Dame Dash is turning up his mic to encourage the Black community to take ownership.

Just last year, sports league startup Overtime raised $80 million in its Series C funding round, as previously reported by AfroTech. For 2022, the Drake and Jeff Bezos-backed company is scaling even further. Overtime has raised $100 million in its Series D funding round, according to a press release. The round was led by Liberty Media Corporation and Counterpoint Global and included investors such as Bezos Capital, Winslow Capital, Blackstone, and Sapphire Sport. With the new funding, the leading sports brand is diving into Web3 and e-commerce, per the release. Additionally, it will expand its Overtime Elite (OTE) basketball league, OT7 high school football league, new sports leagues, and sports digital content — both short-form and long-form. “This significant investment co-led by Liberty Media, who has fostered the explosive growth of Formula 1, is a real validation of the disruptive sports IP that we have created over the past year,” said Dan Porter, Overtime’s CEO and...

There is so much space and opportunity for today’s generation of athletes to allow their talent to open massive doors for them. For current Los Angeles Clippers player, Terance Mann, leveraging the world of web3 is taking his basketball talents to the next level. He initially wanted to learn more about the space after not seeing a lot of people who looked like him. Using his own persona to connect with Clippers fans is one skill set that Mann believes can be beneficial to other players looking for opportunities when it comes to investing and life beyond just basketball. “When you’re walking around, moving around with agents, or within facilities, you can hear people talking about what [players] are doing off the court,” said Mann. “People are investing in different things, [and] people, you know, take life in through their social media.”

A  non-fungible token (NFT) collection honoring Biggie Smalls just proved to be highly anticipated, selling out within just ten minutes. View this post on Instagram   A post shared by OneOf (@oneofnft)

On April 2, 2002, Ashanti hit the ground running with her debut self-titled studio album. In fact, the project made the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest-selling debut album by a female artist, according to Vibe. It reportedly sold over 500,000 within the first week (Sis has always been legendary). Although it’s been 20 years since the world was introduced to the songstress, dubbed the Princess of Hip-Hop and R&B, she continues to break records and turn heads. This time though, she’s shaking things up in the metaverse, proving that there is an ever-evolving relationship between music and tech. “Technology has been a blessing,” she told AfroTech during the 2022 Essence Festival of Culture. “I mean, it’s the gift and the curse, let’s be honest. Everything has pros and cons, but I think using it as a tool to empower and uplift and learn and research are all beautiful things.”

Khaby Lame is coming in hot as the newly most-followed TikToker. According to a press release, the Senegalese-Italian creator has signed off on a partnership with cryptocurrency exchange company Binance.

Fresh off her match at the French Open, Coco Gauff is giving her fans more to look forward to with the launch of her new non-fungible token (NFT) collection with Autograph. As AfroTech previously told you, the Tom Brady-backed platform connects brands and high-profile individuals in sports, entertainment, and culture. The platform has already welcomed Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, and Usain Bolt and now, Gauff is taking a seat at the table.