Bobby Brown reveals the one business move he wish he had implemented at the start of his career. Brown’s rise to fame was through New Edition, which also included members Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Ralph Tresvant, and Ronnie DeVoe. The group infamously got their start in the industry after signing a $500 deal with musician and producer Maurice Starr, as AFROTECH™ previously told you. Their hit singles include “Can You Stand the Rain” and “If It Isn’t Love.” Brown later went solo after being voted out of the group, launching a highly successful career that saw him sell over 12 million physical copies. The success of his sophomore album, “Don’t Be Cruel,” alone was enough to set him up for life. He also made several business moves that benefited his career, including his publishing deal, which was structured by his mother and management team. “I saw a lot of it, because my deal was situated in a way where I made dollars on each record, not pennies,” he said on the “Club Shay Shay”...

T-Pain is the next artist to cash in on his publishing and masters. Variety reports that the Grammy-award winning artist, who has secured 10 Billboard Hot 100-charting singles, sold his publishing catalog and select masters to HarbourView Equity Partners. It is unclear at this time which songs are included in the deal or how much the purchased price was. The announcement also coincides with the 20th anniversary of several T-Pain songs such as “Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’),” “Bartender (featuring Akon),” “I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper) (featuring Mike Jones),” Flo Rida’s “Low,” and “I’m Sprung,” among others. “I’m excited for this next chapter and to partner with HarbourView Equity as they help preserve the legacy of my music,” T-Pain said . “This catalog represents years of hard work, creativity, and unforgettable moments, and I’m grateful to see it continue to reach new heights. I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.” HarbourView Founder and CEO Sherrese Clarke commented: “We are...

February marks a pivotal moment in Black history, and one town in Maryland is celebrating with a record number of Black-owned businesses . Princess Anne, located in Somerset County, MD, and serving as its county seat, now boasts at least 25 Black-owned businesses in its town of fewer than 4,000 residents, according to WBOC-TV. “When I first moved to this area, I was told that the last known lynching was in Princess Anne, Maryland,” said business owner Leslie Coker, reflecting on the past. “That there is now 25 Black-owned businesses in a county that has less than 4,000 people, that’s phenomenal.” Coker runs the Dynamic Divas majorette dance company, one of the Black-owned businesses contributing to Princess Anne’s record-breaking milestone. Alongside Croker, business owner Dale Parker runs the Cropa Station restaurant with his partner, while Danae Ballard launched her salon, Alluring Looks by Danae, at just 21 years old. They all take pride in being part of a community representing...

Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group is terminating or reassigning all local meteorologists at its nearly two dozen stations nationwide, replacing them with a feed broadcasted to individual stations from The Weather Channel, which he also owns. According to CNN, the layoffs will impact at least 50 meteorologists at stations from Massachusetts to Hawaii. Carl Parker, a veteran storm and climate specialist at The Weather Channel, is leading the initiative, which will give some of the affected meteorologists new jobs at its Atlanta, GA-based hub, and others will have the option to stay in their current markets. The Weather Channel will deploy meteorologists during certain weather events. In a news release on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, Allen Media said the “groundbreaking” operation “brings together world-class meteorological expertise, cutting-edge technology, and the most advanced forecasting tools to deliver superior weather content to local television station audiences.” “We are proud to...

Russell Simmons , a pivotal figure in the music and fashion industries, has amassed significant wealth over the decades.  This fortune stems primarily from his groundbreaking contributions to hip-hop culture, business ventures, and media endeavors. Simmons is best known as the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, a label that helped launch the careers of iconic artists like LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, and Run-D.M.C. Building Wealth Through Music The foundation of Simmons’ net worth lies in his revolutionary work in music. Def Jam Recordings , which he co-founded with Rick Rubin in 1984, became one of the most influential labels in hip-hop history. The label’s success, fueled by signing game-changing artists, established Simmons as a major player in the music industry. By the late 1990s, he sold his stake in Def Jam to Universal Music Group for a reported $100 million, cementing his financial success. Expanding Into Fashion Simmons didn’t stop with music. In 1992, Russel Simmons ventured...

Will.i.am is officially a Harvard University graduate! As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the Black Eyed Peas member and founder of the tech platform FYI (Focus Your Ideas) enrolled in Harvard Business School and had his own dorm. “One year I woke up, and I’m like, ‘I wanna go to Harvard,’” Will.i.am explained on the “Jennifer Hudson Show.” “I’m doing all of this business stuff, and I wanna make sure that I’m not just taking advantage of success and not disciplining myself to have further success.” Will.i.am’s interest in college was also inspired by “A Different World,” a staple television show within the Black community that championed education and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. “I always liked watch #aDifferentWorld growing up…and when I was in the projects I never thought I would attend a college like @harvardhbs …being in Boston going to Harvard business school is a different world from where I come from…and I’m still dreaming and dreaming of even bigger worlds...

LeBron James’ name is now attached to another accomplishment. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, a St. Vincent-St. Mary jersey, worn in high school by the current Los Angeles Lakers star made its way to Julien’s Auction in Gardena, CA. The jersey was sported during a 2002 Sports Illustrated cover titled “The Chose One,” captured by Michael LeBrecht, who served as a Sports Illustrated photographer at the time, per the auction house’s official site. “This was the first time I shot LeBron and these are the images here. Just kind of a simple setup. I had him dunk the ball at least 40 times. G ot him praying to make the NBA, and then I just felt like, ‘Okay let’s get a little bit more animated.’ He’s posing, I’m like, ‘J ust reach out like this’ and I’m like, ‘G ive me a woo.’ And he’s like ‘Woo!’ Y ou look back and you don’t realize it was a real turning point,” LeBrecht said in a video shared by the auction house. That photoshoot remains a memorable moment in sports , and now the...

Embracing technology has helped Tems evolve her artistry. Born Temilade Openiyi in Lagos, Nigeria, the Afrobeats R&B star had a deep passion for music from a young age — even joining a choir as a teenager — and recognized the art of making music was always more than just a side interest for her. “The way I love music, the way I loved writing and making music, producing, it was more than a hobby,” Tems expresses on “The Breakfast Club” podcast. “It’s just something that I just genuinely enjoyed. I didn’t expect ever to make anything from it. I was just like, ‘Yeah I could do this all day. If I can get a job to sustain me, and I’ll just be doing this all day.’ Literally that was my mindset.”   Tems’ fire for music followed her in higher learning. She attended Monash South Africa, a university in Johannesburg, South Africa, GQ reports. In her dorm room, she continued to write songs and relied on YouTube to learn how to make beats. She also used Logic software to record and produce....