the ears of all R&B lovers. The “Heaven Sent” singer recently collaborated with All-Pro, NFL receiver Antonio “AB” Brown for his latest single “Don’t Leave.”
The full lineup includes more R&B heavyweights such as El Debarge, Musiq Soulchild, Dru Hill and Tank, while Big Daddy Kane and Funk Flex will add Hip-Hop to the R&B-filled set.
Last September, Dru Hill united to challenge any R&B group from their era to a VERZUZ. During a recent performance, the “Beauty” crooners paid homage to Jodeci by singing their classic track, “Stay.”
While mothers and motherly figures are praised daily for their heroic and guided nurture, Ladies’ Night R&B Super Jam can be a potential a cherry on top to begin your Mother’s Day festivities.
Who could see the Black Ink brand becoming this large? Ceasar Emanuel could. Shops across the country, one of the most popular franchises on reality TV, and now, a tattoo battle pitting the Black elite from across the country in a competitive arena are just a few of the achievements that have come from the grind of his hard work.
The aforementioned tattoo competition is a part of the current seasons of Black Ink Crew and Black Ink Crew Compton. Both casts, and the Chicago crew, convened in Atlanta for the battle. Iron sharpening iron.
During his visit to Atlanta for the battle, Ceasar spoke with The Source on just how massive this battle is, reflecting on the success of Black Ink, and more.
What led to the creation of this battle?
Ceasar: Short version is as a Black man coming up in this industry. Y’all seen me on TV basically for 10 seasons. But a lot of people don’t know the backstory and what we have to deal with outside of just being on TV in this tattoo industry. A lot of people don’t understand as a Black tattoo artist, how difficult it is to be industry. A lot of times you see these competition shows and it doesn’t represent us. They’ll put us on there with crazy talent, but we won’t even be able to get out the second round. So this right here is to set a certain tone. People know us for what goes on in the shop. Our ratchetness, but nobody knows that we really artists. We really feed our family off what we do before we got on TV. We are artists. This competition is not just a competition to do it, but this is a competition to really show the world that we’re very skillful people.
You mentioned 10 seasons. A lot of people don’t get that, especially Black people. Being the focal point of this series, how do you manage to keep it a must-watch?
I can’t say necessarily humble, but me not getting a big head. And that’s because of people around me. Ted is around to keep me humble. When I start on too much, people are there to bring me down. But then when I start being on my low, there are people to tell me to pick up your chin. A lot of people need that. Ted’s been around 10 years on TV, been sitting on the couch where he’s been the most important person to me.
Even 10 seasons going, people can sit here and be like, “I could really relate with Caesar.” I was in a shop across the street from the projects and that’s where we made it from. So I think a lot of people mess with the show because they seen the struggle. They been day ones. They seen how we couldn’t even afford to have lights on. And then we got to hit. It’s almost like, one of those American dream stories.
Before this, I was barely able to afford Chinese food, so it is a whole different thing. It’s also a responsibility. I remember going to LA Fitness and a lady asked me, “does anyone ever tell you that you look like Ceasar from Black Ink?” and I respond all the time. She then just started talking about me and I really don’t really look at myself like how this lady who blending my juices does. She’s calling me an inspiration and stuff like that. So I really just try to stay humble and out of trouble to set an example in this situation.
New York, Chicago, AND Compton are all in the same building?! Ceaser’s GOTTA be up to something.
In this competition, it’s you, Ryan, iamCompton, and all of your shops. It’s a bond but you can tell everybody feels they are the best. When it comes to getting ready for this competition, how did you prep your team? What strategy did you have? What words did you give them? Because you Ceasar, you can’t come in here and host the joint and lose
Can’t lose. But at the end of the day, everybody gonna understand this is family, right? So I don’t want anybody to sit there and get into a fistfight over this. But like I told my people, “yo, y’all better turn up.” This is your time to shine. We got this big stage, this big platform we want to show out for, not just us, but for the culture. This ain’t about your individual glory. This is about glory as a community. We all understand the bigger picture in this. But a lot of us want to battle anyway.
How often would you want to replicate this? You got a handful of artists here but around the nation, it’s so many more.
That’s when, we just started something that basically can keep going, almost like a battle rap thing. I could go to every city and I could put people up against each other. And that’s what the showcase is to show other people’s skill. I feel like this next level is really a showcase in talent. Not just people who work in Black Ink, but minority tattoo artists everywhere.
You’re a busy man. You run shops everywhere. How do you keep your actual tattoo skills sharp?
I’ll be honest with you, bro. I’m completely honest with you. I tattoo on the low. When people would sit there and be posting they tattoos, you probably won’t see me posting a lot of my tattoos because I’m sitting there working on my craft. Plus tattooing is almost therapeutic to me. So most of the time I’ll be tattooing in the middle of the night and nobody knows it. I don’t take a lot of clients because I like doing big jobs. So I only take up like probably 15 clients for the year but those are like big pieces. Like bodysuits and whatnot. That’s how I hone my skills. I’m not really showing the picture until I finish the whole bodysuit.
The one thing I’ve learned from an OG, if you the biggest earner in your shop, you doing it wrong. The problem I always used to have, especially in my first three shops, is I was the main earner and I kept putting myself first instead of putting my employees first and I had to learn that. So a lot of times I pull myself back from tattooing and being booked out. Cause at the end of the day, bro, I’m 42 years old. I probably got like probably seven more years of tattoo left than me. Yeah. I got, I’m gonna have to leave it for these young bucks sooner or later you feel me? I’m gonna be in there, but you know, I’m gonna go from a player to a coach.
The different shops. You had to move to Brooklyn and it was kind of like a homecoming store, but people often talk about Brooklyn’s change. It’s gentrifying. Everything is switching up. So you have this Black tattoo shop in the middle of a gentrifying Brooklyn and you are about to be a staple. How does that feel?
It feels different. A lot of people don’t know. I started in Brooklyn. A lot of people don’t know I started in that same neighborhood. For me to basically leave Brooklyn and come back when basically Bedstuy is being stripped of everything that made it Bedstuy. It feels good to come back and show them like, yo, we ain’t gotta leave our hoods to other people. We ain’t gotta leave. We could take over our own neighborhood. We could own these stores. A lot of people just get so they get so uncomfortable on sitting and being an entrepreneur. They rather work a nine to five, knowing that they’re gonna give their money at the end of the week. They don’t really gotta hustle as much as an entrepreneur. Well, they don’t know, they hustle more than entrepreneurs.
When I came back, it was to yo, you don’t necessarily have to leave your hood to be comfortable. You could buy your hood back and stay there. I always felt our biggest problem was always yo, as soon as I get some money, I’m outta here. We never once sat there and say, once I get some money, I’m buying back my block. Most of the time people leave they hood cause they’re not comfortable. I’m more comfortable in my hood. So I always came with that idea one day, there’s going to be a franchise to be a symbol for those who have watched me for 10 years and grew with me and who can walk up on me like I’m their cousin. Cause a lot of these people went through the struggle with me and I didn’t even know it. Even with the kids, some been watching me since second grade. They in high school now and they’ll tell me scenes from like season two. Like wow. It is almost like a cult feeling. We really got into the culture and I’m just blessed because when we came on, it was just so many great reality shows on and we ain’t have the fancy cars. We didn’t have the big names. We got Harlem.
How much do you miss the old shop?
A lot. A lot. A lot. I ain’t gonna lie. When we lost 113, I cried because I always felt like it was my responsibility to keep that shop. We all grew up in it. Our memories is just embedded in that shop. Like we had the most fun, broke in that shop. And we went from broke, basically project kids to who we are now in that shop. But it was nothing I could do. It hurt me the worst cause it was a greedy landlord that wouldn’t let up. You go from rent being $5,000. So you wanna charge us $25,000 a month. Who is doing that for something that’s less than a thousand square feet? And that burnt my soul because even if I just left it just, not even as a working tattoo shot, but basically got a museum for Black Ink to see where we started. I wanted that and it was just taken away from me. If you go past it now it’s not even open. Nobody’s taking it because everybody know what it is. The community won’t let anybody take it. Somebody try to move in that right now. They gonna shut it down. The community misses me. And I did so much for that community. I miss it.
When you first saw this battle arena set up, how did you feel?
I’m be truthful with you. I’m be a man with you. I had to hold back my tears because a lot of people don’t know the struggle to get here. It took us 10 years to get here. For us to go from where we was and how people looked at us like we was the black sheep from day one. People saying we don’t represent our culture, the struggles of trying to open up shops. And they sit here talking about, “oh they’re on TV. All they do is fighting.” And this, that and the third. Now we finally got something for us. Now it’s fair game.
I know it’s in your head. What’s the next step for the takeover?
The tour. Yeah, the tour. I’m going straight to conventions. After that, it’s going to be like a music festival. I’m going to make it almost like a Black Woodstock. It’s so much more to the Black Ink culture than just tattooing.
Time flies when you’re having as much fun (or as busy) as Mariah Carey apparently! The superstar took to Instagram over the weekend to wish her twins, Moroccan and Monroe, a very special 11th birthday and to share some new (and old pics).
On Saturday, Carey shared a current picture of herself and her twins on a boat with two of the family’s dogs along with a caption that read: “Happy 11th birthday to the two greatest blessings of my life. Roc and Roe…Always be my babies! …DEMKIDS!!!! I LOVE YOU FOREVER! Mommy” (followed by a heart emoji). The next picture in the post was a picture of the twins as babies.
Mariah Carey IG
Later that day, she shared a video collage of herself and the twins over the years to her song “Supernatural.”
The twins (and their pets) have made several other appearances on Carey’s social media, most notably during the holidays as she shared various renditions of her classic holiday hit, “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
Carey shares the twins with her ex-husband, Nick Cannon. She is reportedly working on multiple projects following her hit of the “Big Energy” remix with Latto.
Soundcloud is back with another class full of artists ready to take their creativity to the next level during the latest announcement revealing the 2022 class “First on Soundcloud” artists.
The year-long program presents nine upcoming artists with the invested opportunity to help them reach career milestones. This year’s class includes, KenTheMan, EKKSTACY, Isabella Lovestory, Kelow LaTesha, Nezi Momodu, Pote Baby, riela, ROSEMARIE, and TITUS, showcases a wide range of dynamic talent across all genres.
“This group of 9 artists, each with their own sounds and identities, represent the next wave of stars in music on the cusp of breakout success — from breakout rapper KenTheMan to alt-rock inspired TITUS,” saysErika Montes, VP of Artist and Label Partnerships at SoundCloud. “Like so many of today’s most influential artists first discovered on SoundCloud, these emerging artists are growing their communities and connections with day-one fans on the platform. The First on SoundCloud program is about that unique journey, and we and we can’t wait to create new opportunities with them to amplify their careers and share memorable experiences with their fans on SoundCloud and beyond.”
Soundcloud launched its artist discovery program back in 2018 and has helped launch careers for Kehlani, Lil Tecca, Baby Rose, and more.
Check out the entire class of “First on Soundcloud” artists here.
On Wednesday, Fanatics will have its first Global Impact Day, a company-wide day of service in which over 4,000 employees from ten countries will volunteer in their communities.
Building houses with Habitat for Humanity, campus beautification projects at Boys and Girls Clubs, assisting at shelters and food banks, local park clean-ups, organizing donations to low-income parents, writing letters to veterans, and many other volunteer activities were among the Fanatics’ activities.
So excited for our first-ever @Fanatics Global Impact Day! More than 4K of our incredible employees across 10 different countries have donated their time to make a positive impact. I could not be prouder of the people in this company and I’m excited to volunteer NYC today!! pic.twitter.com/q5tMX1tlx9
Michael Rubin, the CEO of Fanatics, worked with Citymeals on Wheels, which serves meals to homebound elderly citizens, and Room to Grow, which provides resources and assistance to low-income parents in New York City.
Employees from Fanatics volunteered more than 15K hours at more than 200 locations around the world, including India, France, Honduras, Thailand, Japan, United Kingdom, Paris, Canada, and the U.S., for Global Impact Day.
Recap video: @Fanatics Global Impact Day. Thank you to the more than 4,000 Fanatics associates around the world who took part in our inaugural day to give back and made a difference in their communities. This is just the beginning!! pic.twitter.com/HofasLb3Gl
from Harlem, an Illinois native– & their two vibrant children show us how unwavering love blossoms over time. Click to view their exclusive April cover story. https://t.co/jrkiKJrXfw pic.twitter.com/LtcIulNpgt
by: Keith Major pic.twitter.com/XsCbp2pAmd
Ceaser’s GOTTA be up to something. 
