Backpocket 38

Alex Chaney’s

BackPocket Global Citizen’s Art, Culture, and Freestyle Guide #38

D.R.A.M. Anthony Hamilton Gilles Peterson Stephanie Rao Amber Hayes Chainsmokers Sommer Ray Kiiara

Sarah Connor

Anthony Hamilton Gilles Peterson

Sarah Connor Kiiara

Sommer Ray

Chainsmokers

D.R.A.M.

Amber Hayes

Le Turk

Stephanie Rao

ROLI Lightpad Block

Nintendo Switch Sega’s Genesis lives

Lynk & Co. 01

The Microsoft Surface

Moo Goo Gai Pan

4 Ways to Think Like a Millionaire 8 Reasons Why Squatting Is Better Than Running Casa del Limonero

How An Entrepreneur Makes Money When They Don’t Have Any

Gear

The Microsoft Surface

Microsoft finally unveiled the desktop addition to the Surface line, and it’s every bit the iMac killer it was touted to be. The Surface Studio has plenty of features to make it one of the coolest computers every created.

28” PixelSense Display with 13.5 million pixels of true-to-life color and clarity in an incredibly thin, 12.5mm thick package. Adjustable display that can be used vertically like a traditional monitor or drawn on like a drafting table. Intel processor,

NVIDIA GPU and up to 32GB of RAM. Full touch input, along with keyboard/mouse and pen functionality. As if these features weren’t enough to get any creative a little weak in the knees, Surface Studio will also work with the new supplemental Surface Dial accessory that gives you access to a rotary control of secondary menu options, color wheels, etc. Apple better have something pretty revolutionary in the works or plenty of people will be skipping the next iMac.

- Ben Dahl

Gear

ROLI Lightpad Block

The Lightpad Block is the center of the BLOCKS system. You make music through natural movements on the Block’s smooth, glowing, pressure-responsive surface. Drop beats and shape melodies by striking, sliding, and pressing your fingers on the surface. Illuminated grids help you find your notes. Light Trails guide you to learn musical gestures quickly. To get started on BLOCKS, all you need is a Lightpad Block and NOISE, the iOS app.

Musician

Anthony Hamilton

A soul singer who drew comparisons to such classic vocalists as Bill Withers and Bobby Womack, Anthony Hamilton struggled for the better part of the 1990s as two of his albums went unreleased.

While he didn't always get the label support his talent deserved, Hamilton established himself during the 2000s as one of the rawest, most singular, and relatable voices in R&B. He did so while racking up several Top Ten R&B albums and a handful of Grammy nominations.

The Charlotte, North Carolina native got his start at age ten in his church's choir. As a teenager, he progressed by performing solo at various nightclubs and talent shows.

In 1993, while in his early twenties, he moved to New York City, where he signed with AndrĂŠ Harrell's Uptown Records, a major source of the new jack swing sound and home to artists such as Jodeci and Mary J. Blige. By 1995, Uptown was set to push Hamilton's debut album, but the company went out of business, leaving the album unreleased.

Hamilton moved to Uptown parent label MCA and was finally able to release that debut album, XTC, in 1996. Only one song, "Nobody Else," was released as a single. It peaked at number 63 on Billboard's R&B chart, and the disc quickly disappeared from view. Another transitional period followed.

Hamilton joined Soulife, an upstart venture run by some of his old Charlotte friends. While there, he laid down tracks for another solo album and wrote songs for Donell Jones and Sunshine Anderson. In 2000, he accepted an invitation to sing backup vocals on D'Angelo's Voodoo tour and traveled the world.

Upon returning home, Hamilton discovered that Soulife had also gone belly up.

With a second album unreleased, Hamilton spent the next two years selling songs and singing backup for artists including 2Pac and Eve. Then, in 2002, a lead spot singing on the Nappy Roots track "Po' Folks" gave Hamilton some much-needed attention, as the song was nominated for the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 2003 Grammy Awards. A subsequent gig performing at a Grammy luncheon led to a meeting with producer Jermaine Dupri, who signed the singer to his So So Def label.

Technically his fourth album, Comin' from Where I'm From bowed for So So Def in 2003 and featured "Charlene," a classic-sounding

Southern soul ballad. Co-written and produced by Mark Batson, it reached number three on the R&B chart. In 2005, some of Hamilton's Soulife recordings were dusted off and polished for release as Soulife, and Ain't Nobody Worryin', a new set, followed later in the year. It was Hamilton's third consecutive Top Ten R&B album. Southern Comfort, released in 2007, was another compilation of previously unreleased recordings.

The Point of It All, a proper studio release, was issued near the end of 2008. It was overshadowed by Hamilton's contribution to Al Green's "You've Got the Love I Need," which won a 2009 Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance

-- that is, until the following Grammy ceremony, when the set received a nomination for Best Traditional R&B Album, with two of its songs also nominated in separate categories.

Back to Love, which featured three songs co-written with Babyface, followed in 2011 and went Top Ten R&B as well. Although he didn't release another proper studio album for several years, he added to his already considerable quantity of high-profile collaborations with guest appearances on tracks by Big K.R.I.T., Nas, and Rick Ross.

Additionally, he contributed to the Django Unchained soundtrack.

Released in 2016, What I'm Feelin' reunited the singer with Mark Batson. ~ Matt Collar & Andy Kellman, Rovi

BP Girl

Sommer Ray

Sommer Ray is a 19-year-old fitness model with a butt that is hard to miss, and a body that she works hard to keep. Sure, she works out in one week more than you’ll ever work out, but hey, at least she posts pictures of it so we can look at them while stuffing our faces with chips and thinking about maybe doing a push-up.

Eat

Moo Goo Gai Pan

Moo Goo Gai Pan (Gluten-free, Primal, Paleo, Perfect Health Diet) Moo Goo Gai Pan is an Americanized version of a Cantonese stir-fried chicken and mushroom dish, which translates literally (“Moo Goo” = button mushrooms, “Gai” = chicken, and “Pan” = slices). I like this recipe because it’s a cinch to put together and has a light, refreshing body to it.

Feel free to experiment with adding more vegetables. How about a bit of cabbage or some bamboo shoots?

Servings: 4" "

Time: 25 minutes""

"

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients: SAUCE

SLURRY

2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 inch ginger, peeled and minced, or 1/4 tsp ground ginger 1 cup chicken broth 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine, Mirin, or dry sherry 2 tsp tamari or 3 tsp coconut aminos 1 tsp fish sauce 1/2 tsp sea salt 1/2 tsp white pepper

1 tbsp arrowroot starch 1 tbsp cold water 1 tbsp coconut oil 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks splash of tamari or coconut amnios 2 medium carrots, sliced 1 cup snow peas 5 oz white mushrooms, quartered 1 small (5 oz) can water chestnuts, drained and cut in half

Cooking Instructions: 1. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Once simmering, reduce the heat to low to keep warm while you prepare the rest of the dish. In a small bowl, combine the arrowroot starch and cold water to create a slurry, then set aside.

2. In a wok or skillet, warm the coconut oil over medium-high heat until shimmering, about 1 minute. Add the half of the chicken chunks and sautĂŠ until mostly cooked through, stirring often, about 6 minutes. Add a bit of salt, white pepper, and tamari; sautĂŠ to caramelize the chicken pieces, about 1 minute, then transfer to a bowl. Repeat with the rest of the chicken and add to the bowl.

3. Add the carrots, snow peas, mushrooms, and water chestnuts to the wok, adding more oil if needed. SautĂŠ until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.

4. Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the wok, then stir to combine. Pour in the sauce and bring to a simmer; pour in half of the arrowroot starch slurry and stir until thickened, adding more slurry if needed. Taste and add salt if needed, then remove from the heat and serve.

- Russ

TheDomesticMan.com

Gear

Sega’s Genesis lives again, back in production 28 years after its launch Recently, there’s been a huge development in the realm of video games. One of the oldest, most respected names in the industry has the hearts of its faithful supporters all aflutter once again with the sudden announcement of a highly desirable console scheduled to be available next year.

No, we’re not talking about Nintendo’s Switch. Spiffy as that piece of hybrid gaming tech may look, the console we’re referring to is Sega’s Mega Drive, known in North America as the Genesis, which is being manufactured again and will go on sale in 2017, 29 years after its original launch, with the Mega Drive Limited Edition.

However, that doesn’t mean that Sega itself is getting back into the hardware business. The reissued system will be produced and sold

by Brazilian company Tectoy, which handled local distribution of all of Sega’s gaming hardware from the Master System to the Dreamcast.

Unlike knockoffs and clones, the Mega Drive Limited Edition is officially licensed from Sega. While the audio/video performance specs aren’t beefed up over those of the original in any way, the Mega Drive Limited Edition does come with 22 games, including Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Shinobi 3, and Arrow Flash, preloaded into its internal memory. There’s also a Micro SD slot for playing stored ROMs plus the good old cartridge slot.

While the Mega Drive would eventually get a six-button controller, in response to the fighting game craze set off by Street Fighter II in the mid-1990s, Tectoy is keeping things old school by bundling its relaunched system with the original three-button version.

Around back, you’ll notice the nostalgic video, left audio, and right audio cable jacks, as the Mega Drive Limited Edition doesn’t have HDMI output. This helps keep manufacturing costs down, and Tectoy claims that not only would the old-school games not benefit from the newer technology, but that most TVs in Brazil don’t support the format anyway.

The system, scheduled to ship in June, is priced at 449 Brazilian reais (US$138) on Tectoy’s website

Musician

Chainsmokers

A production duo featuring Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall, the Chainsmokers mix indie, dance, and pop into a chart-topping sound that spawned hits like "Roses" and "Don't Let Me Down."

Pall and Taggart first made a name for themselves by creating remixes of their favorite indie bands that garnered tens of millions of streams.

The duo released its official debut single "#Selfie," which celebrated and skewered 2010s narcissism, in January 2014. The track's bouncy beats and self-obsessed words hit number one on the Billboard dance chart and sold over ten million copies. Meanwhile, "#Selfie"'s video featured cameos by Snoop Dogg and David Hasselhoff, fueling the song's viral popularity to hundreds of millions of views. More singles, including "Kanye" and "Let You Go," followed.

In 2015, they issued the Bouquet EP on Disruptor Records, a softer and more indie-flavored effort that featured the single "Roses," which was certified double-platinum and hit number one on the Top Dance Songs chart. The song also earned the Chainsmokers nominations for

the Billboard Music Awards in the Top Dance/Electronic Artist and Top Dance/Electronic Song categories.

After playing over 300 shows in 2015, including dates at festivals like Lollapalooza, Firefly, Tomorrowland, and Ultra, the duo returned in 2016 with the platinumcertified "Don't Let Me Down," a collaboration with Pittsburgh pop singer Daya that topped the Billboard dance chart. That year, the Chainsmokers also performed as part of the Tilt Tour, the first ever fan-sourced tour. In addition, Pall and Taggart host two SiriusXM shows: Nice Hair, a monthly mix; and the weekly YouTube EDM 15.

The follow-up single to "Don't Let Me Down" would carry the duo to new heights. Featuring Halsey on vocals, "Closer" began its slow climb to the top of the singles chart in the summer of 2016. Once it hit number one, it remained in the top spot for over ten weeks, breaking the record previously held by Drake's "One Dance." As their chart dominance continued, they released the Collage EP, which joined their two Top Three singles with new collaborations featuring Phoebe Ryan, XYLĂ˜, and Charlee. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

BP Girl - Fresh Face

Sarah Connor

Sarah Connor is a 25 year old native of Chicago, IL with a passion for service work, women’s empowerment, and self love.

Sarah doesn’t consider herself a “real model.” Instead, she’d like to be considered ‘a person who stands in front of a camera and takes pictures’ to acknowledge that she’s not official yet and is still learning the craft. With a true appreciation for the shift in culture in the beauty and fashion industry, Sarah aspires to become apart of the community that acknowledges and celebrates women’s beauty around the world.

Walking into a Sephora store and witnessing women with unique beauty being recognized, honored, and included in what it means to be considered beautiful truly warms her heart. As an African American woman with freckles and now natural hair, this has not always been the case growing up. She truly believes that such a shift in culture will truly help to alleviate some bits of self hate for women and young girls who subconsciously constantly compare themselves to European standards of beauty.

In addition, Sarah enjoys working with other creative minds to make concepts a reality rather it’s collaborating with photographers, bloggers, writers, painters, fashion designers, etc., and is truly honored and filled with love by every being who has allowed her to serve as MUSE. She also has gratitude to all of the creative platforms and people who capture the essence of her soul which has been healing for others.

As a ‘a person who stands in front of a camera and takes pictures,’ she truly wishes to use her presence to share stories of encouragement through healing. Sarah considers herself to be a transparent and honest woman who uses her stories to guide others to their own strength and truth in healing.

Health

8 Reasons Why Squatting Is Better Than Running

by Drew Kocak Squatting is largely neglected in modern society — dudes skipping leg day, women wasting away on the elliptical.

Especially when it comes to weight loss, there are too many people out there skipping the resistance training portion of exercise and focusing solely on cardio.

Here are 8 reasons why you should hit the squat rack every once in a while instead of running for every workout.

1. Squatting isn’t a huge time commitment.

Running is all about speed and endurance. Once you get your mile time down to where you want it, all you can do is run further. Eventually, you find yourself easily covering 5, 6, 7, 8 miles. Even for fast runners, that’s a lot of time. A good squat session should only take about 10 minutes.

2. It is lower impact on your joints.

Running is notorious for being one of the highest impact exercises you can impose on your joints. We were built to run barefoot on soft soil, but we live in a paved world of concrete and cement. Running long distances on such hard surfaces really taxes the connective tissue.

Ever hear of shin splints? Unless you’re squatting really heavy weight, replacing a run or two with a squat session will save your knees in the long run.

3. Your body was built to squat.

Our bodies were built to run short to moderate distances, not marathons.

Squatting is by far the most neglected fundamental movement your body was born capable of performing. Look at a baby — babies can squat ass to grass no problem. Think back to Adam and Eve. Do you think they pooped on toilets? We were meant to squat all the way down and do our business on the ground. The constant sitting we do at our desks and on the toilet have made us immobile as a species, and it needs to be combated with squats.

4. Squatting activates more muscles.

Running is a great exercise for your heart and calves. It hits several more areas, but the stimulus is small. Squatting activates your quadriceps, hamstrings, hip flexors, glutes, adductors, abdominals, and lower back. Resistance training in general creates a larger muscle stimulus than running and the more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns at rest. This means you can eat more without gaining weight. If that doesn’t motivate you to squat, I don’t know what will.

Speaking of eating more…

5. People who squat can eat more carbs.

7. Squat waists look thinner than runner waists.

Running is an aerobic exercise, so it burns fat as fuel. Squats are primarily an anaerobic exercise.

This means that its primary energy source is glycogen, which is your body’s method of storing carbs. If you squat, your body burns the glycogen in your muscles. If your muscles are glycogen-depleted, you can only refill them by consuming carbs. Now get this: they won’t be stored as fat. Instead they’ll go straight to replenishing your muscles (given you eat a reasonable amount). Next time you eat a donut or four after leg day, don’t beat yourself up over it. You’re making booty gains.

In addition to the extra calorie burn induced by having a little more booty muscle, having a larger booty will cause your waist to appear thinner. This gives women that hourglass figure and men that extra asset women actually love.

6. Squatting builds your booty more.

Distance runners tend to have flat booty syndrome if all they do is run.

Sprinters? They utilize their glutes a whole lot — their entire legs in fact.

They’re a different story. Squatters tend to build large, round glutes due to the hip-hinge-dominant nature of the movement. Would you rather have a flat butt or a squat butt?

8. It will give you abs.

Squatting is a compound movement and one of the muscles it hits hard is your abs. Many people have no idea this is the case. Think about it: your torso is pitched forward with a barbell on your shoulders. What’s keep you from folding and falling flat on your face? Your core. There are many bodybuilders out there with chiseled sets of abs who never work them directly. They’ve found it’s a better use of their time to do heavy squats and deadlifts and their abs are doing just swimmingly.

I’m not saying I hate running. In fact, I enjoy running a good mile or two and I suggest most people do so as well on occasion. There are just too many people out there on treadmills and not enough in the squat rack.

Casa + Architecture

Casa del Limonero by Taller Estilo Arquitectura

“The Casa del Limonero is a house on two floors; compositionally divided into two clear sections: the first area is where the main access from the street is located, occupied by a preexisting construction and a rear one, with the bedrooms and central courtyard, which has different programs: terrace, pool and

connections to the new building. It also serves as a hall because it contains the landing of the staircase and access to the rear bedrooms.

The staircase and its triple function: besides being the access to the upper floor, it is a service area and has the formal strength of a sculptural element within the central courtyard.

The rescue and rehabilitation of the existing building seeks to create a fusion between the old space and the new one in a natural way.

Lighting and ventilation are primary factors to create atmospheres of enjoyment and comfort for users. A house completely linked to the outside, making spaces that are enriched by the aesthetics of all materials and maximizing passive conditioning systems to reduce energy costs in the home.

The traditional concept is retaken and transformed into a modern design. Both in the old and the new areas similar construction systems were used with a limited number of

materials. The predominant materials are stone, wood, traditional flooring, metal, and white cement as wall cladding.

Traditional houses in the historic center of MĂŠrida used cement floors in the shape of mosaics with colorful and different designs, forming mats in the spaces and marking a pattern in the decor of each room. Our proposal takes up the material and concept but turns them into large areas of white cement and other surfaces with integrated mineral green pigment, strongly defining the color palette that becomes one of the characteristic features of the house.

The merger of the historic character of the building and contemporary architecture create a perfect and harmonious amalgam, allowing a clear and sober language that supports the incorporation of functional and yet formally unique elements, enhancing the material they were made from while remaining outside our natural environment and the great possibilities that it provides through its proper use.

Traditional techniques and regional materials point toward the spatial and aesthetic composition of the project; revealing the labor of our builders who manufacture our identity.

At the end, a house that respects the environment, harnesses the landscape, converses with the human scale and the spatial sense.�

Gear

Nintendo Switch

In addition to providing single and multiplayer thrills at home, the Nintendo Switch system also enables gamers to play the same title wherever, whenever and with whomever they choose. The mobility of a handheld is now added to the power of a home gaming system to enable unprecedented new video game play styles.

At home, Nintendo Switch rests in the Nintendo Switch Dock that connects the system to the TV and lets you play with family and friends in the comfort of your living room. By simply lifting Nintendo Switch from the dock, the system will instantly transition to portable mode, and the same great gaming experience that was being enjoyed at home now travels with you. The portability of Nintendo Switch is enhanced by its bright high-definition display. It brings the full home gaming system experience with you to the park, on an airplane, in a car, or to a friend’s apartment.

Gaming springs into action by removing detachable Joy-Con controllers from either side of Nintendo Switch. One player can use a Joy-Con controller in each hand; two players can each take one; or multiple Joy-Con can be employed by numerous people for a variety of gameplay options. They can easily click back into place or be slipped into a Joy-Con Grip accessory, mirroring a more traditional controller. Or, if preferred, the gamer can select an optional Nintendo Switch Pro Controller to use instead of the Joy-Con controllers. Furthermore, it is possible for numerous people to bring their Nintendo Switch systems together to enjoy local multiplayer face-to-face competition.

Musician

Kiiara

Slightly left-of-center pop artist Kiiara is a breathy vocalist whose output falls somewhere between that of Jhene Aiko and Lorde. The Illinois native previously recorded as Kiara Saulters and independently issued the homey acoustic pop song "Bring Me Back" in 2013. Eventually signed to major-label Atlantic, she worked with the Cataracs' Niles HollowellDhar and David Singer-Vine, as well as Brenton Duvall and Felix Snow,

and recorded Low Kii Savage. The EP, which alternated between downcast electronic pop and bassheavy, trap-style rap production, was a radical change in direction.

Preceded by the breakout single "Gold," it was released in March 2016. ~ Andy Kellman

Entrepreneur

How An Entrepreneur Makes Money When They Don’t Have Any

By Kris Sturmey

I understand what it’s like, I’ve been there myself, you have all of these big ideas that you know would work, make millions, go viral and so on, but you simply don’t

have the cash to push them through. It’s frustrating, finding investment is hard, and you feel as though you’re in a vicious circle that you’ll never get out of.

But there’s hope! To make money when you don’t have any, you have to do two things.

the point in spending thousands on a new idea if you haven’t tested it yet, or worse, spending thousands of hours and wasting time you can never get back?

1. Scale Down

This is why sometimes, the one with the least money comes out on top.

Having too much cash can be a burden, it makes you reckless and somewhat lazy. You begin to believe that flooding money into your idea will automatically make it work, but it doesn’t quite work this way.

Number one is scaling down. When you don’t have enough money, you need to have a certain mindset that can take you from location A to location B. This mindset is made up of acceptance and compromise.

Accepting the fact that you can’t go out and spend thousands on advertising, then compromising to find a scaled down version of what you originally wanted to do.

This is where most people struggle because they aren’t willing to put out what they would call a…bad product/service. But for anyone who’s read the book The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, you’ll know where I’m coming from. For those of you who haven’t, I recommend reading it.

The Lean Startup talks about your MVP – Minimum Viable Product. This is a version of the product or service that requires the least amount of time and money spent but still does the job in a minimalist way. What’s

Example: Some of the best companies in the world were started from the absolute bare minimums. Take James Dyson for example. James was an inventor, had some ups and downs, but was fairly stable. There came a time in his life when he didn’t have too much cash to play around with. He had a big idea, yet couldn’t implement it.

Instead of giving up, James turned to the MVP system and created a hoover out of a cereal box. (I’d love to tell you how). He hoovered the entire house twice and realized that his cheap product worked. This was step one complete; he worked with what he had where he stood and came up with something that could take him to the next step.

The Takeaway

2. Be Creative

I see so many people complaining about not having enough money, yet they haven’t even tried the basics. A world class website straight out of the gate isn’t realistic, but don’t worry. Just having something in place, a platform to build from is the most important factor. You can improve as you go, learn as you go and enable the business to move in parallel with your growing profits.

The second component is being creative. Instead of following a single given path, you need to search for ethical shortcuts, tricks, and opportunities that no one else spotted.

This system works very much like video games. You can afford better things and be granted access to more exclusive items/opportunities the longer you play and the further you advance. You don’t put the disk in and complete the game in 5 minutes with everything available to you.

Progression is progression, no matter how slow you go or from where you start, all that matters is that you’re moving.

You see, if everyone is after the same goal, reading the same material and learning from the same companies, there will come a time where nothing differentiates you from your competitors. Being different, thinking differently and running as far outside of the box as you can definitely work in your favor when you’re broke.

Example: Richard Branson may be the king of this strategy. When he first started out in business, before all of the billions, he too had similar issues in the financial department as I guess many of the people reading this have today. He needed sponsors for his new magazine, but of course, no one wanted to be associated with a new brand that had a small readership, no history, or proven results.

So what did Richard do?

He contacted the biggest company that would get on the phone with him and told them that they could feature in his magazine for free with a double page spread. No catches, just a free advert that would point customers in their direction with no risk or money to be paid. The large company obviously said yes because they had no reason not to, it was free adverting.

So how did this benefit Richard?

Richard then went to smaller companies and showed evidence of this large company featuring in his magazine. To them, it seemed as though the larger company had bought a double page spread.

Without hesitation, they all began signing up to Richard’s magazine and paying him for a feature. They must have thought, “If such a big company is doing it, then they must

know something we don’t.” He used a form of social business proofing!

This cost Richard nothing but made him the money he needed to reach the next stage of his entrepreneurial journey. A simple creative thought that, for all we know, could have been the catalyst towards his billiondollar fortune.

The Takeaway Sometimes it’s the smallest, most simple and most overlooked features that can make all the difference. Having money is great, of course, it opens up opportunities, but there’s something about working with a small budget that heightens your senses, makes you hyperaware to opportunity and more selective in how you spend what you have.

If you’re broke but have a great idea, never forget that you have the start-up advantage, something that larger companies have been trying to get back since they grew.

BP Girl

Amber Hayes

Rides

Lynk & Co. 01 From the outside, it looks like any other crossover. But the Lynk & Co. 01 is unlike any car you've ever owned. Mostly because you don't even need to own it. Developed by the Swedish engineers at Volvo, it's super safe, handles well, and has all the technological feature's you'd expect. Plus a big one you don't. Thanks to its connected platform, it automatically tells the dealership when it needs serviced, so they'll come and

get it, leave a replacement, and drop your ride back afterwards.

If you're not using it for a few hours, just tell it when you'll be back, and it will be available for others to drive, with the rental fees dropped into your account.

And should you find yourself flying to a new locale, the app makes it just as easy for you to rent someone else's car for a time, giving you access to "your" car, even if it's really sitting in your driveway.

-uncrate.com

Musician

D.R.A.M.

D.R.A.M. is just like the guy next door -- if the guy next door could rap, sing, and make smash records. "I always had a boisterous personality," says the 28-year-old singer/ songwriter. "Even when I was dead ass broke, I still found ways to have fun."

Born Shelley Massenburg-Smith in Germany to a military mom, D.R.A.M. (an acronym for Does Real Ass Music) and his family planted roots in Hampton, Virginia, where he was raised. Growing up, he hung around his older cousins and found

inspiration in artists beyond his years, such as luminaries like Al Green and Parliament. "As a kid, I remember everyone in my family played older music, it just rubbed off. It was a blessing," he says.

When he hit his teens, D.R.A.M. was enamored by hip-hop and hit the mall every day after school to look for local rappers to challenge. "I was rapping just like Cassidy. He was my favorite rapper at that time," he recalls of the Philadelphia rapper. "It took a lot of growth, but I always knew that I was gonna make it as an artist. Over time my sound just developed."

The biggest development came when D.R.A.M. dropped his '#1EPICSummer' mixtape in 2014 and captivated fans with his break out hit "Cha Cha." The infectious Latin rhythm fully showcased his soulful singing voice, and penchant for crating catchy melodies. The world took notice, including BeyoncĂŠ who posted a video on Instagram of her dancing to the song.

"We put '#1EPICSummer' out on a whim, we didn't know how we were gonna make it work, but we knew we were gonna make it work," he says. "It was energy, the universe, the lord, all of that and timing."

Fast forward a year and D.R.A.M. has quit his job at retail chain, Best Buy, dropped the highly-favored follow-up EP 'Gahdamn!,' hit the road on sold out tours with the likes of Chance The Rapper, and worked with the legendary Rick Rubin, who D.R.A.M. cites as his mentor.

Now with the release of his debut album 'Big Baby D.R.A.M.,' D.R.A.M. is more determined than ever to prove that he is here to stay.

Heralded by the double platinum, Lil Yachty-assisted "Broccoli," which hit #1 on the Billboard "Top Rap Songs" chart, as well as #1 on the Rhythmic radio charts, 'Big Baby D.R.A.M.' is filled with an assorted mix of soulful

jams, laced with appearances from Erykah Badu and Young Thug, that are all tied together by D.R.A.M.'s magnetic personality.

The wildly fun anthem "Cash Machine" starts with a show tunes piano courtesy of producer Ricky Reed, before erupting into a joyous toast to the good life. "Cute" is a flirtatious boy-meets-girl story where D.R.A.M. remains charming and innocent singing "I chose you like a PokĂŠmon." "WiFi" features the Erykah Badu and together they tackle the question that's on everyone's mind: What's the code to your WiFi? Then there's "Sweet VA Breeze," a love song to D.R.A.M.'s home state, which he recorded over three years ago. "That's my favorite one on the whole project," he admits. "No matter where you go, you'll be alright if you stay true to where you're from. I'm from Hampton, Virginia."

"I want to set my mark, and leave my mark. This is my intro, but I want it to stick and be one of the great ones," he says.

With each track, D.R.A.M. remains a relatable superstar that will captivate fans for years to come. "Through conversation if I can relate with other people why not portray that in my music as well," he says. "I just gotta be true to me."

Graphic Art

Le Turk / Surrealistic Vintage in Carnival and Burlesque Cinematic Style Scenes from the city of old: clowns, angels and showgirls‌Drawing upon themes of the carnival and burlesque style, Le Turk creates surreal scenes with a vintage cinematic flare.

This passionate of French

culture is inviting us into a world of poetry, traveling from the vintage circus to the erotic cabarets and brothels. Burlesque and sometimes grotesque, his characters are all captured with tenderness and humor.

Sébastien Salamand better known as “Le Turk” creates surrealistic images featuring themes around the carnival and burlesque scene in a vintage cinematic flair. His series Salbatar Circus shows dramatically staged elephantine women, potbellied acrobats, scarlet harlots and pathetic jugglers. Forgotten, but unwilling to stop the show, these outcasts seem to continue their performance infront of an imaginary audience.

“I have no process. I make myself available to images, visions, characters that already exist. I listen.

And I keep a diary, a chronicle of

what is happening somewhere, I catch it and I transmit it, that’s all.

The rest is a bit of tinkering, trifles, with wood, polystyrene, paint, who cares.” – Le Turk He is himself a character of his own photographs, an active actor of his own mental drama, Le Turk, authentic, faithful, ostentatious, in a sacred and profane painting, God, Jesus, Bach, Elvis, Duchamp… He creates the world, in his own image, passionately, mentally. Excessive, DIYer, painter, decorator, tragedian, Le Turk is the most patriotic of the French photographers.

He finds the inspiration for his scenes in French history, in the circus, the cabaret, in the Pigalle fashion, in Parisian revolutions, the “Paris Commune”from the Christ to the Burlesque. His world is inspired from cartoons, Jeunet movies and Otto Dix or Jerome Bosch’s

paintings. And even if his photographs are purely staged, they constitute nevertheless stolen life scenes, a captured moment, a conquered instant, made in cardboard, wood, polystyrene and other accessories.

Le Turk: A biography would be of no use. Le Turk was born one night simply when listening by chance to Bach’s Saint John Passion, nice and loud in headphones. Nothing else matters than that major awakening, that ground-breaking moment.

His whole work has been dedicated ever since to what he experienced for those eight minutes that lasted for ever. Ever since, he has striven to pass on as genuinely and accurately as he could the Passion that was born that night.

Alpha Profile

Gilles Peterson

When all is said and done, whichever role Gilles is performing – DJ, broadcaster, producer, compiler, label boss or plain old record collector – the music is always the bottom line.

compilations only seems to intensify.

His longstanding love affair with Cuba and its musical subcultures has manifested itself in five albums under the auspices of the “Havana Cultura” project. The latest of these excursions – ‘Mala in Cuba’ – released in September 2012, sent tremors (literally!) through the electronic underground.

Starting off life as a club DJ, Gilles continues to spin regularly around the world. This year alone has seen him in Rio, Martinique, Tokyo, Havana and most parts of Europe as well as East London of course. As for the radio, his new 3-hour Saturday afternoon show on BBC Radio 6 Music has seen him take his unique musical mix to a new and growing audience of music lovers whilst the syndicated Worldwide radio show continues to spread his musical gospel… well, worldwide.

From Sun-Ra to James Blake to Theo Parrish to Flying Lotus – if it swings in the right places, it’s in.

Gilles’ broadcasting roots lie with the burgeoning pirate radio movement in South London during the early 1980s. Inspired by the exciting blend of music broadcast on pirate stations such as Radio Invicta, he set up his own – Civic Radio – and went on to present on a string of pirate stations during it’s golden era – Invicta, KJAZZ, Solar Radio and on Horizon, before landing at BBC London with his show Mad On Jazz and a box of soul, jazz, Latin and boogie records.

From Acid Jazz to Talkin’ Loud and now Brownswood Recordings, Gilles’s work as an A&R, as a producer; as a remixer and, of course, as the curator of

Upon leaving BBC London in 1986, Gilles took up a new residency at Dingwalls in Camden, which ran for 5 years. Coinciding with the rise of acid house in UK clubland, the popularity of Sunday Afternoon at Dingwalls grew and grew, establishing itself as a legendary session.

This was just one amongst many other significant clubs that Gilles was associated with. Special Branch, Electric Ballroom, Wag Club, Babylon at Heaven, Fez, Talking Loud at the Fridge and not forgetting That’s How It Is at Bar Rumba and his long association with Plastic People. Gilles now curates a number of extraordinary live music events in the UK and internationally including the Worldwide Festival in the south of France, now in its 7th year.

Gilles’ forays into the world of A&R began with Street Sounds, with whom he complied the Jazz Juice series. He then complied the first collection for Blue Note aimed at the new DJ culture and went on to set up his own BGP records and Hardback Recordings. It was 1986

when he co-founded the Acid Jazz imprint – releasing records by the likes of A Man called Adam, Galliano and Brand New Heavies.

Then in 1989 Gilles was offered the opportunity by Phonogram to create an imprint label born out of Britains flourishing club culture: Talkin’ Loud. It was with Talkin’ loud that he really cemented his relationship with the new and the old, with innovation and heritage, releasing note worthy material by Omar, Incognito, Galliano and The Young Disciples.

Talkin’ Loud became synonymous with Gilles’ own broad taste in music and with no less than 5 Mercury Music Prize nominations under his belt (4hero, Courtney Pine, Young Disciples, MJ Cole and Roni Size Reprazent – the winner in 1997). His reputation was assured.

As a compiler, Gilles has put together over 100 compilation releases making him the undoubted world record holder! He always maintained that he wanted to score as many releases as his early hero Art Blakey… He still has a few more to go!

Having launched Jazz FM as one of the stations founders in 1990, Gilles found himself in hot water after he publicly condemned the first Gulf War on air and was subsequently sacked. Having kicked off his first show for them by playing ‘Fight the Power’ by Public Enemy, it was probably no surprise to them that they were in for an interesting ride.

However Kiss FM opened the doors for an 8-year residency where he built the foundations of his enduringly popular Worldwide radio show. The Worldwide name having been given to him by Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson of the Roots (who’s debut EP had just come out on Talkin’ Loud). Taking Worldwide to BBC Radio 1 in 1998, he has enjoyed 14 years broadcasting the “Worldwide” sound to receptive ears. April 2012 saw a natural progression for Gilles Peterson the broadcaster, swapping his late night BBC Radio 1 slot for a peak time Saturday afternoon session on BBC Radio 6 Music (3pm-6pm). His new 3 hour long Saturday afternoon show

on BBC 6Music has seen him take his unique musical mix to a new and growing audience of music lovers and its no surprise that his show regular features in the Top 3 of the most listened to shows at the BBC. The formula for Gilles’ radio shows is a simple one: the finest new music he can lay his hands on… and that’s it. His shows are a marker for everything that is great about underground music from Brooklyn to Benin and beyond. In addition to his BBC 6 Music show, Gilles records a separate weekly Worldwide programme that is syndicated to 8 stations across the globe including France’s Radio Nova, VRT StuBruBelgium, Arrow FM in the Netherlands, CRO Wave- Czech Republic, FM4 in Austria, Radio X and WDR Funkhaus Europa – Germany.

Every year, the musical heroes of the global underground are brought together and honoured at the Worldwide Awards – an annual celebration of the best music from the show that year held in London and hosted by Gilles.

Today, Peterson is at the forefront of his own independent label – Brownswood Recordings – which launched in 2006 as an outlet for his favourite new discoveries. Early successes included Ben Westbeech, Jose James (now

signed to Blue Note) and last year’s Mercury Music Prize nominee Ghostpoet but his favourite remains the debut album by solo pianist Elan Mehler.

2009 saw the birth of a new collaborative project with Havana Club under the moniker “Havana Cultura”. Travelling to Cuba in 2009, Gilles teamed up with the awardwinning Cuban jazz pianist Roberto Fonseca to find the very best up and coming musical talent in Havana.

These sounds were documented on ‘Havana Cultura: New Cuba Sound’ – the biggest collection of contemporary Cuban musicians in a single musical initiative since the highly acclaimed Buena Vista Social Club project in 1997.

Continuing his longstanding love affair with Cuba and its musical melting pot, Gilles returned to Havana in 2011 alongside co-producers Vince Vella; Simbad (Gilles’ production partner in his remixing endeavours); and bass pioneer Mala (Digital Mystikz), to orchestrate and record new studio sound clashes with a fresh crop of Cuban talent.

Continuing on a production tip, Gilles recently produced two tracks for Roberto Fonseca’s new album ‘Yo’ and co-produced cuts with RedLight and Switch. He has also spent more time these last couple of years remixing artists such as Raphael Gualazzi, The Bees and Fatoumata Diawara. Gilles continues to develop his studio sound with his in house partner Simbad.

Starting off life as a club DJ, Gilles continues to spin passionately around the world. From Kazakhstan to Hackney, Istanbul, New York, Beijing and beyond… he has always seen himself first and foremost as a selector of discs for the Dance!

BP Girl

Stephanie Rao

Sponsored model, brand ambassador and social media phenomenon who has generated an Instagram following of more than 850,000.

She has done glamour, fashion, lingerie and swimwear modeling.

Success

4 Ways to Think Like a Millionaire A lot of people think that becoming a millionaire is simply a matter of coming up with a great business idea or working your way to the top of a fortune 500 company. What they don’t realize is that many people who earn upwards of 100k

per year are still living paycheck to paycheck.

The road to financial independence is not based entirely on your income, it has more to do with how you think about money. There are four key components to the millionaire mindset.

Mastering them isn’t guaranteed to make you rich, but it is certainly going to get you on the right path.

1. Learn the Difference Between Assets and Liabilities We all know the traditional definition of assets. Things like homes, investments, and cash all add a nice big plus sign to your net worth.

However, an asset is not just something that has value. It’s something that adds value.

Let’s say, for example, you want to buy a car. The car certainly has value, but it will not add a single dollar to your net worth. In fact, it’s going to cost you money. Every month you’ll have to pay for gas and insurance. The car’s value will depreciate as it ages, it’s value decreases every single day that you own it. This makes the car a liability.

If you were a taxi driver, the car would be an asset as it makes you money every day. But for the average consumer, a car is often nothing more than a money pit.

Thinking this way will remind you to spend your money only on things that will help you grow financially.

2. Identify Ways to Generate Passive Income Most people earn their living by working a job. This is an example of an active income. You have to go to work every weekday, if you want to continue to earn. If you stop going to work, you stop making money.

Your wealth is limited by how much you can work.

For most people, generating passive income is a simple matter of making some financial investments.

Investing in the right stocks or bonds can earn you interest every month, without requiring any direct involvement on your part. Many millionaires look for other sources of passive income, for example investment properties that are rented out through a management agency.

Another example would be investing in online or offline businesses.

Remember, you don’t necessarily have to invest money. You can also invest time. Creating a business that runs on its own, like a website, will require a little more work up front.

But once the work is completed, it’s a set-and-forget system.

3. Don’t Let Yourself Be Influenced by Fear

“Buy low, sell high” is a common colloquialism used in reference to business. This can pretty accurately sum up nearly every piece of business advice you’ll find online.

Remember the economic collapse of 2008? Financial publications would have had you believe that anybody investing in the stock market during this time was simply a fool! And yet for the three years following the recession, the average annual gain was a whopping 11.9% Billionaire investor Warren Buffet said it best himself: “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.”

4. Live Below Your Means It doesn’t matter if you make $20 thousand per year or $200 thousand, it’s important that you live below your means. People have a natural tendency to start spending as soon as their income increases, but you have to save whatever money you can. Start today.

Even if you can only save $10 per month, it will be a start. Next time your income increases, whether it’s from a raise or one of your investments, try to add this money to your savings, instead of spending it upgrading your lifestyle.

The thrill of material possessions fades rather quickly. But one day, you’ll be presented with an opportunity. Maybe the perfect house for you to start a family in, or maybe a chance to invest in an upand-coming business. When opportunity strikes, you want to make sure you have the financial resources to take advantage of it.

By Josh McDonald

BackPocket Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Alexander Chaney Contributors & Credits Josh McDonald Ben Dahl Russ - TheDomesticMan,.com

Photographers Teo Salinas