CBU May 2020 Emagazine

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SPRING/SUMMER Fitness Motivation!

Hanging On To Good Health.

Model: Chris Moses @saintmakel

Photography: Masshuu | Xita Productions @XitaProductions @masshuubiita

CALVIN KLEIN LOUNGE

The 2020 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Poetry

Dr. Jericho Brown

The Tradition, by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press) A collection of masterful lyrics that combine delicacy with historical urgency in their loving evocation of bodies vulnerable to hostility and violence.

The rock originator’s string of howling mid-50s hits was the blueprint for an entire generation of musicians.

(Photo by Tim Graham/Evening Standard/Getty Images)

Rock and roll archetype, Little Richard, has died. He was 87 years old.

According to Rolling Stone, the music legend’s death was confirmed by his son, Danny Jones Penniman, but a cause was not stated.

The second of 12 children, Richard Wayne Penniman was born in Macon, Georgia to a religious family on December 5th, 1932. He began singing in a local church, but was ousted from the household after his father accused him of being gay. At 13, he was taken in by a white family who owned a nearby nightclub in Macon. He’d perform there until getting signed to RCA in 1951, dropping his surname and picking up the trendy “little” tag so many musicians had adopted during that decade.

His climb was gradual, failing to chart until rock & roll had officially arrived. During this gestation, Richard worked as a bus station dishwasher, where he claimed to have come up with the notorious “Tutti Frutti” chorus. In 1955, he recorded a clean version of the track, which went on to become the first in a string of hits. It peaked at No. 17 on Billboard’s Pop chart, but the follow-up, “Long Tall Sally,” eclipsed that mark, hitting No. 6 on the chart. Richard parlayed his success into appearances in early rock & roll films. In 1956, he was cast in Don’t Knock the Rock, and the following year, he hit the screen in The Girl Can’t Help It. By the end of the decade, Little Richard was arguably the most recognizable entertainer on the planet; his music brimming with crossover appeal, his stage show a sight to behold. But in 1959, Richard capped the decade he defined by pivoting to a gospel career with the release of the album God is Real. Five years later he’d mount a comeback attempt in an industry then anchored by British and American r&b sensations. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and childhood friend, Otis Redding, had all risen to prominence in Richard’s absence, all openly touting the Macon musician as a primary influence.

F-FIVE was created to inspire people to feel better, be better and do better. It's more than just a brand. It's a Life Style.

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Prepare to say a benediction for Greenleaf

Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network announced on Sunday that Season 5 of the Tennessee-set megachurch drama, to premiere sometime in June, will be its last.

In a brand-new trailer for Greenleaf, the family is working hard to stand together in the face of their many enemies. Bishop continues to repair his issues with Lady Mae, who is more devout than ever after seeing her family struggle with its secrets.

Grace stands at her son AJ’s side and Charity returns to the fold after being doublecrossed by the man to whom she gave her heart. Karissa supports Jacob to ensure their children’s security while Zora and Sophia decide if blood really is thicker than water.

But their newfound family unity stands in the shadow of Harmony and Hope’s threats to cast them out of the church they built. The Bible-slinging conglomerate is clutching tight to its hold on Calvary.

Fighting off its hold on the board will take more than standing together, it will take an actual miracle.

Production was completed last year on all eight Season 5 episodes, well ahead of the entertainment industry’s pandemic-related shutdown..

Starring Merle Dandridge, Keith David (above right) and Lynn Whitfield (above left), Greenleaf last fall averaged 1.1 million total viewers and a 0.22 demo rating (in Live+Same Day numbers), down about 15 percent from its third season. Among current OWN series, it trails only The Haves and the Have Nots in both measures while ranking above Queen Sugar (which was renewed for Season 5 in September). Season 4 was also the No. 1 scripted series on basic cable among African-American women and total African-American viewers.

To date, Greenleaf has amassed 10 NAACP Image Award nominations, including wins for Outstanding Drama in 2020, and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama (for Lynn Whitfield) in 2019 and 2020.

Returns for Season 2 May 29

Legendary hip hop and R&B record l a b e l f o u n d e r A n d r e H a r r e l l h a s d ie d The cause of death is unknown. Andre Harrell was 59.

By Christina Carrega, abcnews.go.com Legendary music maven and founder of Uptown Records and co-founder of REVOLT, Andre Harrell has died. He was 59.

Harrell's death was first announced by Derrick Jones, a disc jockey who is known by his stage name, D-Nice, during his "Club Quarantine" sets on Instagram Friday night.

Roma Khanna, the CEO of REVOLT Media and Television, confirmed Harrell's death on Saturday afternoon in a statement to ABC News.

"Everyone in the REVOLT family is devastated by the loss of our friend, mentor and Vice Chairman. Andre’s impact on Hip Hop, the culture and on all of us personally has been immeasurable and profound. May he Rest In Peace,” said Khanna Roma.

Harrell's cause of death has not been confirmed.

One of Harrell's last Instagram posts on May 7 was a photograph and caption about Ahmaud Arbery -- a African American man shot and killed by two white men who thought he was a burglary suspect -- that ended with "#justiceforahmaud.”

Harrell also posted a selfie with his son Gianni Harrell on May 3 with the caption "I miss Father & son Saturday's @Gianni.”

Uptown Records signed classic R&B and hip-hop artists like Al B. Sure, the group Guy which included producer Teddy Riley and the late Heavy D & The Boyz.

As the leader of the label, Harrell hired Sean Combs, who is currently known as "Diddy," as an intern. Combs moved up to become a talent manager for the label who developed the careers of Mary J. Blige and Jodeci until he was fired by Harrell in 1993, according to Billboard. Combs went on to found Bad Boy Records.

Born in the New York and raised in the Bronx, Harrell's music career started in the early 1980s as one half of the hip hop group Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. As Dr. Jekyll, Harrell and Alonzo Brown who was Mr. Hyde, were signed to Profile Records where they released one album "The Champagne of Rap" in 1985.

Harrell moved on from being in front of the microphone and into the background when he was hired by Russell Simmons at Def Jam Records. While there, Harrell worked his way up to vice president and general manager of the label, but left in 1986 to start his own label -- Uptown Records.

Twenty years later, Harrell and Combs teamed up to start REVOLT television, a multi-platform brand that hosts music conferences.

In December, Black Entertainment Television announced it was working with Harrell to bring the Uptown Records story to life as a 2020 three-night scripted miniseries, according to Billboard.

Sympathy and condolences posts have poured in on social media from celebrities like Simmons.

Click Here To See The Trailer

'Becoming' Offers A Revealing But Selective View Of Michelle Obama It's telling that the most barbed political criticism Michelle Obama drops in her new Netflix documentary Becoming isn't about Donald Trump's birtherism or the commentators who tried to dismiss her as an angry black woman.

Instead, she criticizes fickle Democratic supporters while talking about Trump's 2017 inauguration in a roundtable discussion.

"The day I left the White House, I write about how painful it was to sit on that stage — a lot of our folks didn't vote," she says in the film, which debuts Wednesday. "So it was almost like, a slap in the face."

Moments later, she expands on that idea, "I understand the people who voted for Trump, [but] the people who didn't vote at all — the young people, the women — that's when you think, man, people think this is a game.”

The backbone of the documentary comes from footage filmed behind-the-scenes and onstage during the 34-stop tour to promote her best-selling memoir, also called Becoming. The tour featured celebrity hosts like Oprah Winfrey interviewing the former First Lady in arenas packed with fans; she spoke on everything from visiting a marriage counselor with her husband to raising young black children in a mansion like the White House.

Her concern: during a visit with Laura Bush, she noticed the White House butlers were African American and Latino men decked out in tuxedoes.

"I didn't want them growing up thinking grown African American men served them in tuxedoes," she says. "The truth was that some of those men were (like) my uncles — they were the Pullman porters and other folks — I didn't want my girls to grow up with that image.”

Race is, of course, a huge subject in the film, as Michelle Obama details feeling immense pressure to be perfect as wife to the first black president. For fans who admire the family and their message of inclusion, Becoming will be a bittersweet reminder of how differently the White House's current occupants conduct themselves.

Still, when young people ask Michelle Obama how to face the often-intangible forces of systemic prejudice and tribalism, Michelle Obama has a consistent answer: Stay focused. Work hard. Never accept a limiting label.

"I never felt invisible," she says, praising her parents for teaching her confidence. "We can't afford to wait for the world to be equal to start feeling seen.”

When a Native American student tells her he felt uneasy in classes with students wearing Trump hats, she responds: "So you're in school. Be in school. Get your frickin' education. Barack and I, all through this presidency, through the lies and the stuff they said about us, all we could do was wake up every day and do our jobs. Let our jobs and our lives speak for itself."

That sounds an awful lot like putting the burden on oppressed people to transcend their own oppression.

The Obamas have faced criticism in the past for such "respectability politics" — which also imply that if a person of color doesn't succeed, perhaps it's because they didn't try hard enough. (Remember those Democratic voters who stayed home?)

It would have been compelling to see Michelle Obama face some tough questions from someone who legitimately challenges her ideas. But Becoming is produced by the Obamas' Higher Ground Productions, following in the footsteps of other recent documentaries — like ESPN's The Last Dance or Hulu's Hillary — which counted on significant participation and support from key subjects to succeed.

As good as all of these efforts are, there is also a sense that they can only go so far in challenging their superstar subjects. In Becoming's case, that means a distinct lack of critics shown onscreen and moments that feel too much like an ad for the boss.

Despite Michelle Obama's candor, Becoming offers a selective view. Barack Obama doesn't sit for an exclusive interview; daughters Sasha and Malia speak in just a few places. And the former First Lady avoids any direct criticism of political rivals, continuing to go high when others might consider going low.

Even with its flaws, Becoming is a compelling documentary, offering a carefully revealing look at a whip smart, ferociously practical woman trying to understand how her historic time in the White House changed herself, her family and the nation.

By Eric Deggans, npr.com

Drake

Shares New Mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes

Future, Playboi Carti, Young Thug, and more appear on the new project; he says his new album is out this summer

Drake’s Dark Lane Demo Tapes (OVO/Republic Records)

Drake has shared a brand new project. Dark Lane Demo Tapes features guest appearances by Playboi Carti, Future, Young Thug, and more. It includes previously-released tracks “Toosie Slide,” “Desires” “When to Say When,” “Chicago Freestyle,” and “War.” Southside, Pi’erre Bourne, Noah “40” Shebib, and Plain Pat are among the producers credited on the album. Listen to the mixtape below.

Drake announced the new project in an Instagram post post earlier today (April 30). In addition to announcing the tape, Drake also wrote that his next studio album is slated to arrive this summer.

Drake’s last studio album was 2018’s Scorpion. In 2019, he released the Care Package compilation. More recently, he hopped on Lil Yachty’s track “Oprah’s Bank Account.”

Scorpion became Drake’s eighth consecutive No. 1 album, and it earned Drake the Best Rap Song Grammy for the single “God’s Plan.”

- By Madison Bloom, pitchfork.com Dark Lane Demo Tapes: 01 Deep Pockets (prod. Noah “40” Shebib, Plain Pat) 02 When to Say When (prod. Alonzo “Roxx” Thornhill, June James) 03 Chicago Freestyle [ft. Giveon] (prod. Noel Cadastre) 04 Not You Too [ft. Chris Brown] (prod. Noel Cadastre) 05 Toosie Slide (prod. Oz) 06 Desires [ft. Future] (prod. D. Hill, Noel Cadastre) 07 Time Flies (prod. Oz) 08 Landed (prod. CardoGotWings, Dez Wright) 09 D4L Freestyle [ft. Future and Young Thug] (prod. Southside) 10 Pain 1993 [ft. Playboi Carti] (prod. Pi’erre Bourne) 11 Losses (prod. Elyas, Foreign Teck, Oz, Sevn Thomas) 12 From Florida With Love (prod. MekikoDro, Noah “40” Shebib) 13 Demons [ft. Fivio Foreign and Sosa Geek] (prod. JB MADE IT) 14 War (prod. Axl Beats)

Click Here To See The Trailer

BLK & BOLD Fights for Social Justice One Cup of Coffee at a Time

By Lauren Johnson, cusinenoirmag.com

On any given morning, after rolling out of bed but before tackling to-do lists, roughly 64% of Americans start their day by reaching for a cup of coffee according to Reuters. It’s a staggering figure and one that points to a booming industry that Rod Johnson and Pernell Cezar wanted to be a part of.

Johnson and Cezar realized that, besides the fact that brews from freshly ground coffee beans taste fresher than pre-ground beans, consumers knew little else about their daily cup of joe.

Take, for example, the fact that coffee is just a fruit seed.

Photo credit: BLK & Bold

Take, for example, the fact that coffee is just a fruit seed.

“It’s literally the pit of a cherry that’s just grown in a coffee-growing region.

Mountainous regions allow the soil to be much more prime for those notes to come out…whether that’s nutty, fruity, [or] floral.

Either way, it should still have some distinctiveness to it… for the consumer to understand why they would pay more for it,” Cezar says.

Pictured: Rod Johnson and Pernell Cezar | Photo credit: BLK & Bold

Friends Making a Difference Together Childhood friends Johnson and Cezar grew up on the same block in Gary, Indiana. They launched BLK & Bold coffee from their headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, a year and a half ago, after stepping back from established careers in higher education fundraising and retail merchandising. As daily coffee consumers, they noticed a lack of representation and set out to fill a void in an already booming industry. They quietly built BLK & Bold over the coming months, which eventually incorporated a tightly ingrained social impact model that dedicates 5% of their proceeds toward issues such as helping eradicate youth homelessness and addressing food insecurities.

Photo credit: BLK & Bold

“We really wanted to find a way to impact that vulnerable demographic by doing something we do every day, which is enjoying a cup of coffee or tea,” says Cezar.

Their model plants them firmly on the same plane as other major mission-driven organizations such as Ben and Jerry’s and Warby Parker, who have fulfilled a calling to give back but with one distinct difference — their donations are all funneled back to domestic causes.

“The vision of the brand goes back to amplifying contribution and awareness of how for-profit can be this engine for domestic impact,” Cezar explains.

Creating a Process to Perfection Cezar and Johnson oversee every operational step, which begins with identifying importers they trust and then sourcing beans from various providers, who are specifically chosen based on their dedication to their role in the process. After selecting importers, the BLK & Bold team aligns on the desired taste profile for each blend.

Photo credit: BLK & Bold

That’s where the cupping process starts. Cupping is the formalized practice of tasting coffee to identify defects but also any distinct flavor notes within the coffee. This gives the team deep insight into which beans they want to bring into their offering.

Photo credit: BLK & Bold

Once the product is ordered, Cezar, Johnson and team begin the roasting process, while continuing to cup to fine-tune the flavor profile they want to replicate in their packaged coffee. Roasting and cupping, as well as packaging and distribution, all happen from their Des Moines facilities.

To keep the delicate coffee flavors and aromas intact, BLK & Bold also uses beans that have been sundried, allowing them to have more contact with the skin of the fruit. The full fruit is rotated throughout the week, giving each bean full exposure to the sun. Most coffees are wet-processed, which means the beans are immediately removed from the fruit through a “de-pulping” process and then washed to remove any remaining berry skin. It’s this process that can also remove those subtle fruit notes often found in high-quality coffee.

Representation Counts Their rapport — going back and forth to let each other chime in as they discuss the product and process — points to a longlasting friendship. In addition to maintaining close communication and giving back to the community, they’re vocal about their passion to educate consumers, while encouraging more Black Americans to drink the beverage.

“They just happen to drink coffee and don’t have the education of what they’re consuming, which is literally how Rod and I were. That is why we were so excited to build something to help educate people and share with them the intentionality of … what they consume,” Cezar explains.

If Black consumers don’t drink coffee because of a lack of representation, BLK & Bold believes it can help to fill that gap.

With a successful launch now behind them, Cezar and Johnson are far from done. Future plans are always a work in progress, but customers can expect to see BLK & Bold on more shelves throughout the country. They’re also planning a line of specialty beverages, including single-serve coffee bags in compostable packaging, as well as ready-to-drink beverages down the line.

But perhaps what they’re most excited about is the opportunity to continue to give back.

“The more we can build access and distribution within our markets, the more that five percent [donation will] correlate back to their market and it can become more sizable and more normalized. We want to create a new model for new representation for all these things that have already existed and never had a way to connect.”

You can buy BLK & Bold coffee at Target, online and at locations around the country, as well as on their website. Be sure to also follow them for updates on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

COFFEE

Kelly Rowland has officially returned with a playful ode to early morning lovin’, the uptempo banger "Coffee."

Any alumni of Destiny's Child will be forever boosted by the power of nostalgia, even though it's been well over fifteen years since the trio delivered an album. Since their split, Kelly Rowland has moved at her own pace, sustaining a solid career lined with four studio albums. And while it's been a minute since her last project dropped, 2013's Talk A Good Game to be specific, Kelly Rowland has officially come through with the release of her brand new single "Coffee.”

While it's not entirely clear as to whether the melodic, uptempo banger will appear on her as-of-yet unannounced new album, but it certainly bodes well for a potential sonic direction. Vocally, Rowland sounds as self-assured as ever, her lower-end cadence at once sultry and playful as she weaves a delightful ode to morning sex. "You know you got the best of me, I know you need the stress relief babe," she teases. "If you get the chance to leave, I want you to try this recipe.”

Check out the single now. Are you excited to hear some new music from Kelly Rowland?

QUOTABLE LYRICS Coffee and sex in the mornin' Breakfast in bed I've been wantin' Before you go to work I need you to go to work

By Mitch Findlay, hotnewhiphop.com

Verge TS Tron-Style 80kW Electric Motorcycle Ahead of Production

Electrek has been following the story of the Verge TS electric motorcycle since 2018, when it was just a single rough prototype of a wild new electric motorcycle. Now the Finnish company Verge Motorcycles is showing off their TS electric motorcycle in its final form ahead of anticipated production. And it is rocking the most eye-catching motor we’ve ever seen on an electric motorcycle, which is saying something.

Back when the Verge TS motorcycle was known as the RMK E2, all we had were some pretty renders showing off that innovative hubless rear wheel motor.

Yes, that’s right: The motor is hidden in the rim of that hubless rear wheel.

And it’s not a small electric motor, either, rated for 80kW (107hp). With the magnets and copper spread so far from the axis of rotation, the motor is pumping out a mind-melting 1000Nm (735 lb-ft) of torque. That also helps the bike achieve a sub-4 second 0-60 mph (0-97 km/h) time. At the top end, the bike can reach an electronically limited speed of 112 mph (180 km/h).

The bike looks every bit as aggressive as its motor, just check out these new photos of the Verge TS in action.

While the Verge TS electric motorcycle certainly gives off a naked roadster feel, the optional forward mounted pegs mean you could get your cruiser bike game on as well.

The hubless rear wheel drive was designed in Finland, where the bike will also be produced. And before you start complaining about how hard it will be to work on, the company claims that the rear tire can be changed using standard shop tools.

We don’t know the final battery capacity yet, but the company says the bike has a city range of 300 km (180 mi) and a highway range of 200 km (120 mi). The bike will also feature DC Fast Charging, quickly becoming a popular option for electric motorcycles, including bikes like the HarleyDavidson LiveWire and Energica’s entire lineup.

The Verge TS electric motorcycle is currently available for pre-order, where a €2,000 deposit will hold your place in line for the €24,990 bike ($26,950).

Electrek’s Take I’ve been a huge fan of the Verge TS since the first day I laid eyes on it. Getting to see the prototype in person at the EICMA 2019 Milan Motorcycle Show was epic, and I can attest to how awesome that motor looks. I also love the angular lines and even the way they’ve accented the orange high voltage motor phase wires on the side of the swingarm.

The dual hand brakes was a bold move — most full-size electric motorcycle manufacturers stick with the rear foot brake, which is a holdover from gas motorcycles.

Keeping a rear foot brake makes it easier for gas motorcyclists to transition to electric motorcycles. But by moving the rear brake lever up to the left handlebar, Verge is saying goodbye to perhaps the last major design holdover from gas motorcycles. Hyvästi!

When it comes to pricing, to be honest, I have no idea what a fair price is for something like this. The current price of €24,990 ($26,950) puts it above the Zero SR/F but below the Harley-Davidson LiveWire, two bikes with which it shares almost identical power ratings. But if the highway range is to be believed, the Verge TS should have a slight edge over both of those bikes.

The price is also roughly equivalent to Energica pricing, though Energica offers slightly higher power and is also actually producing motorcycles, a slight detail that Verge hasn’t quite reached yet.

But as soon as they can get these bikes off the line, you better believe I’ll be elbowing my way to the front of the line for a test ride!

Janice Gassam, forbes.com

Erik "Kleankut" Dixon Photo: Lauren Bloom

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that one in four people experience mental illness at some point in their life. For Black people around the world those stats are even more staggering. Research indicates that Black/African Americans are 20% more likely to suffer from psychological distress compared to their white counterparts. Within the Black community, mental health conversations and discussing experiences with conditions like anxiety and depression is still taboo, especially for Black men. The media often depicts Black men as aggressive and violent with few representations of them being vulnerable. These perceptions of how Black men should behave likely play a role in why the mental health stigma persists within the Black community. Black men are expected to be stoic and strong 24/7, which can lead to increased feelings of anger, resentment and isolation. Public figures like Charlamagne Tha God, who wrote a book on his experiences with anxiety, are outspoken advocates for Black mental wellbeing and are starting to open up more conversations about Black mental health. Eric “Kleankut” Dixon is a celebrity barber and mental health advocate who uses his barbershop as an outlet for Black men within the community. Eric sat down to discuss why he started his barbershop, his experiences contracting a rare condition, and the transformative power of therapy.

• Janice Gassam: Could you share with the Forbes readers a little bit about you, your background and what made you decide to open up your own barbershop?

• Eric “Kleankut” Dixon: Well, I was born and raised in Maryland—P.G. County, Maryland, by way of [Washington] D.C. I grew up here and…I’ve always been an artist…and then eventually I became a barber.

Unfortunately, I got into barbering because of an infection I got from an inexperienced barber. It affected my scalp really bad. It caused dissecting cellulitis, it’s a rare germ from uncleaned tools…it was a bad experience so I learned to cut my own hair…which led to me becoming really good at it…it became a passion over time. I love working for myself and I love the art form of cutting hair…the best part of it is to be able to have the ability to make people feel good…and look good.

• Gassam: How do you feel your barbershop creates a safe space for Black men to feel comfortable communicating?

• Dixon: For someone to come to a barber and allow the barber to cut them, there’s a trust factor that you’re already building with your barber.

Then, once you build that trust…it’s a place where men go where they can actually be free and take out their stress…whether it’s from a job, home, family…being able to go somewhere and really unwind…learn from others and even be the one to give knowledge to other people.

Gassam: The life of an entrepreneur is very stressful, so what are some forms of self-care that you utilize and what are some self-care practices that Black men should be taking advantage of more?

Dixon: Well…I go to a therapy myself. Just…to keep me focused. It’s always good to unpack. Some things you can’t just talk about with anybody. A therapist is able to dig deep into discovering who you are…so you can be better mentally…I definitely go to my therapist. Honestly, my job can be hard on the body a little bit. I go and I get great massages. I love it! It takes all the tension out of you…also for me, I’m an artist. I like to draw; I like to paint…I love music. I have different playlists for different moods. It relaxes me. I’m starting to read a lot more books as well.

Gassam: How do you use your platform to serve within your community?

Dixon: Now that I’ve realized that I can be a part of helping someone, what I’m doing currently is I am in class to become a Certified Advocate. So, I can be able to assist properly…I know a few therapists that are in the area…having conversations with therapists to have a better understanding of how I can help…being able to connect with other therapists so I can actually have an idea of where I can send Black men who are seeking help…I want to get the information on cost and how to seek the right therapist. Me being that person where, me being transparent about myself and being able to guide someone in the right direction.

Gassam: What are some resources you would recommend for someone reading this interview who wants to speak with a therapist but who has never had one before?

Dixon: I’m having a conversation and trying to figure out how can we help and make therapy more accessible and more affordable as well…there’s Therapy for Black Men…there’s [also] therapy via the web where you can talk to a Black therapist in other states. I know a few folks who do therapy sessions over the computer…what I want to do is get a group of therapists who are interested in creating something that is more accessible and affordable for people…when it comes to searching for a therapist, sometimes certain therapists…you’re not going to feel comfortable with…it’s important to feel like you can be comfortable…that’s the key. Being able to vibe well with that therapist. If you don’t, then it’s okay…that’s one of the main things you have to have with your therapist—being able to get a good vibe and be comfortable.

To learn more about Erik “Kleankut” Dixon, https://www.kleankutthebarber.com/ This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

www.dasoulinc.com DASOUL Underwear @dasoulinc Model @kvngdavidsworld Photographer @ahmadbarber

SPRI NG 2020 MENSWEAR Wi l l y Ch a v a r r i a

Woolmark Prize nominee (and Copenhagen resident) Willy Chavarria returned to the runway circuit for Spring 2020, having skipped the Fall 2019 season. “I mean...summer, scheduling, it was the right time to get back. But I also think it doesn’t necessarily need to be a show, season after season.”

He’s a fringe figure in New York City fashion, and he’s benefitted from keeping an arm’s-length attitude as his profile has grown. With Spring, he went for a “new take” on minimalism, but one that pulled from a transcontinental party scene in the ’90s—particularly a nightclub he used to run in San Francisco called The Love Garage, which would see an influx of a more New York–centric clientele and wardrobe.

“Everything became a little slicker and darker.” Part one of this collection featured long jackets in black satin, mesh shirts in black, generously cut jeans in extraprocessed washes, and a top that graphically spelled out “Breaking News,” befitting of...well, the hyper-evolution of the 24-hour news cycle from Chavarria’s chosen timeframe right up to yesterday’s latest Mueller hearing. The second portion of his lineup saw a collaboration with K-Swiss, which Chavarria called an “aspirational brand as a kid growing up in California,” and here the mood turned to late-’80s-workout-video neons and layering. These pieces will sell, but the first half was stronger.

Chavarria’s most notable strength rests in his calibration of queerness and masculinity (especially so when that calibration involves his Chicano background).

Yet there is something resolutely femme, too, in the afterburn. He mentioned that gender fluidity doesn’t have to be androgynous or genderless. These clothes had that code in place; satin dressing-room bombers over bare, muscled chests, or cropped boxy shirts as tops, worn with the aforementioned denim.

In some ways, you could see hints of what the men wear on the current hit TV show Pose, though that program takes place a few years earlier than the ’90s. But the look, and its progression, absolutely resonates now. Chavarria is a smart, worldly creative who knows how to be all-inclusive while still carving out his own distinct M.O.; it all feels very true.

Beyoncé & Megan Thee Stallion's "Savage Remix" To Benefit Houston COVID-19 Relief The two Houston natives bring the Texas heat to help lighten pandemic burden in their hometown Beyoncé has hopped on Megan Thee Stallion's "Savage" for a remix that is unleashing Texas fire all over the internet and will benefit Houston's Bread Of Life, a disaster relief organization, in their COVID-19 relief efforts.

The four-minute remix features a rap verse and back-up vocals from Queen B that continue in the spirit of the original song off Megan Thee Stallion's Suga EP, where she establishes herself as forever that bitch. "Hips tik tok when I dance/ On that Demon Time, she might start an OnlyFans" Beyoncé raps.

"I'm a boss, I'm a leader, I pull up in my twoseater/ And my momma was a savage, think I got this sh*t from Tina.”

Megan Thee Stallion adds a whole new verse, too. "Like Beyoncé, like me, he want a bitch like the Stallion with the knees/ He be like "Damn, how that thang movin' in them jeans," she delivers confidently on brand.

The remix is the first time the two Houston natives have come together and is a collab Megan Thee Stallion still can't believe. "I’m f*****g crying rn HOUSTON WE ON," she tweeted.

The song's proceeds will go to the aforementioned Bread Of Life, which is a part of the local organizations and nonprofits Beyoncé's BeyGOOD foundation is working with to continue aiding people impacted by the pandemic. Beyoncé has been vocal of the disproportionate effects COVID-19 has had on communities of color, and her foundation is working to alleviate COVID-19 effects on the hardest-hit communities.

By Jennifer Velez for grammy.com

Converse All Star Disrupt CX

All Star Disrupt CX

Rona & Bucket Blue

SHAKA KING MENSWEAR

New Looks Coming Soon!

Black barbershop owners

are divided over coronavirus social distancing

By Chauncey Alcorn for CNN Business

Raleigh, North Carolina (CNN Business) Black barbers across America are engaging in a heated debate over whether cities and states should lift coronavirus social distancing mandates that have forced many of their businesses to close indefinitely.

African Americans as a group are suffering the most during the Covid-19 pandemic, with higher infection and mortality rates than the general population. Barbers say black business owners, like many of them, are also disproportionately hurting financially from government shutdowns meant to stem the virus' spread.

Several shop owners said they can't afford to remain closed much longer.

In African-American culture, barbershops are much more than places to get a haircut. Many are marketplaces where local vendors sell their wares and community centers where people gather for hours to discuss politics, sports and the news of the day. The unique folkways and stature of black barbershops has been the subject of iconic movie scenes, Hollywood film franchises, even an HBO television series.

Photo: LeBron James’s HBO show The Shop

"There's probably all kinds of barbershops talking about what's going on with our government right now," Mike Knuckles, 45, a barber at Select Cutz in Grand Prairie, Texas, told CNN Business. "If you lose a barbershop that's been in the community 30 years and has a tradition and respect in the community, that's huge.�

Damon Dorsey, 59, president of the American Barber Association, a barber advocacy group whose estimated membership of 3,000 is about 30% black, said he has spent weeks talking with worried barbers nationwide since the pandemic began.

Dennis "Denny Moe" Mitchell, 54, stands outside of Denny Moe's Superstar Barbershop in Harlem, New York in an undated photo.

They're concerned about limiting the spread of Covid-19, but also want to "get back to making money," Dorsey told CNN Business. "All are struggling with the uncertainty of the moment," he said.

Reopening Black leaders in Georgia expressed outrage Friday after Gov. Brian Kemp permitted nonessential businesses to reopen, a move the leaders said they fear will cause Covid-19 to spread through their communities.

Craig Logan, 54, co-owner of Dre and Craig's VIP Cuts, in McDonough, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb, estimated 85% of black barbershop owners he knows chose to reopen for business Friday. But Logan, whose cousin and aunt recently recovered from Covid-19 after being hospitalized, said he and his co-owner decided to keep their shop closed, in part, because of public pressure.

"I agree with the general sentiment even though, like everybody else, I wanted to get back to work," Logan told CNN Business.

Several black barbers told CNN Business that a barber's support for staying closed or re-opening often hinges on whether or not they own their own shop.

Many barbers who don't own shops have found other ways to supplement their incomes, including doing haircut house calls that put them at risk of catching Covid-19.

"These barbers, they're risking their lives, but they're doing fine,' Mitchell said.

"You going to die from infection or you going to die from starvation?"

Independent contractors In places like New York, where the number of coronavirus cases has exploded since February, government leaders have ordered personal care businesses, including barbershops and beauty salons, to close indefinitely amid shelter-inplace guidelines designed to limit the disease's spread.

For Dennis Mitchell, 54, owner of Denny Moe's Superstar Barbershop in Harlem, New York, that decision has left him with limited options to keep his business afloat until the Covid-19 crisis comes to an end.

Mitchell said he normally pays his landlord thousands of dollars in rent each month for his storefront space on Frederick Douglass Blvd. He hasn't been able to pay, because the nine other barbers who work there are independent contractors who rent the chairs and the space they use from him -- and they haven't been paying rent since Mitchell shuttered his business on March 28. to die from starvation?"

The interior of Denny Moe's Superstar Barbershop in Harlem, New York, which was forced to indefinitely close recently due to coronavirus-related social distancing mandates.

"It's kind of bone chilling," Mitchell told CNN Business. "I have an apartment I have to pay for as well and people who depend on me to put food on the table. ... A lot of [black business owners] are not going to come back from this.�

Even if they survive social distancing, Mitchell and other barbers worry that the coronavirus has already changed their businesses more permanently.

The iconic black barbershop culture may be gone forever now that many customers want to avoid large gatherings in fear of catching coronavirus. "You got a lot of people saying, 'I'm not going to be around nobody,'" Mitchell said.

Trouble with PPP Mitchell said he tried applying for a Paycheck Protection Program loan from the federal government several weeks ago, but found out he doesn't have enough employees to qualify since his barbers are independent contractors, a plight shared by many barbershop owners.

Ivy Hopson, 49, CEO and Founder of the Menz Barber Lounge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, said he also applied for a PPP loan for his business after Gov. Tony Evers ordered nonessential businesses to close.

Neither he nor his tax preparer received any response.

Such situations are far from unique, according to Dorsey, the ABA president, who said black barbers are less likely to have established relationships with banks and consequently face steeper challenges securing loans through programs like PPP.

The Menz Barber Lounge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Payroll Protection Program is scheduled to start taking new applications this morning after receiving an additional $310 billion in funding.

"If you're a barber and you're not a large enough priority for a major bank or financial institution, you're going to be at a disadvantage getting your application in," Dorsey said. "We're going to see a certain level of disadvantage for black-owned business because of the nature of systemic racism that exists in the financing industry."

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Spring/Summer Fitness Motivation

ASK ANYONE EMBARKING ON A NEW FITNESS ROUTINE AND, REGARDLESS OF THEIR GOALS, THEY WANT TO SEE QUICK PROGRESS.

Model: Chris Moses @saintmakel Photography: Lefteris Primos @lefterisprimos

But what if the results don’t come as fast as you’d like?

There’s a danger that your motivation will start to wane and that dedicated routine you had followed so faithfully will come grinding to a halt. This is not only disheartening at the time – leaving you feeling as though you made a big effort for very little return – but might also make it more difficult to want to get going again in future. That’s why it is absolutely crucial to be realistic about how long it will take you to reach your workout goals, and also to be flexible with your approach.

Photography: Masshuu | Xita Productions @XitaProductions @masshuubiita

Here are a few things to consider… q How much time you have to train. How many days per week will you exercise, and for how long per training session? q How hard are you prepared to work during training sessions?

Do you like to keep a bit in reserve or are you a “go big or go home” kind of guy? q What’s your workout personality? Are you a creature of habit when it comes to the exercises you like to spend your time on, or do you prefer to regularly try out new styles of training? q Are you a lone wolf, or do you respond best to a bit of friendly competition? q Do you like routine, or do you prefer spontaneity and frequently mixing things up?

Model: Chris Moses @saintmakel

Photography: Cliff Watts @cliffwatts

Answering these questions will help you scope out how your workout weeks and months might look, so you can take into account the logistics. If you’re motivated by exercising with others, you’ll need to plan ahead to make sure your training partners are available when you need them. If you’re planning to train to your limits during every session, you’ll need to build in recovery time between workouts.

And if you like familiar workout patterns, it may take you longer to achieve results than if you’re happy to regularly mix up your training.

WORK WITH WHAT YOU’VE GOT Before you get really stuck into your training schedule, it’s a good idea to sit down and have a think about everything that’s going on in your life, so you can be realistic about the amount of time you can commit to your training.

Firstly, write down how much time you currently spend training each week. Now write down everything else you do in a week. This might sound like a daunting task, but when people take the time to do this, they’re usually surprised by how few things actually go on the list. Your week will probably consist of sleep, work, travel, eating, hobbies and socializing. It might help to map out your time visually, so you can see exactly how you spend your time.

Photography: Masshuu | Xita Productions @XitaProductions @masshuubiita

Photography: Cliff Watts @cliffwatts

Once you’ve assessed where your time goes now, think about how much time you’d ideally like to spend on exercise over the coming weeks. Is this the same as currently? Or a little bit more? Or a dramatic increase? Whatever your situation, the easiest way to see exactly where this time will feature is to repeat the time management activity for how you’ll be spending your days in the future.

Writing all of this out will ensure you can manage your expectations of how quickly you’ll experience results and guarantee that you’re not setting yourself up for disappointment.

ACT YOUR AGE Does being older slow down your progress with getting in great shape? It’s true that muscle mass can decline with age, and that can certainly have an impact on getting results from your training, but this isn’t really a major consideration until you’re in your late 30s, or you’re fairly inactive.

Model: Chris Moses @saintmakel Photography: Cliff Watts @cliffwatts

The speed of your progress will also depend on your previous training history and this may be slowed down if you’ve never really been into working out, but age and its associated wisdom can also be an advantage when it comes to planning and achieving desirable results.

Model: Chris Moses @saintmakel Photography: Cliff Watts @cliffwatts

If you’re a little older, you’ll possibly have less patience when it comes to wasting your time, which will mean that you make clearer plans and make the best use of the times that you set aside to work out. Being more organized might also be a benefit when you’re a little older, as you’ll need to allow yourself a little longer recovery time between training sessions. That’s not to say, however, that you need to follow a training session with days of lying around doing nothing

Model: Chris Moses @saintmakel Photography: Cliff Watts @cliffwatts

Whatever your situation, with proper thought and consideration, good planning and regular review, your ideal shape is not only possible, but could become a reality sooner than you imagined.

Photography: @arrondunworth

Verzuz Battle: Teddy Riley vs.

Babyface Playlist (Stream) Ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Teddy Riley made Verzuz history on Monday evening, competing in an epic Instagram Live battle.

The match, organized by legendary hitmakers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, was three weeks in the making. Between the original release date (April 5) being moved and Babyface and his family recovering from their COVID-19 diagnosis to the major audio issues from Riley and his in-home concert/studio experience on last Saturday, the time had finally come for the two R&B cultural icons to let their sheer greatness shine.

The competition, which almost consisted of 20 rounds of classics that the two either wrote, produced, or performed, officially kicked off at 8:15 p.m. on Babyface’s official Instagram page.

Dressed in a burgundy velvet blazer, with candles and two of his 11 Grammys placed behind him, Babyface proved why he’s such a smooth debonair.

Riley, equally as clean, came through dripping in a black silk tracksuit. No, the New Jack Swing pioneer didn’t have an entourage. He did have a few minor audio kinks that were pointed out by the hundred of thousands viewers.

Despite playing three classics from their production and songwriting discography on Saturday night, the two goats came with a brand new list of songs.

Instead of returning with “The Show” by Slick Rick, Riley started the match with “Right Here”

by SWV. Babyface kept The Deele’s “Two Occasions” on reserve, and introduced “Love Should’ve Brought You Home” by his musical wife Toni Braxton with a story about the icon Michael Jackson wanting to take Halle Berry on a date.

Nearly 10 songs in, the Instagram Live cut off due to its hour auto-stop. But, the battle continued swiftly on Babyface’s Instagram page minutes later.

Between the 20 classics, and Babyface serenading us during round 13 with an acoustic performance of his own hit “When Can I See You,” two things can be taken away from this historic battle: Babyface is a strategist – always thinking ahead; Riley is impulsive – in the moment.

While he said that they were keeping each other on their toes, it was clear that he had the upper hand. For instance, when Riley played Blackstreet’s “Deep,” Babyface countered with “Red Light Special” by TLC. With a long, remarkable career of writing and producing megahits for not only himself, but for the finest in music (Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston, Boyz II Men), his placements seamlessly predicted most of Riley’s moves.

Don’t count Riley out. The versatile musician didn’t come with just R&B-tinged tracks; he came hard with hip-hop bangers like “Get You Home”

by Foxy Brown and Babyface and JAY Z’s “The City is Mine.”

Some may have called last Saturday’s battle a “complete fail,” but tonight truly allowed viewers to hear never before heard music stories, and reintroduce themselves to shelved acts like Karyn White while indulging in an overload of nostalgia.

Now, Instagram didn’t allow the two iconic figures to officially finish their 20 rounds of classics. Both were unable to join each other’s iG lives.

Still, we got impromptu performances from Babyface, along with two inspirational songs (“Count on Me” by Whitney Houston & CeCe Winans, “When You Believe” by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey) from two groundbreaking soundtracks played.

Riley also kept viewers entertained with his keyboard and a few Michael Jackson gems like “Dangerous” and “Remember the Time.”

One more note: Babyface made it clear that he doesn’t remix. By Trevor Anderson for billboard.com

NEW! Teddy Riley Verzuz Babyface - RnB Hits Broke IG Live [Full Version]

YOUNG MEN AND BOYS OF COLOR

CAN NOW RECEIVE FREE REMOTE STEM CONTENT AND LITERACY SUPPORT

by Lydia Blanco for blackenterprise.com

Shot of an adorable little boy using a digital tablet at home (Image: iStock/Adene Sanchez)

Millions of students are out of school, but class is still in session. And as students log on to online portals, a number of educational leaders are doing their part to ensure that black boys do not get left behind.

The Sims-Fayola Foundation recently announced that they are partnering with FYR is LIT (Fueling Youth Reading is Leaders in Training) to provide online tutoring services for young men anywhere in the country whose literacy development has been impacted by school closures or e-learning due to COVID-19.

The Sims-Fayola Foundation is a Denver-based nonprofit with a mission to improve the life outcomes of young men and boys of color and to increase the capacity of those who work with them. Through this online offering, young men will be encouraged to continue their learning and be introduced to STEM.

As outlined by the organization in a statement: Individual tutoring sessions led by LIT Tutors will be tailored to the students’ literacy and reading needs based on their intake assessment conducted by master teacher, Dr. Leslie Hamdorf, and Orton Gillingham, an associate candidate.

Tutoring sessions last for 40 minutes and will use the Zoom software to connect the LIT Tutor and the student. The Orton Gillingham approach is both diagnostic and prescriptive, so the format of the session will be as follows: letter annunciation and phoneme awareness, spelling rules, writing practice, and read aloud.

Tutoring Step-by-Step Sign-Up Process: • Step 1: Submit an inquiry by emailing us using the button below.

• Step 2: Virtual intake assessment conducted by Dr. Hamdorf. This assessment lasts between 25-45 minutes.

• Step 3: Match student with a LIT Tutor and agreement for the number of sessions decided.

• Step 4: Begin online tutoring sessions with LIT Tutor.

If you are interested in literacy tutoring for a young man you know, click here to submit an email request to the Sims-Fayola Foundation.

Click Here To See The Trailer

Click Here To See The Trailer

50 Cent

on love, cash and bankruptcy: ‘When there are setbacks, there will be get-backs’ Curtis Jackson was shot nine times before becoming one of the world’s biggest rappers.

He discusses growing up, getting rich and the art of the hustle

by Simon Hattenstone, theatlantic.com

‘I’ve become a bit more comfortable with being in my own space. I don’t think being at home is a punishment.’

Photograph: Suzanne Delawar Studios

Curtis Jackson has downsized. The

rapper/actor/businessman, better known as 50 Cent, used to live in a palace of a house formerly owned by Mike Tyson. Not any more. He has been in self-isolation for six weeks and is more than happy to make do with a three-bed apartment (on four floors, mind) in New York. He can’t remember when he was last in one place for so long, he says, and is learning about himself. “I’ve become a bit more comfortable with being in my own space. I don’t think being at home is a punishment.”

He bought the Tyson house after his triumphant first album; Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ shifted 12m copies in 2003, making it the bestselling album of the year. It was explosive – growling rap

packed with threats, boasts and great songs such as In Da Club and Many Men. Rich was really his life story. And what a story. His drug-dealing mother, Sabrina, was murdered when he was eight (drugged and gassed at 23 by an unknown killer in her home); he started selling drugs on the streets at 12, bought his first gun at 15 and was shot nine times at the age of 25 (including a bullet through the cheek that gives him his distinctive slur today). He was dropped

by Columbia without releasing a record, signed up by Eminem and championed

by Dr Dre. And then came that monster first album. Jackson hasn’t repeated the success of his debut (although his second album, The Massacre, was also huge), but he has continued to hustle and find headline-grabbing ways of getting rich.

A mugshot from 1994. Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

For Jackson, it begins and ends with the money, right down to the name, which he appropriated from a dead gangster.

When he bought the Tyson house, he says, he had been struggling to pay his $800-a-month rent bill for the apartment he shared with his thenpartner and his first son, Marquise.

“Then I left for a tour of Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ and I came back with $38m [£30m]. So getting that place was confirmation of success.” But he got bored. “You may have 18 bedrooms, but you can only sleep on one bed. You have all that space, but you still can’t walk around the house naked, ’cause you’ve got staff. Going down the hall was like walking down the street.”

Jackson has just written a very readable book about how to do things his way.

Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter is classic Fiddy – a self-help guide for aspiring bigwigs. By turns, he comes across as machiavellian (tips include pretending to drink on a night out with colleagues then exploiting the weaknesses they have drunkenly revealed), cynical (women just want him for his money), puritanical (he doesn’t drink or take drugs), little-boy-lost (desperately seeking affirmation) and wise elder (telling readers of the need to constantly evolve to stay relevant). When he is not boasting, bullying or dissing, much of his advice is perfectly sensible – be true to yourself, don’t make the same mistake twice and dress decently if you want to make an impression.

50 Cent, Eminem and Dr Dre in New York in 2004. Photograph: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

I ask what he is wearing today. “I don’t even have all my clothes on yet.” That’s exciting, I say, tell me more. “I’m wearing an undershirt, like a white tank top, and black sweatpants.” Hold on, I say: in your book, you suggest not looking your best for somebody shows a lack of respect. I know we are only talking on the phone, but … “Yeah, ’cause I’m in quarantine in the house and that doesn’t apply to quarantine.” He laughs.

Has the pandemic affected him personally? “I know three or four people who have passed from my old neighbourhood in Queens. In New York City, Queens always becomes the worst place.” Why does he think that so many of the 63,000-plus people who have died in the US are from black and ethnic minority backgrounds? “I don’t think coronavirus is discriminating based on income. Hehehe!” He giggles. But if you don’t have money to self-isolate and have to go out to work to pay the bills, surely it leaves you more exposed to catching Covid-19? Jackson is not having any of it. “In my experience, you can’t force people to work.” But, he says, he sure is glad people in the service sector are still working. “If those people stayed home, it would have been hell. There would be no deliveries, no orders. You would have had to have stocked up already in your home.” I sense that Jackson would find it impossible to look at any situation without putting himself at the centre of it.

How does he feel Trump has dealt with the crisis?

A voice on the line interjects. It is Amanda, Jackson’s personal publicist. “We really need to bring it back to the book,” she says. But Jackson is happy to talk Trump. “It’s an awkward situation. If you respond too fast, you’re wrong, because everyone would be kicking and screaming and saying you shut everything down. But if you shut it down late, you’re wrong. So you can’t win in that situation.” He has sympathy for Trump? “People hate him or love him. There’s no in-between. And for me, I’m looking at it and going: ‘That’s the exact position I’m in.’”

Another thing he has in common with the president is his obsession with money.

Jackson attributes his values to Sabrina, who taught him to hustle. “My decisions were pre-made for me. My mom having me at 15 was why we got into this lifestyle.” Selling drugs was more rewarding than any alternative for Sabrina. “She did well before she got stuck in that dangerous lifestyle,” he says.

After her death, he moved in with his grandparents. They had eight children of their own, no money to spare and laid down strict rules. He adored them, but they could provide none of the luxuries his mother had been able to. “The only people I saw coming round who had nice things were from my mom’s life. They had Cadillacs, expensive jewellery, everything that symbolised financial freedom.” When he started selling drugs, he told his grandparents he was at after-school club.

He has remained wedded to his love of nice things ever since. “If you don’t want nice things in your life, I don’t even want

to know you.” He pauses. “I. Don’t.

Want. To. Know. You,” he repeats.

Jackson can be staggeringly absolutist.

Yet he can also be surprisingly sweet. He talks of his mother and grandmother with such tenderness. Have any other women been as important in his life?

“No. My grandmother took care of me.

My mom is why I’m here, period. How do you compare any woman to your mother and your grandmother? How can another person be that important?”

Perhaps a partner, I say. He sounds shocked. “For some people, I guess it’s that way. But, no, not me.”

One of the book’s recurrent themes is how adversity has strengthened him.

“When there are the setbacks, there are gonna be the get-backs,” he says. “If you’re just born super-rich and you’ve just been rich your whole life, you don’t understand the significance of it. It’s just where you are.”

Jackson often says he may not be the best rapper or actor, but he is authentic, and that’s what his fans bought into. He talks of his “damage” – and how he turned it into an asset. “In hip-hop, people are looking for the damage. And you come in and they look at you, and they can see the damage. They can see the experience, the story, why you are where you are. You can offer something unique.”

He is also aware damage has a shelf life.

“It works for a while, but then as you continue to be successful you don’t have

that same damage.” As Jackson repeatedly reminds me, he has sold 30m albums, but subsequent albums sold less and less well.

So he took up acting (his first film was a thinly veiled biopic named after the first album; he has now appeared in 25 movies) and moved into business (his stake in the Vitaminwater maker Glacéau, which was sold to Coca-Cola for $4.1bn in 2007, is reported to have earned him between $60m and $100m). So many stars are complacent about their success, he says. “People have expiration dates.

You can’t see it, but their time’s up and they almost implode in front of you.”

Jackson can be unforgiving. In fact, he prides himself on it. In the book, he tears a strip off his son Marquise for his sense of entitlement. Does he hope their relationship will improve? No, it is too late. “I’ve already tried so long with him.

That sense of entitlement is scariest when it’s someone you love. He still manages to feel deprived when he’s had everything.

You love the person, he’s your child, and he looks at you as if you’re the enemy.

And, after a while, you go: this is not a kid, it’s a grown man we’re talking about.”

After Marquise was pictured with the son of one of the men who allegedly plotted to shoot his father, Jackson tweeted: “If both these little niggas got hit by a bus, I wouldn’t have a bad day.” Did he mean it or was he having a 50 Cent moment? For the first time, he sounds hesitant. “That’s, yeah, um, that was a 50 Cent moment …”

He says he is trying his best to make sure his younger son, Sire, grows up with more boundaries.

“I’m an artist.

Why am I limited to what you feel should be said?”

Jackson has never been scared of making an enemy. I tell him that one of my favourite bits in the book is the section on Oprah Winfrey. He was desperate to be on her show – not least to show his grandmother, who was a huge Winfrey fan, that he had made it.

Yet Winfrey made it clear how much she disapproved of him – particularly the gun violence and misogyny in his lyrics.

(In Get in My Car, he raps: “I got no pickup lines, I stay on the grind / I tell the hoes all the time, bitch, get in my car.”)

When he talks now about how he was snubbed by her when he first found fame, the wound still seems fresh. “She was completely against everything that was in my music,” he says. “So she ain’t never going to have me on that show.

I’m never going to reach that platform, which is confirmation of you being a huge success. So I just said: OK, if we can’t be friends, then at least let’s be enemies.” He started a feud, said her fans were white and elderly and named his female dog Oprah.

Did they ever become friends? “Later we did.” And did he ever say: Oprah, you had a point – my lyrics are misogynistic?

Silence. I ask the question again. “Well, no. Did you hear what I said? They are misogynistic, but the world is not under the same circumstances. Are you going to tell a painter what to paint? I’m an artist. Why am I limited to what you feel should be said? In film and television, they will show art imitates life. Are you not aware of those situations taking

His defence of his lyrics is eloquent and impassioned. Was this what he said to Oprah? “No. She never asked me the question in the way you did. The truth is, all things come from your experience.

Like, I got shot nine times and I wrote music about it. Everyone writes something that can connect in a big way based on a painful moment, so you’re saying we’re not supposed to articulate or write it the way we experienced?”

Has his view of the world changed since then? “Yes, absolutely. If you stay the same, you’re not growing as a person.” In the book, he touches on how his sexual politics have evolved. He writes that, on hearing that the vice-president, Mike Pence, never ate alone with a woman who was not his wife, he had thought this seemed sensible. It was only when a friend explained this could mean Pence saw women purely as a threat or object of desire that Jackson reconsidered.

Perhaps the most unlikely event in Jackson’s action-packed life came when he filed for bankruptcy in 2015. It is surprising it is not mentioned in a book about overcoming adversity. Ah, he says, this is where normal people don’t understand the nature of bankruptcy, because they can’t imagine dealing in such vast fortunes. Again, he sees a parallel with Trump, whose companies filed for bankruptcy multiple times.

“Businesspeople will do that in a heartbeat before losing money. Because it means they have the ability to be secure and invest again.” He says even the judges ruling on the bankruptcy can’t

comprehend such money. “You’re talking about a judge who makes $125,000 a year. Hahaha!”

Bankruptcy allowed him to start afresh – most notably as executive producer (and actor) on the successful American TV crime drama series Power. Soon after filing for bankruptcy, he tells me, he signed a $150m deal with a TV network.

He says he wants for nothing these days, but is still a sucker for affirmation. I ask him if he is surprised to still be alive at the age of 44. “A lot of my friends growing up, they’re not here. It’s easier to not think about those things.” He prefers to think of legacy than longevity.

Amanda has been telling me it is the final question for the past 20 minutes. Jackson has been more generous with his time, but she tells me this really is the final question. I am thinking of legacy. If there were one thing he could campaign for, some way in which he could change the US, what would it be? “Taxes,” he says without missing a beat. “I don’t like them.

They want too much of the money back.

Hehehehe!”

We say goodbye, and Jackson is still giggling at the thought of fighting for his tax-free utopia.

Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter by Curtis Jackson (Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins) is out in the UK on 14 May

With Nicholas Pinnock in the US drama For Life. Photograph: Giovanni Rufino/ABC via Getty Images

Click Here To See The Trailer

Tech

Review: Google Pixel Buds (2020) These second-generation true wireless earbuds look, sound, and feel better than Apple's best-selling in-ears.

Tech WIRED Light and comfortable. Awesome sound.

Sweatproof. Amazing integration with Android, including hands-free access to Google Assistant and fast pairing. Supports wireless charging.

TIRED Only five hours of battery life outside the case. Expensive.

It’s taken Google a surprisingly long time to make good earbuds. The original Pixel Buds from 2018 were a bulky, mushroom-shaped mess that made you look like Frankenstein’s monster. The charging case was huge, the sound was middling, and when you finally worked up the courage to go outside with them, it felt like everyone wearing AirPods was laughing at you.

My expectations were muted last fall when Google announced a revamped pair with the same name—this time with no wire connecting the buds, just like offerings from Apple, Samsung, and Amazon. On specs alone, they're not remarkable. They’ve got five hours of battery life, which is short, especially compared to the 11 hours you get with Samsung's buds. They're also $179, making them $20 more than Apple's AirPods.

And yet, somehow, I’ve fallen in love with Google’s tiny, rounded earbuds. Especially as someone with an Android phone, I’d take these over nearly any wireless earbuds around.

Good Looks

The new Pixel Buds come with a case that's similar in size and design to the floss-like AirPods case, though Google's is a bit more rounded with a nice matte finish instead of Apple’s shiny plastic. I think it looks like a cute, little egg.

The buds no longer have a cable running between them, and they're tiny. How do they stay secure in your ears?

Each bud has a long, elephant-like trunk that culminates in a cozy silicone eartip, with cute ear fins that protrude out of the top for increased stability. That means that when you wear them for the full five-hour charge time, you won't have the same annoying pain you might have after five hours of listening to the hard-tipped AirPods.

That comfort isn't just because of the silicone tips; these are some of the lightest buds around.

Tech

Exceptionally Usable As much as I dislike the sound (and idiotic, eartip-less design) offered by AirPods, I understand why they’re the best-selling wireless headphones on the planet. By integrating its own special chips, Apple makes pairing, listening, and talking on the AirPods much easier than the competition.

In terms of setup and ease of use, the Pixel Buds are the closest to match it. When I popped open the lid of the case, they instantly paired to my Pixel 4, quickly setting themselves up for hands-free access to Google Assistant, much as AirPods do with Siri. (They'll pair this fast on most Android phones). You can tweak settings in the companion app, but you probably won’t need to download it. The Pixel Buds (like AirPods) will probably work exactly the way you want right out of the box.

Even the touch controls, located on the outside of each earbud, are well thought out. You can raise or lower volume by sliding your fingers left and right—so easy!—as well as play or pause music and change songs with various taps. Unlike other buds with touch controls, I never accidentally paused music when adjusting them in my ears, but I do love that they automatically pause when you pull 'em out.

Specs-wise, they leave me wanting more. I wish the battery lasted longer, though the case does net you an additional 19 hours. That’s AirPods-matching battery life, sure, but you can get earbuds that last longer for less than half the price.

It's nice to have wireless charging built in (you can also use a USB-C cable). Just don't try it on a vertical wireless charging stand, because the coils are often a bit too high up to reach it. They juice up best on a pad.

They boast an IPX4 rating unlike AirPods, so I don’t have to worry about taking them on long, sock-testing runs in wet weather conditions. And I prefer Google Assistant over Siri as well. It's better at answering questions, setting timers, sending emails and texts, and various other voice-based tasks.

Tech Heck, I can even use Google Assistant’s real-time language-translation tool to understand what my partner (who insists I know more Spanish than I actually do) is saying in attempts to maintain fluency in quarantine. It works pretty OK!

Great Sound You might occasionally use voice commands to text someone back or ask Assistant the weather, but the vast majority of your time with the Pixel Buds will be spent listening to music. For audio quality, these are some of the best wireless earbuds I’ve tried.

They've got one of the more nuanced sound signatures I’ve ever heard in portable earbuds. Every instrument comes through with crystal clarity, which makes denser mixes like Foxygen’s "San Francisco" come through with elegant depth. You hear the tinny cymbals in the middle, the beautiful piano notes on the far right side, with chugging acoustic guitars on the left. Each has its own musical space.

I’m convinced that the key to such musical detail is the lack of boom in the bass. You can feel and hear every bass drum kick and plucked bass string, but they never overwhelm the low-midrange like on other earbuds. This gives the Pixel Buds a very “flat,” studio-style sound.

If you need oodles of bass to propel you through a workout, these might not be for you. But if you’re after a very detailed, compelling sound, you’ll have a hard time finding better earbuds without spending hundreds more.

When it comes to audio quality, they kick the crap out of Apple's cheapest AirPods.

Tech AirPods for Android?

Are these the best wirefree earbuds you can buy for $179? No. I like the Master and Dynamic MW07 Go and Jabra Elite Active 75T just as much as I like these earbuds, and they’ve got better battery life and higher sweatproof ratings.

And unlike more expensive models from the likes of Apple and Sony, these buds don't have any noise canceling.

There are understandable reasons why. Noise canceling eats battery life and probably would have made each bud bulkier. The passive noise isolation (the earplug effect of the earbuds in my ears) is more than enough to block out most outside sounds, but you might want to spring for a noise-canceling pair if you're desperate for absolute silence.

Still, I like the Pixel Buds for a different reason. One that’s not really quantifiable when looking at a spec sheet.

These are made for the traditional AirPod buyer: someone who wants a pair of headphones that work exactly as expected, every time you use them. For that, they’re the best you’ll find for Android phones. Given the unmitigated disaster that was the first Pixel Buds, I’m thoroughly impressed.

The legendary Air Jordan 1 'Chicago' sneakers' resale price has doubled since Michael Jordan discussed them on 'The Last Dance’ BARNABY LANE

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Resale prices for the Air Jordan 1 “Chicago” have doubled since Sunday’s most recent episodes of “The Last Dance,” according to millennial streetwear blog Highsnobiety.

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Released in September 1985 and originally sold for $US65, the red, white, and black sneakers are one of Air Jordan’s most iconic and recognisable products.

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The most recent release of the sneakers, which came in 2015, sell for an average of $US836, according to StockX, however since Sunday, pairs have sold for as much as $US1700.

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“That sneaker started a revolution, it sparked a fire that even 35 years later still burns bright,” Paul Barber, a sneaker artist and collector from the UK told CNN. “The Jordan 1 is symbolic.”

The Bartesian cocktail appliance makes drinks like this Cosmo at the push of a button, and is sure to delight your guests. BARTESIAN

Robotic bartender Bartesian has come a long way since its debut as a far-off Kickstarter dream product in 2015.

It took a few years to actually deliver the cocktail making home appliance to consumers, but when it happened, it happened in a big way. After going on sale last year, Oprah Winfrey, the world’s most powerful woman in media, named it to her vaunted annual “Oprah’s Favorite Things” list, writing in the December 2019 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, “I’m lucky to have my house manager Eddie mixing fresh cocktails for me, but this mechanical bartender is a great backup. Fill the canisters with your favorite spirits, pop in a flavored capsule for drinks like margaritas and old-fashioneds, and you’ll be sipping pretty in no time.”

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the highest profile of all the many annual trade shows in Las Vegas, basically taking over the city each year as the world’s premier place to show off new products, from flat screens to smartwatches. It is big and it is crowded and it is highly competitive, so it is very impressive that Bartesian got the nod and was nominated for the 2020 CES Innovation Award for Best Home Appliance, a prestigious honor that recognizes the most outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products.

Good Housekeeping just gave it their Best Innovations of 2020 Award, naming it one of the year’s 15 Best products. Their reasoning? “Love fancy cocktails but don’t have the space (or skill) for a full bar setup? Bartesian’s single-serve machine is about to transform how you indulge.”

I recently took the Bartesian for a test drive, and there is plenty to like. It’s sleek, well designed, works great and definitely fills a need for a significant slice of the adult beverage enjoying market.

It looks and works like many popular pod or capsule based coffee makers, with one critical difference - booze. The heart of the appliance looks a bit like the Nespresso machines I’ve used in hotel rooms around the world, except it is mounted on a bigger base platform that also has sockets for four glass bottles, mounted vertically. Still, the entire countertop footprint is smaller than you would think, about a foot square. You fill the glass tubes (it comes with five) with spirits such as whiskey, rum, vodka, gin, or tequila, then pop one of Bartesian’s proprietary cocktail capsules in, hit the button, and voila, it dispenses a finished cocktail.

Of course, you could opt for low-end, no-name spirits, the stuff bars keep out of site below the counter and pour when you don’t specify a pricier name brand booze (and sometimes even if you do!). But one of the advantages of Bartesian is that you can choose exactly the premium or ultra-premium brands you like, and always know exactly what you are getting, so if for example, you prefer your Old Fashioned with Maker’s Mark, that’s what you put in the canister. It can even make alcohol free drinks, the suddenly trendy “mocktails.”

In a surprise for this kind of device, it is actually easier to set up and use than it sounds, and once you get the bottles full you can just leave them, and make one cocktail today, one next week, whenever you want (for some drinks it’s better if you refrigerate the liquor before using, but in general, bars don’t do this, they serve room temperature drinks over ice, and you can too).

If you are a serious cocktail making enthusiast, you probably don’t have a need for the Bartesian, and even if you had one, you would miss out on the fun of crafting your own cocktails. But for the rest of us, who do not stock our cabinets with boutique bitters and such, it is super convenient. As top tech review site CNET correctly noted, “The Bartesian is the type of machine for someone who likes an occasional cocktail but doesn’t want to buy all the periphery supplies and mixers required.” Food and drink site Delish.com agreed: “Instead of stocking your fridge with herbs, liqueurs, and miscellaneous mixers, you can now buy a capsule that dispenses a mixed a drink.”

Fittingly, Bartesian’s Founder and CEO Ryan Close was a bartender himself, and he consulted with fellow professionals and expert mixologists when designing the pod-based machine and the recipes. Each cocktail is different, but in general the capsules contain real fruit juices, bitters, and extracts, and the pods themselves are made of 100% recyclable materials You insert the capsule, choose the strength level you desire (including alcohol-free), hit the button, and Bartesian automatically identifies what drink you chose and draws out the appropriate spirit or spirits and blends them with the capsule ingredients, dispensing a premium cocktail in a few seconds. An auto-clean cycle runs between each drink.

The bottom line is that the Bartesian is a fun and convenient way to enjoy and serve premium cocktails on demand in the comfort of your home. Your friends will be impressed, and it adds a little extra fun to a dinner party. I have a fancy super-automatic Jura coffee machine, the kind that makes cappuccino and latte at the push of a button, and over the years I’ve found that visiting guests just love to play with it. I suspect the same will be true for Bartesian - except that it is a lot cheaper. The widely available machine costs $350 pretty much anywhere you buy it (Amazon, Best Buy, Bloomingdale’s Bed, Bath & Beyond or straight from Bartesian).

There are currently 15 different cocktails available and more rolled out on an ongoing basis, and all the same retailers and e-tailers that sell the machine carry them. Choices include Old Fashioned, Gin Martini, Negroni, Sex on the Beach, Margarita, Long Island Iced Tea, Rum Breeze, Cosmopolitan, Uptown Rocks, Whiskey Sour, Gimlet, Sazerac, Mint Julep, Paper Plane (?) and Spiced Coffee. There are also mixed variety packs and custom subscriptions offered. Most are $15 for six capsules, and using high-end spirits, that comes out to a quite reasonable $4-5 per finished cocktail.

Website BestProducts.com noted one other financial advantage of the appliance: “The Bartesian is like having a live-in bartender that you don’t have to tip.”

LIVE FREELY. DRINK RESPONSIBLY.

Misters pose with Dr. Roy Jones, Call Me Mister program director, and Dean George Petersen, Dean of The Clemson College of Education, at the 20th anniversary recognition of the program at the SC Statehouse in early 2020.

(Photo: Call Me Mister/Jessah Jenkins)

'From Oprah to Ellen':

Call Me MISTER celebrates

20 years

of fostering

Black Male Teachers Zoe Nicholson, Greenville News

In April 2001, former Clemson University and NFL football player Jeff Davis sat on a soundstage in Chicago across from talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

Davis was on Winfrey's widely popular daytime talk show to receive the “Use Your LIfe” award for his involvement in the Call Me Mister program, an initiative aimed at increasing the number of black male teachers in South Carolina.

Hayward Jean was one of five Misters who sat in the front row of the audience, watching his mentor receive the award.

Jean remembers the moment Oprah turned to them, microphone in hand, asking if anyone wanted to say something. Jean couldn't make his mouth move, he’d always been terrified of public speaking.

"And then my friend next to me, Mark Joseph, responded ..."

Joseph didn’t plan on speaking, but he felt as if he was being nudged in the back, a subtle voice telling him to seize the opportunity.

Mark Joseph, a Call Me Mister 2004 graduate and current site coordinator for the program at Anderson University, poses on the SC Statehouse steps in Columbia on the day of recognition for the program's 20th anniversary. (Photo: Call Me Mister/Jessah Jenkins)

For a few minutes, Joseph explained why the young group of men were there. Not there at the "Oprah Winfrey Show," but there as Misters and future educators.

“This Call Me Mister experience was about purpose. It was about something bigger than just an individual situation or journey.

This is much greater… It's not just about you, it's about what you're going to do with what you have, to be able to give back and prepare the next generation," Joseph remembered of his speech.

It was a lesson the Misters who were there that day have remembered — one they've carried through to the dozens of classrooms and to the thousands of South Carolina students they've taught over the years.

Hayward Jean is the principal of Mellichamp Elementary School in Orangeburg.

Nicholas Gillcrese is an assistant principal at Sandlapper Elementary School in Columbia.

Damon Qualls is the principal of Monaview Elementary School in Greenville.

And Mark Joseph is an assistant professor of education at Anderson University.

The "Oprah Cohort" was among the first graduates of the Mister program in 2004. At that time, black men accounted for less than 1% of South Carolina public school teachers.

Two decades later, they account for about 2.8% of teachers, according to the State Department of Education.

The program has grown, too. Initially launched by Clemson University and implemented in the state's historically black colleges and universities, Call Me Mister has grown to dozens of colleges and universities nationwide.

"The success of the program is directly linked to the success that the Misters have had," Dr. Roy Jones, the director of the Call Me Mister program, said.

The program's name comes from a Jim Crow-era law that made it illegal to call a black man "mister," just one example of the ways institutionalized respect for black people was denied for decades, Jones explained.

"Like so many other ridiculous laws, it stayed on the books for a long time ... but more importantly, it stayed in the psyche of black and white people in the state. So, part of the challenge for Call Me Mister is to reverse that perception," Jones said.

A new ideal

Roy Jones, director of Call Me MISTER. (Photo: provided by Clemson University)

Jones said when Clemson was developing this program, they looked at trying to break the school-to-prison pipeline for black and brown men. The way to do that, they decided, was to provide elementary school students of color with role models who looked like them.

"So my first year in the classroom, obviously, I saw the need for role models," said Gillcrese, the assistant principal at Sandlapper Elementary.

The program also seeks to reduce racial prejudices through those role models. Although it's changed since his first year teaching in 2004, Gillcrese experienced that firsthand.

"There was also some of the resistance that came from some families. I was in a predominantly white school ... they did not see the normalcy for having a male, particularly a man of color, teach their young white kid. So it was more of a systemic mind shift," he said.

By the end of the school year, Gillcrese said the same parents who initially expressed concerns about him were calling to apologize.

More than a degree Twenty years ago, he understood the purpose, the "why" of what the Misters were doing as future educators, but Joseph didn't understand the impact.

Now the Call Me Mister site coordinator at Anderson University, Joseph helps colleges nationwide develop their own Mister programs, an endeavor that helps Clemson fund the program through licensing and trademark fees.

"I just didn't see it at that time. I don't think any of us recognized that. I think we were just excited about being educators," Joseph said.

The Mister program is more than providing access and equity, Jones explained.

"It's culture, it's a lifestyle," the longtime educator said.

Misters learn how to be leaders, how to give back and how to address the needs of the "whole child.”

A member of the Oprah Cohort, Monaview Elementary School Principal Damon Qualls carries the Mister mentality through all aspects of his job, especially in hiring.

"We are looking for those qualities that Misters possess: recognizing that teaching is not his job, but it's a calling. Recognizing that you have to address the needs of the whole child, recognizing that the best of the best always go above and beyond to meet the needs of all of your students, diversify their lessons ..." Qualls said.

A new example At his school in Richland County, Gillcrese created the Bowtie Book Club, a small group meant for children with absent fathers to learn integrity, leadership and standing out amongst the crowd.

"One of the things my guys know is that when they left our small group session, everything that they did had to be connected to who they truly are," the assistant principal said.

The program provides a different vision for the black man in America than what's touted on the television or incarceration statistics.

Call Me Mister student Jaheim President has known he wanted to be a teacher since he was in third grade.

But he didn’t know how, the only examples of black men he saw in the media were basketball players, football players, rappers and prisoners.

But in February, surrounded by hundreds of Misters from across the state and country at the 20th anniversary reception, President saw a new example.

“You had heavy hitters that are principals, that are superintendents, that are professors now.

So it just gives me great joy that I can become and what I will become in this program,” the College of Charleston freshman said.

'From Oprah to Ellen’ Eighteen years after “The Oprah Winfrey Show” episode, President and Darius Smith were sitting in the front row of another talk show – The Ellen Degeneres show in Los Angeles, CA. President doesn’t know exactly how he and Smith wound up getting free tickets to the show, but they flew out with a teacher from their then-high school in Summerville and got to attend a taping in 2019.

Degeneres invited the two up on stage with her, where Smith and President discussed their passion for teaching and the need to have diversity in front of children.

After a bit, the host surprised the two students with full rides to the College of Charleston and an extra $20,000 each, but President was most excited for the acceptance letter the talk show host handed him.

A few minutes earlier, they had discussed President’s nervousness over not being accepted to the College of Charleston yet, his dream school.

“I was doing everything right and I still wasn't getting in,” he told The News and Mail.

Four of President’s friends, all of whom are now Misters at College of Charleston, had already gotten their acceptance letters to the school.

“We may have asked them to slow the process down so we could tell you,” Degeneres told a giddy President on the show.

“If there wasn't a table in front of me, I probably would’ve ran around the whole studio because I was just happy. Because my mom wasn't able to go to college. So this was a big moment for not just me, but for my mother as well,” he said.

Since their appearance, President and Smith began their freshman year at the college and in the Call Me Mister program.

The work is hard, but it’s worth it, President said. And he’s not alone. Misters from South Carolina State, Clemson and Coastal Carolina have become President’s brother, bolstering him through a year of transition.

“You look to your left, look to your right, there’s somebody holding you up,” President said.

Zoe covers Clemson for The Greenville News and Independent Mail. Reach her at znicholson@gannett.com or Twitter @zoenicholson_

J o h n D a v id W a s h in g t o n ´t e r r if ie d ´ D u r in g

Tenet Stunts

Athlete turned actor John David Washington had to hide his terror when performing stunts for Christopher Nolan´s new spy thriller Tenet.

The BlacKkKlansman star, 34, leads an all-star cast including Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, and Kenneth Branagh in Nolan´s latest blockbuster, which includes huge action setpieces shot in seven countries.

Washington, the son of movie star Denzel Washington, admits he was scared out of his wits during some of the stunts, with one he filmed alongside Debicki on a boat particularly frightening.

"I was terrified, but when Christopher Nolan yelled ´Action!´ I had to throw all that away and make it look cool," he told Entertainment Weekly.

Asked why he was so worried, he added: "Because it´s a boat, man! I don´t know how to drive a boat!

But I had to act like I did.”

Nolan is full of praise for his leading man, however, saying the athleticism Washington developed during a short American football career was vital to the film.

"He´s a massively talented actor and physically gifted," the Dunkirk director said. "He´s an athlete and pretty hard for anybody to keep up with, including the different vehicles we shot him from - cars and helicopters. This guy moves.”

Discussing the project the filmmaker says it´s been an even more ambitious undertaking than his previous blockbusters Inception, Interstellar, and Dunkirk.

"We´re crossing a few different genres in a hopefully exciting and fresh way," he explained. "(his wife and producer) Emma (Thomas) and I have put together a lot of large-scale productions, but this is certainly the biggest in terms of international reach.

"We shot in seven countries, all over the place, with a massive cast and huge set pieces. There´s no question, it´s the most ambitious film we´ve made."

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HBO Max: release date, movies, price and more The HBO Max release date has been revealed HBO Max is WarnerMedia's new streaming service designed to take on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus, and its release date has finally been revealed. HBO Max will feature over 10,000 hours of content at launch, with content from the likes of Cartoon Network, CNN, DC Comics, TNT, Crunchyroll and Sesame Workshop, as well as some stellar HBO originals.

HBO Max, backed by comms giant AT&T, has made some big moves to take on its older competitors.

That includes grabbing every episode of the '90s sitcom Friends, the ever-popular The Big Bang Theory, as well as Rick and Morty, the new iteration of Doctor Who, and the complete library of South Park. Speaking of the sitcom that's been on a break since 2004, a Friends reunion is happening too, which is a huge deal.

HBO Max will boast its own exclusives intended to make viewers of rival services envious, including various original series. But will that be enough for you to pay for yet another streaming service? Here's everything you need to know so you can make an informed decision before the HBO Max release date on May 27, including which shows are coming at launch.

The HBO Max release date has been revealed HBO Max will cost $14.99 (around £11, AU$22) per month. That puts it on the more dearer end of the streaming service spectrum. However, it's also the same price as HBO Now, and HBO Max should offer a lot more entertainment goodness for your hard-earned cash. By comparison, Disney Plus is $6.99 per month, while Netflix's Standard tier is $12.99. HBO Max's subscriber target is 50 million by 2025 – a lot by anyone's standards, but considering HBO had 54 million US subscribers as of 2017, it's really not out of the question.

HBO Max won't replace HBO Go and HBO Now: both services will apparently set to carry on, though HBO Max has been characterized as the "workhorse" of Warner's pay TV efforts. Still, given there's three variations on the platform, below you'll find a breakdown of their differences.

HBO Max vs HBO Go vs HBO Now: what's the difference?

One potential problem facing HBO is the confusion between the different HBO-branded services.

Here's a quick explainer. HBO Max, then, is the new direct-to-consumer streaming service that we're focusing on in this article. HBO Now is the existing direct-to-consumer streaming service that costs $14.99 a month.

HBO Go, meanwhile, features the same content as HBO Now - but you can only access it as a bonus with a cable subscription to HBO. In addition, you can access the same HBO content on both services through Amazon Prime Video for $14.99 per month.

When HBO Max launches in May, HBO Now subscribers can switch over to Max for the same monthly price, but only if they're directly subscribed through hbonow.com. If you're subscribed to HBO Now through a third-party, the HBO Max FAQ says to 'stay tuned for more details'. The same notice is used for those subscribed to HBO through a cable or TV provider.

People subscribed to HBO through AT&T-related services, meanwhile, can watch all the HBO Max content they want for no additional cost, too. If you have HBO via AT&T TV or U-Verse TV, that comes with HBO Max. People subscribed to 'premium' AT&T mobile and broadband services will apparently have the offer of bundles with HBO Max 'at no extra charge’.

It's a little complicated to unpick, then, but if you're among the millions already directly subscribed to HBO Now, switching to HBO Max should be nice and simple.

HBO Max: original shows and movies, including launch content

Original content is the lifeblood of any new streaming service, and HBO Max has a lot in the works, alongside the content coming from HBO itself. Below is just part of what it plans on releasing to the service.

On day one, HBO will launch with Anna Kendrick anthology show Love Life, crafting show Craftopia, documentary On The Record, an Elmo-fronted talk show called The Not Too Late Show, animated series The Looney Tunes Cartoons and ballroom competition Legendary.

In the months and years to come, there are six DC Comics adaptations in the mix, including Green Lantern, a live-action series from Arrow producer Greg Berlanti, and Justice League Dark from JJ Abrams. Abrams is also making two other series for HBO Max, The Shining-related show Overlook, and a 1970s-set show called Dusters.

Back to those DC adaptations, anyway. Strange Adventures comes from Berlanti, too, and it sounds like an anthology show that "will explore close-ended morality tales about the intersecting lives of mortals and superhumans." There's also a three-part animated Aquaman show on the way.

Called Aquaman: King of Atlantis, the show will follow the early days of Arthur Curry's rule as king.

Also from DC Comics comes DMZ, a show about a modern-day American civil war adapted by filmmaker Ava DuVernay. HBO Max will also become the new joint home of existing DC Universe show Doom Patrol - that, Titans and the Harley Quinn animated series are examples of how HBO intend for Max and DCU to work in tandem, but "we're still working out what those mechanics are" an HBO exec said at the TCA winter press tour in January 2020. Elizabeth Banks will produce DC Superhero High, imagining life in high school for the comic book icons.

Also from DC Comics comes DMZ, a show about a modern-day American civil war adapted by filmmaker Ava DuVernay. HBO Max will also become the new joint home of existing DC Universe show Doom Patrol - that, Titans and the Harley Quinn animated series are examples of how HBO intend for Max and DCU to work in tandem, but "we're still working out what those mechanics are" an HBO exec said at the TCA winter press tour in January 2020. Elizabeth Banks will produce DC Superhero High, imagining life in high school for the comic book icons.

Michael Mann will direct the pilot Tokyo Vice, about American journalist Jake Adelstein's life as a police reporter in the Japanese city, which sounds like its biggest swing at a conversation-starting original – and will star Ansel Elgort of Baby Driver fame.

Dune: The Sisterhood is a spin-off of the upcoming Dune film, with the pilot sharing a director in Denis Villeneuve. Anna Kendrick will also produce a romance anthology called Love Life. Raised by Wolves is a Ridley Scott-produced series about two androids raising a child on another planet, while 80s cult hit Gremlins is coming an animated series too.

College Girls, meanwhile, is a teen show from The Mindy Project's Mindy Kaling. Rap Sh*t is about a Miami-based female rap group trying to get famous. Search Party, a great-but-overlooked TNT adult mystery drama, is moving to HBO Max for its third and fourth seasons. Post-apocalyptic drama Station Eleven is based on the book of the same name. Made For Love is an adaptation of Alissa Nutting's novel, starring Cristin Milioti. Generation is a Lena Dunham-produced show about modern sexuality in a conservative environment. A new version of teen drama Gossip Girl is in the works, with Kristen Bell returning as the titular character in voice only.

At least three original movies are in the works: Superintelligence starring Melissa McCarthy, author film Let Them All Talk from Steven Soderbergh, and legal comedy Bobbie Sue starring Gina Rodriguez.

Expect a suite of original reality TV shows and kids' shows, too.

And following the news that Audience Network will no longer be a home for original content, raising questions over series like Mr. Mercedes and Loudermilk, but sources say that at least three originals transition over to HBO Max. However, don't expect Cinemax content to come to the service: programming production at the company is to wind down, which leaves series like Jett and Warrior in unknown territory.

Black-Owned Talent Agency Launches New Sports Division to Help HBCU Athletes Get to the Next Level

TLS Talent Agency is pleased to announce its latest division, TLS Sports. The talent agency first launched in 2010 by co-founders Cicero Leak and Tristian Turner (both graduates of HBCUs) with clients such as Shark Tank’s Daymond John, Sway Calloway, Kid N Play, Fonzworth Bentley, Grammy Award Winner Fantasia Barrino, Big Tigger, Academy Award nominated director James Fargo and from Tyler Perry’s If Loving You Is Wrong actress April Parker Jones.

The new division will operate independently from the rest of the company under the leadership of managing director Charles Stinson (graduate of Morehouse College) and will focus on helping athletes that attend HBCUs get their shot at the next level at becoming a professional athlete.

Services will include representing professional athletes with negotiating contracts, and endorsement deals.

TLS Sports will also partner with global branding and strategic marketing agency Creative Allies to provide multicultural marketing services that include brand strategy for its clients.

“We are excited about the launch of TLS Sports and looking forward to helping those who attend historically black college or universities that aspire to make it to the next level but are overlooked. Our goal is to approach the business in a different way because the athletes can relate to us in a different way,” says Cicero Leak, CEO of TLS. “The launch of TLS Sports will also help those who attend HBCUs provide them an opportunity to get into the business as well, helping further the next generation.”

For more details about TLS Talent Agency, visit http://www.tlstalentagency.com For press inquiries, contact info@tlsagency.net

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The Best Abs Workout:

The Only 6 Exercises You Need to Get a Six-Pack

GOOD NEWS: Thanks to some of the best trainers in the country, we’re going to help you out. Below are their favorite abs exercises, along with a few pro tips to ensure that you’re executing each one perfectly. Incorporate them à la carte into your existing routine—or, if you’re feeling ambitious, turn all six into an abs workout circuit. Try two sets of each movement, resting for 30 seconds between each set.

1. Hardstyle plank Equipment: None.

Do it: Lying face down on the ground, prop yourself up into a forearm plank position. Make sure your elbows are aligned underneath your shoulders, and that your hands are balled up in fists. Your forearms should be parallel to one another. Hold for 10 to 20 seconds per set.

Trainer tip: You know planks, right? It’s easy to go through the motions here. Don’t do it. “The key is to squeeze your entire body—quads, glutes, core, back, and fists—as tight as possible while taking diaphoretic breathes throughout the hold,” says Wealth. No matter how many times you’ve done it, this exercise is as difficult as you’re willing to make it.

2. Dead bug Equipment: None.

Do it: Lay face up on the floor with arms straight above your shoulders. To start, bring your knees directly over your hips and bend at the knee so that your calf forms a 90-degree angle with your thigh. Next, simultaneously lower your left arm above your head while straightening your right leg and sending it towards the floor.

Pause, return to the starting position, and then repeat on the opposite side. Do 14 alternating reps to complete one set.

Trainer tip: “Make sure your lower back stays in contact with the floor, and try to keep your breathing as regular as possible,” says Denzel Allen, a StrongFirst trainer in San Francisco. “I like this movement because it helps to train left-right coordination between the upper and lower extremities, which can help improve cognitive function, too.”

3. Extension to cannonball Equipment: None.

Do it: Get into a cannonballtype shape on your back, hugging your knees into your chest—yes, just like you’re at the pool at summer camp again. Simultaneously extend your legs and arms outwards into a “hollow” position, pressing your lower back to the floor. Hold for five seconds before curling up again, and complete five reps for one set.

Trainer tip: “Engage as much as possible during the extension phase, and use the cannonball for recovery,” suggests Ashley Wilking, Nike master trainer and a trainer at Rumble Boxing.

“Just don't completely let go. Think of it like you’re holding a crunch!”

4. Dumbbell side bend Equipment: Single medium-weight dumbbell Do it: Stand with your feet hipwidth apart and hold a dumbbell in your right hand, palm facing inwards towards the torso. Keep your back straight, activate your core, and then bend to the side as far as possible—but only at the waist. Hold for one second at the bottom of your range of motion, and return to start for one rep. Do between 12 and 20 reps for one set.

Trainer tip: “Be smart when you pick the weight,” says Wealth. “It shouldn’t feel impossible.

Using reasonable weights will help you focus on keeping your abs tight during the exercise for maximum results. And keep that tempo nice and slow.” The real six-pack is not the lift itself—it’s the burning sensation you feel along the way.

5. Barbell back squat Equipment: Barbell -no weights, for now Do it: With your feet shoulder-width apart, lift a barbell off the rig, centering it evenly across your shoulders. (This version of the squat targets the core, not the legs, and so you should be using far less weight than you would for a traditional back squat.) Send your glutes back like you’re lowering into a chair, bending at the knees as deeply as possible. Press through your heels to return to the starting position for one rep. Do 12 reps for one set.

Trainer tip: “Think about maintaining tension in your abs throughout the entire movement,” says Wealth. “Once you have the movement mastered, you can add additional weights to the barbell. By going up in small increments, though, you’ll stay injury-free.”

6. Bird dog Equipment: Single medium-weight dumbbell Do it: Think of this as an upsidedown dead bug. Start in a tabletop position, with your shoulders over wrists and hips over knees. Engage your core while simultaneously lifting your right arm and left leg. Your foot should be flexed as you kick back, and your palm should face in towards your body. Pause for one second when your arm and leg are at the same height as your torso, and then bring your elbow and knee to touch underneath the body. Repeat on the other side for one rep, and do five reps for one set.

Trainer tip: “Be careful not to hyperextend your elbows! Maintaining a slight bend fires up those triceps,” says Wilking.

“Keep the neck long by looking down and a few inches in front of you, and use the exhale portion of each breath to create tension.”

Model: Joshua Cummings at Wilhelmina Grooming by Barry White

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FILM REVIEW

'Blue Story'

Can be seen on

Paramount Pictures

Two high-schoolers find their friendship tested when they become embroiled in gang violence in British hip-hop artist Rapman's feature directorial debut.

Although it presumably didn't involve much financial risk, it was a gutsy move for Paramount Pictures to pick up the low-budget British teen gang drama Blue Story for domestic theatrical distribution in the current era in which studios concentrate on would-be franchises. So it's a shame that the current pandemic has forced the debut feature from British hip-hop artist/filmmaker Rapman (real name Andrew Onwubolu) to forgo its planned March theatrical release and instead premiere on digital platforms, where it may have a more difficult time attracting the zeitgeisty buzz it deserves.

Rapman first made a real name for himself with his 2018 YouTube musical drama series Shiro's Story, the huge success of which led to him being signed by JayZ's Roc Nation label to develop several projects including his own record label. This film, adapted from an earlier web series of the same name created by Rapman and partially based on his own youthful experiences, received strong reviews and enjoyed box office success upon its release in its native country. It also became the focus of controversy as a result of a violent incident involving a large group of teenagers armed with machetes at a Birmingham theater last November.

Bookended by disturbing news footage detailing the rise of knife attacks in England, Blue Story hardly proves unfamiliar in its themes. The pic owes obvious debts to such predecessors as 1991's Boyz n the Hood, 1992's Juice and the 2006 British film Kidulthood and its sequels, although this effort will obviously benefit by reaching a new generation of younger audiences.

The melodramatic storyline revolves around two central characters, best friends Timmy (Stephen Odubola, making an auspicious screen debut), shy and bookish, and the volatile Marco (Micheal Ward). The pair attend the same high school but live in different south London neighborhoods whose respective gangs the Ghetto Boys and Peckham Boys are fierce rivals. Marco's older brother Switcher (Eric Kofi-Abrefa) runs one of the gangs, and when one of Timmy's friends beats up Marco during an altercation it sets off a violent chain of events that pit the two boys against each other.

Meanwhile, Timmy strikes up a romance with Leah (Karla-Simone Spence), a sweet-hearted classmate with whom he bonds over such things as their shared love of Game of Thrones. But that relationship also becomes bound for tragedy.

FILM REVIEW

Paramount Pictures

The film's most original and bracingly audacious element is the frequent onscreen presence of its writer/director, who periodically pops up as an urban Greek chorus delivering rap commentary about the characters and situations.

Besides the entertainment value it provides, the recurring narration also proves useful, since American viewers in particular may have trouble deciphering good portions of the vernacular-rich dialogue delivered in thick British/Caribbean accents.

The film becomes most effective in its depiction of the ill-fated love story between Timmy and Leah that provides the pic with its sweetest, low-key moments. Both young actors are highly appealing, with Odubola proving particularly impressive in his character's eventual transformation as Timmy becomes hardened and bitter as a result of his experiences (at about the halfway mark, the story skips forward three years, becoming significantly darker). Although he doesn't have as much of an arc, Ward is equally charismatic and compelling as the edgier, high-strung Marco.

While the rough-hewn filmmaking occasionally reveals Rapman's lack of experience working with a larger cinematic canvas, Blue Story boasts an immediacy and energy that perfectly suit the material.

The film is available on YouTube, Google Play and Amazon Prime for about $4.99.

By Frank Scheck, hollywoodreporter.com

'Watchmen,' 'David Makes Man,' And 'When They See Us' Among Peabody Award Nominees HBO's Watchmen, OWN's David Makes Man and Netflix's When They See Us are among the list of television series nominated for the 2020 Peabody Awards.

The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors' list of nominees also includes HBO's Chernobyl, Netflix’s Unbelievable and Stranger Things, HBO's Succession, Amazon Prime's Fleabag, Disney+'s Float, Apple TV+'s Dickinson and PBS's "POV" documentary series.

OPRAH WINFREY, LIL NAS X, AND SIMONE BILES WILL JOIN FACEBOOK’S VIRTUAL GRADUATION FOR THE CLASS OF 2020 People are showing up for the Class of 2020 in a major way!

This week, Facebook announced it’s virtual commencement, with a star studded line up that includes media mogul Oprah Winfrey, Grammy award winning rapper Lil Nas X and superstar gymnast Simone Biles, Essence reports.

The graduation services will stream live, with Winfrey serving as commencement speaker, Lil Nas X performing and a special guest appearance from Biles. While it doesn't take the place of a formal graduation, with mass cancelations due to the COVID19 pandemic, this is the next best thing for graduates. Chase Banking also recently announced a virtual celebration for graduates featuring Kevin Hart, Serena Williams and NBA phenom Stephen Curry.

During these unprecedented times, everyone really is doing the best they can to show up for each other and make the losses a little less painful. Marne Levine, VP of Facebook’s global partnerships, business and corporate development, announced the graduation livestream, saying, “As students head toward graduation, it’s not the day they might have imagined - no processions, no diploma handoffs, no parties...But graduating is a tremendous achievement, and worth pausing to celebrate even in these circumstances.”

The #Graduation2020 celebration will stream live on Facebook Watch in honor of the Class of 2020, May 15th at 1pm EST. Congratulations to all the graduates!

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EMPLOYMENT

3 things job seekers need to know about hiring technology (and 3 ways to make it work for you)

The CEO of career site Virgil offers a look inside the closed-door techdriven recruiting process to help job seekers best position themselves to land a new job.

Searching for a job is stressful.

Searching for a job in the age of AI résumé reviewers, online assessments, and automatic “no” piles is excruciating. And we haven’t even scratched the surface of anxiety around the pandemic.

Technology has drastically changed the job search process, even in just the last five years, and job seekers now find themselves questioning how to adapt to a tech-driven recruiting environment. What makes adapting so hard? In large part, it’s because so much of what happens, happens behind closed doors. We know that AI is helping with hiring decisions, but what does that actually mean, and how does it change your job search?

1. COMPANIES ARE BUILDING PROFILES ON YOU You probably know about software that can scan your résumé for keywords. But when recruiters are considering you for a job, they aren’t just looking at your résumé. They’re now relying on tools that build full profiles on job seekers just by scraping publicly available information such as social profiles, old blogs, awards, academic histories, old résumés on LinkedIn, etc. These tools allow employers to build a profile about you without ever meeting you, and that profile could be drastically different than the one you’re hoping to convey with your résumé. The kicker? Employers believe that those sources can be even more informative about who you are and what you do than an actual conversation.

EMPLOYMENT 2. SKILL ASSESSMENTS ARE DIGGING DEEPER Traditional strength and personality assessments aren’t going anywhere, but they are becoming more sophisticated. To better understand whether or not a candidate is the right fit, employers are using assessments with more intelligent algorithms that can determine how you’ll perform in a specific job environment. Some address cultural fit, and some are built to measure technical skills.

3. EMPLOYERS WANT YOU TO SHOW, NOT TELL Chances are, you’re familiar with the “scenario” type of questions in an interview that asks how you would react in certain situations. Pretty soon, you may have to show, not just describe, how you’ll handle on-the-job-scenarios. Companies that have substantial resources and that are hiring en masse are taking it a step further by using VR to build workplace scenarios. This technology is helping employers get a more concrete picture of how you’ll react to customers, the fast pace, technology requirements, etc.

THE MISSING HUMAN CONNECTION What place does human interaction have in recruiting? With AI screenings and other tech-based decision making, the human connection is becoming harder to establish, and companies are making judgments without ever having met the candidates. connection.

This concern doesn’t stop after the hiring process is done. Companies everywhere are adapting to accommodate remote work, meaning technology is replacing face time in the office too. Slack, videoconferencing, and email help close the human connection gap, but employees must create new intentional habits when using these tools to support collaboration. Combine these changes with the rise of the gig economy—another game changer in the workplace—and workplace culture becomes even more fluid. With these new elements, employers, employees, and job seekers must actively work to establish a human connection.

EMPLOYMENT MAKING IT WORK Job seekers shouldn’t lose hope. The recruitment technology advancements up to this point mostly benefit the employers, but there are ways that job seekers can make these changes work in their favor in 2020.

1. PROACTIVELY MANAGE YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE Knowing that employers are looking beyond your résumé and building a profile of you based on your online activity, it’s up to you to control what material they can find. Beyond the obvious steps of cleaning up your social profiles, think in terms of creating more content that can actually support your overall image. For example, share your thoughts on industry trends with LinkedIn posts, start a blog, or create an online portfolio to showcase your past success.

2. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE TRANSPARENCY THAT IS AVAILABLE TO YOU Some new recruiting technologies may actually mean you spend more time putting together the perfect application. If you’re going to invest your time in applying and interviewing, it’s important to make sure that a company is a good fit for you. With so much information available such as employee reviews, company Instagram accounts, and best-workplace rankings, it’s easier than ever to learn about the organization’s culture.

The people that are most successful in finding the right job are proactive about thinking through how their preferences intersect with the environment, culture, and opportunities that a company offers. Take inventory of your wants and needs and do your research to find jobs that match.

Ron Mitchell is the CEO of Virgil.

EMPLOYMENT

3. REINVENT YOUR IDEA OF JOB SEEKING Ready or not, this new tech-driven way of recruiting and hiring is here to stay, and we’re likely just seeing the beginning. It’s up to job seekers to figure out how to make this new ecosystem work for them. Companies might have more tools and resources at their disposal, but job seekers have options too. There are career-mapping and skill-building assessments to help you take control of your career path. Keep an eye out for other tools that will make the job-seeking process more productive and insightful.

Technology is driving change in the recruiting process. And although it seems to benefit companies first, job seekers should still be encouraged that companies are making more intelligent decisions about hiring.

If a job seeker is ready to take an active part in the hiring process, then they are likely to benefit from this new tech-driven environment just as much as the company.

Whitney Houston's estate has approved the start of I Wanna Dance With Somebody, a biopic of the esteemed singer and actress' life. According to The Hollywood Reporter, music producer Clive Davis is also working with the estate to produce the film.

Anthony McCarten, the screenwriter of Bohemian Rhapsody, the biopic detailing the creation of Queen and the rise of Freddie Mercury, has been tapped to write, with The Photograph's Stella Meghie signed on to direct.

Pat Houston, Houston's sister-in-law, will produce the film for the Houston Estate alongside Davis, McCartin, Denis O'Sullivan, and Larry Mestel of Primary Wave Music. Also, since the estate is heavily involved, this means that Houston's entire catalog of songs will be available for use in the film.

Whitney Houston Biopic 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' In The Works With Houston Estate, Clive Davis By shadowandact.com

Houston has been the subject of film and television before, however, none have been authorized by the Houston Estate. With this backing, plus the use of her catalog, it stands to reason that we will finally get what could be considered a "canon" telling of her life story.

3 Buildings That Transcend Their Intended Purpose From a verdant hotel in Singapore to an otherworldly chapel in South Africa, these buildings show the true power of great architecture

ART

We’re all guilty of walking or driving past any number of skyscrapers and buildings as if they didn’t exist, their glass and steel and concrete façade bleeding into the gray of a city’s horizon. Yet, to the keen eye, studying a city’s architecture is a path to better understanding the people of that area—both their current needs and their aspirations for the future.

From the Pyramids of Giza to Manhattan’s mighty skyscrapers, the creativity and engineering involved in the molding of solids over voids, and vice versa, is the crux of architecture, and should be appreciated as such. What are buildings but an expression of an idea that fits a modern requirement, with the hope of acceptance from future crowds?

Below, AD studies three buildings that we believe can teach us more about the subtleties involved in creating sublime architecture for this century, while carrying it into the next.

By Nick Mafi, architecturaldigest.com

ART

Bosjes Chapel by Steyn Studio (Western Cape, South Africa)

The exterior of Bosjes Chapel. Photo: Adam Letch

Located on a vineyard in South Africa is Bosjes Chapel, a structure that makes us believe something heavy can be ethereal. Which is exactly what the architects at the London-based firm Steyn Studio wanted to happen. “I originally wanted to create awe by making a very heavy object float, as if held in suspension by a divine power, whilst at the same time instilling enough confidence in someone to enter the building,” says Coetzee Steyn, director and founder of the firm. The clients provided the firm with the Bible verse Psalm 36:7, which reads, “How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” With that, Steyn felt the poetic connection to create a winglike church that could provide such refuge for its followers.

ART

Bosjes Chapel by Steyn Studio (Western Cape, South Africa)

The interior of Bosjes Chapel. Photo: Adam Letch

To build the structure, the architects used reinforced concrete, laminated glass, and terrazzo flooring.

It was the firm’s hope that each visitor would conceive their own interpretation when viewing the design. “I was adamant that the inspiration for the design shouldn’t be revealed,” adds Steyn. “But rather having it be somewhat recognizable, similar to finding shapes and meaning when looking at the clouds.”

ART

Parkroyal Collection Pickering by WOHA (Singapore)

An aerial view of the Parkroyal Collection Pickering. Photo: Skyshot Pte Ltd.

Balconies covered in tropical plants surround the Parkroyal, a luxury hotel in Singapore. Designed by the local firm WOHA, the hotel is intended as a verdant extension of Hong Lim Park, a green space located next to the site. “This land is in a prime location of central Singapore, situated between Chinatown and the busy business district,” says Richard Hassell, cofounder at WOHA. “Therefore, it was imperative that our design allow for the space to remain open to the public.” The architects went to great lengths to ensure that the plant life didn’t just act as a public conduit, but had the feeling of real nature. “The form was inspired by a combination of landscaped bonsai arrangements that are made to mimic natural landscapes, mountain rock formations, and terraformed rice paddies.”

ART

Parkroyal Collection Pickering by WOHA (Singapore)

An aerial view of the Parkroyal Collection Pickering. Photo: Skyshot Pte Ltd.

The building, which houses 367 rooms, uses a solar-powered automatic irrigation system. The structure also has a rainwater retention system that helps cut down on unnecessary water consumption. “The terraces also help to shade the building from the hot tropical sun, thus reducing the need for air-conditioning and lowering the overall energy needed to run the hotel,� adds Hassell.

ART

Gallery of Furniture by Chybík + Krištof (Brno-Vinohrady, Czech Republic)

The exterior of a furniture showroom designed by Chybík + Krištof. Photo: Lukas Pelech

Furniture showrooms are rarely remembered for what the exterior of the building looks like, but for the products within. That surely is not the case for this building designed by the young architects at Chybík + Krištof. Founded in 2010, this Prague-based firm is starting to turn heads, and with designs such as the Gallery of Furniture, it’s easy to see why. To create such a memorable design, the architects outfitted the exterior of the building with 900 plastic chairs, all of them uniform in shape and color. “The inspiration for the design came from the need to find an economically efficient solution to the problem of offering a new face to a furniture showroom,” says Ondřej Chybík, one of the two founding architects. “We eventually realized that the most accessible design was right there all along: the client’s chair, multiplied over the entire façade, protecting the space from the natural elements.”

ART

Gallery of Furniture by Chybík + Krištof (Brno-Vinohrady, Czech Republic)

A closer view of the 900 plastic chairs that make up the exterior of the building. Photo: Lukas Pelech

The Gallery of Furniture does what all great architecture must: making the difficult appear effortless.

But in the case of this building, the architects also needed to promote the service within the space.

“We needed a façade that could be a banner of sorts,” says Michal Krištof, the second founding architect of the firm. “What we needed was a way to speak of the content within the showroom, but in a less intrusive manner.”

KANYE WEST IS OFFICIALLY HIP HOP’S NEWEST BILLIONAIRE

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton for blackenterprise

Move over Jay-Z, you have company in the Hip Hop billionaire’s room! Jay-Z‘s little “brother” Kanye West can now shout to the rooftops at the top of his lungs that he is officially a billionaire according to Forbes!

Somewhere Sean Combs and Dr. Dre must be shaking their heads in amazement! The controversial rapper has been steadily rising in his quest to be on top of the Hip Hop stack and apparently, he has inched closer to the man he used to call his big brother, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. Jay-Z was officially declared Hip Hop’s first billionaire, although it seemed before that acknowledgement that Diddy or even Andre “Dr. Dre” Young would have reached that feat first.

Forbes’ writer, Zack O’Malley Greenburg has stated that Kanye has been obsessed with the magazine acknowledging that he is a billionaire, upset that he didn’t make the most recent list earlier this month. As what has been common when Kanye isn’t heard, he reacted with hurt and venom. “You know what you’re doing,” he texted. “You’re toying with me and I’m not finna lye [sic] down and take it anymore in Jesus name.” Even going as far as texting that Forbes was “purposely a part of a group of media” that was trying to suppress his self-made narrative because of his race. The fact that his sister-in-law Kylie Jenner made the list kept his anger at the magazine clearer.

Kanye continued to provide Forbes with the ‘receipts’ that prove his worth is over a billion dollars. “Finally, and perhaps most critically to West, it does confirm, based on our estimates, that his stake in Yeezy indeed makes him a billionaire. A bit over $1 billion, actually.”

So, after some more number crunching and reviewing of said “receipts”, Forbes has determined that the net worth estimate for Kanye West is $1.3 billion, which, coincidentally surpasses his younger sister-in-law, Jenner by $300 million.

And with typical Kanye banter, he texted Forbes the other night and said, “It’s not a billion. It’s $3.3 billion since no one at Forbes knows how to count.”

(Image: Adidas)

50 Cent writes a hip-hop self-help book without the cliche

By Bill Forman

‘It’s very easy to run through a million in this country,” writes Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson in his newly published selfhelp book Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter.

And he would know. 50 Cent is, after all, the only rapper to have been named one of Forbes’ “Five Wealthiest Hip-Hop Artists” — with combined assets of $155 million — and then filed for bankruptcy three months later. But while 50 Cents’ finances have had their share of seismic ups and downs, there’s no questioning his talent as an artist and entrepreneur.

Jackson has a long history when it comes to the art of the deal. A New York City crack-dealer’s son, he was arrested for selling cocaine to an undercover police officer while still in high school, and earned his GED while serving six months in boot camp. Afterward, he redirected his energies toward rapping, chose the stage name 50 Cent as a metaphor for change, and — after mentoring from RunDMC’s Jam Master Jay, Eminem and Dr. Dre — found international fame thanks to No. 1 singles like “In Da Club” and “21 Questions.”

With his intelligence and charisma, Jackson also presents well under a wide range of circumstances, from multimillion-dollar vitamin-water endorsements to swapping chairs with Stephen Colbert and proving himself a worthy candidate for hosting his own late-night TV show.

All that said, Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter ranks among Jackson’s most unexpected accomplishments to date.

Published earlier this week by HarperCollins’ multicultural Amistad Press, it’s an eminently readable compendium of life lessons that will have use-value even for those of us who haven’t been shot nine times at point-blank range or been described by Mike Tyson as scary.

Over the course of 304 pages, 50 Cent emerges as a study in contradictions, which is something he routinely uses to his advantage, particularly in the public arena. He’s become legendary for his high-profile fights with other rappers, who are, in some cases, secretly grateful for the publicity.

Some of those battles have been lighthearted: Jackson uploaded a video of himself being taken to the hospital and almost dying after getting “noise poisoning” from Fat Joe’s album. In another post, he said he bought 200 tickets to a Ja Rule concert, for no other purpose than to keep the seats empty.

But other 50 Cent feuds, including one with Vanderpump Rules’ Lala Kent and her producer/fiancé Randall Emmett, have gotten downright vicious.

So it may come as a surprise to find 50 Cent giving advice about how to control a room simply by speaking softly.

It’s a trick he picked up from actor Bruce Willis during a cigar break while filming The Setup, a heist movie the rap impresario produced back in 2011. “As we smoked,” writes Jackson, “I asked him about what I’d observed [in meetings]. ‘Say, man,’ I said, ‘How come every time someone asks you something at dinner, you answer in damn near a whisper? You’re not talking like that now.’”

Willis told him that when you’re around a lot of people where everyone’s trying to be heard, the trick is to speak as softly as possible. “When someone speaks like that,” said the actor, “our natural reaction is to lean into them as close as possible. We don’t realize it, but when we do that, we’re transferring all our power to them.”

Jackson was soon taking that approach in his own negotiations. “Executives always respond to nonverbal cues when they’re talking to a room,” he explains. “If they make a point, they expect something from you in return. It could be a laugh, a slight nod, a raised eyebrow, or even just a shift in your seat. Something that communicates to them, ‘Yes, important person. I’m receiving your information.’ Even if we’re not conscious of it, we usually give them that affirmation that they’re looking for.”

For Jackson, whose celebrity status put him on a fairly level playing field with the network execs, it was easy to do otherwise.

“When they looked to me for that affirmation, I’d just sit there stone-faced. No nod. No laugh. I would not offer them anything. It would completely throw them off. They became very flustered. Once I had them off their game, it was much easier to assert my agenda and move the conversation in a direction that was beneficial to me. I was hustling harder, but literally without moving a muscle.”

At the same time, the rapper emphasizes the importance of maintaining eye contact, to show that you’re listening, as well as holding up your own end of the bargain afterward.

That’s something Jackson manages to do throughout Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter, providing a wealth of clear insights, colorful anecdotes and realistic strategies for reaching those elusive goals — overcoming fear, recognizing your value, being assertive — that have spawned countless self-help books. Better still, he does it from a perspective that’s far removed from the world of motivational speakers, moonlighting psychiatrists and terrible writer.

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Black frats host virtual sessions to empower black men during pandemic “We are the protectors of the black family, and we need to be armed with all the information about this new threat..."

Omicron Phi Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. during one of its Chat With The Frat to discuss dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Omicron Phi Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha

When it became obvious last month that the coronavirus was hitting African Americans harder than other racial groups, Gerry White, a sociologist and an associate professor at Clark Atlanta University, grasped that black men needed to play a pivotal role in leading the fight against its spread in their communities.

“We are the protectors of the black family, and we need to be armed with all the information about this new threat to assure we are knowledgeable and our households are safe,” White, who lectures on the power of the black family and manhood, told NBC News. “We know that communication, resources and strength-based approaches to protecting the community are critical in this fight.”

With that thought came the birth of “Chat With the Frat,” an all-male online series made up of members of the Atlanta-area Omicron Phi Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha — the first Greek-letter fraternity for black men, founded in 1906.

“Black men talking to other black men has the ability to alter our thinking and subsequently our behavior,” forensic psychologist Christopher Bass said. “Despite what society suggests, humans are still more conforming than rebellious.”

The sessions are “transformative,” White said, because they address an underlying skepticism that permeates the black community: lack of trust.

That stems from the history of mistreatment of African Americans in clinical trials, particularly the federal government’s infamous 40-year Tuskegee syphilis study on black men. Given the inaccuracy of information being disseminated on the coronavirus these days and the disproportionate access to treatment in underserved areas of the country, that distrust is palpable.

“If you trust the source, you embrace vital information—not innuendo, rumors and guesses— and share among your family and community,” chapter president Marshall Taggart said. “That’s what we are doing. We have a vast reach and we are sharing what we learn family-by-family, and on our YouTube channel on a larger scale.

‘normal,’ leading by example in our home, sharing what we learn with others in the community. It’s like a grassroots movement.

“And it’s different when you hear it from brothers you trust. It sticks with you because of the trust factor.”

The National Council of Negro Women last Thursday sponsored a similar one-time webinar called Male Perspective on Health, Economic and Spiritual Challenges of COVID-19.

“The number of COVID-19 cases in black communities is staggering, and the entire point of what we are doing is to suppress those numbers by empowering black men, who, in turn, empower communities. We hope other organizations will follow our lead.”

The Alphas hold weekly two-hour interactive webinars on Sunday evenings for its 117 members in South Fulton, outside of Atlanta. Gov. Brian Kemp stunned many when he recently reopened certain businesses in Georgia, defying many scientists who said it was too early and could spark a spike in coronavirus cases.

“This act by the governor illuminates why what we are doing and sharing in the community is so important,” White said.

The panels of medical doctors, public health experts, psychologists and other specialists are members of Omicron Phi Lambda. They lead discussions on various aspects of COVID-19 and its effects, sharing information, reports, models, other data and educated opinions. Additionally, they share, as black men, their stories and concerns that influence how they go about their lives.

“Being safe today is different from it was two months ago,” James (Jet) Thomas, a member of Alpha, said. “Before it was racism and crime and other known forces. Now, it’s also this coronavirus that is not discriminating, although it is harder on us. So we discuss how to be safe in this new world: staying home, resisting the urge to return to

Dr. Gerry White. Courtesy Dr. Gerry White

Other black fraternities across the country—Phi Beta Sigma, Iota Phi Theta, Omega Psi Phi, Kappa Alpha Psi—have engaged in community service acts around the coronavirus, donating food and supplies, serving the homeless, and participating in interactive sessions with youths.

The Alphas as a fraternity have done similar work, but the Omicron Phi Lambda chapter has taken to sessions on Zoom as a way of affecting black communities. The first event was led by Leroy Graham, a retired pulmonology specialist, and Terry Dickerson, a podiatric surgeon, who broke down the technical aspects of the coronavirus and its dangers.

“We learned what we are facing, what we are up against,” White said. “That was important to take back to our families.”

“When I tell my 6-year-old son why he can’t go to school and why he has to wear a mask when we go out, I’m telling him with confidence because I have learned from people I trust,” Thomas added. “And he senses that and complies without a problem.”

To combat COVID-19, Graham said blacks have to get over the mistrust.

“This can only be determined by our inclusion in the research-based trials of such vaccines.”

Taggart said: “That kind of information coming from a black doctor makes these sessions invaluable. It’s a step to helping us advocate for participation in research and clinical trials because it came from a trusted source.”

“Genetics related to racial differences make it essential that we be involved in broad-based and diverse clinical trials of medications and vaccines,” he said, adding that the expanding field of pharmacogenetics, or the study of how people respond differently to drug therapy based upon their genetic makeup “has taught us that we may respond differently than other races to both medicines and vaccines.”

In a session last month, Graham and Dickerson offered data and medical evidence to support science and to combat the rampant mixed messages.

“As a vaccine will be critical to containing COVID-19, we must be sure it works in black folks,” Graham said.

“It’s a stressful time with so much misinformation shared,” said Derrick Bell, the chapter’s immediate past president. “Who do you trust? You get conflicting information daily and you can’t ask anyone about it. But for us, it’s been empowering to get first-hand information from men who know the realities of this pandemic and who answered

our direct questions. It’s invaluable to be able to share that information with our families and friends and communities.”

On the evening of April 12, Easter Sunday, the Alphas held a session called “Faith and Works.” Eric Vickers, pastor of Beulah Baptist Church in Atlanta, outlined the value and role of faith and the church during COVID-19 and how to worship at home, while Bass discussed the psychological part of dealing with the threat of the virus, shelter-in-place orders and the pressure of protecting families.

At least two other sessions are planned, one on financial planning and the outbreak’s impact on African American businesses,” and the other called “A Season of Graduations and Celebrations in Times of COVID-19.”

All of the sessions are available on the South Fulton Alphas YouTube channel—their way of sharing the information with black communities across the country.

“The value of providing these chat sessions according to specific themes allows brothers to absorb the information in manageable chunks,” said J. Kyle Bryant, a doctoral candidate in Emergency Management and Critical Infrastructure, who led a session with Public Health expert Dr. Marcus Dumas. “You have to eat the elephant one bite at a time. It’s always a beautiful thing when we see African American men of our communities come together, in power, to provide guidance for our resilience and to restore hope.”

By Curtis Buns, nbcnews.com

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