Would you be open to having your voice cloned using artificial intelligence (AI)? Well, it looks like some of your favorite stars are down for it.

Turning your passion into an ever-flowing stream of income is a dream for many. For Shevon Salmon, he made it come true at an early age. Before Shevon Salmon — a tech and lifestyle content creator — began to sit in front of the camera for hundreds of thousands of viewers, he picked one up to take photos after the birth of his little sister. Simultaneously, his love for videography was born, too — sparking the inception of his YouTube channel.

There’s no denying that Afrobeats is one of, if not the, hottest genres currently in the music industry. As African artists continue to crossover, U.S. listeners have been captivated by hits like Wizkid and Tems’ “Essence,” Burna Boy’s “Last Last,” and Rema’s “Calm Down.” While the global phenomenon has taken over the sound waves as of late, there are artists such as Joeboy who knew early on of its promise.

Black creators have been at the forefront of trends, and that will likely not end anytime soon. The interesting fact about their impact is that they have not always been paid or recognized for their contributions to the industry. From comedic skits to product recommendations, Black people have been at the center of culture — providing the entertainment and “up-to-date” information the world craves. Recently, Forbes recognized the work of some of these Black creatives. Not only have they been in their creative bag, but they have also overcome some systemic challenges and earned quite a bit of income in the process. Check out the list of Black creators that made the Forbes list.

YouTube Music serves as a music service that supplies tunes, but more importantly, sheds light on the artists and their stories. In 2021, Director of Black Music & Culture Tuma Basa professed to AfroTech that the platform’s mission is to continue connecting the dots and being a sort of institutional memory for the culture. In an influential team effort, Artist Partnerships Lead Brittany Lewis and Global Music Strategist Lead Mahlet Seyoum are heavily involved in supporting artists.

People around the world can attest that the last two years have been interesting to navigate. One of the U.K.’s top social media influencers has a beyond interesting story. Youtuber, KSI, revealed that he lost more than $5 million by trading cryptocurrency last year. The admittance of the tremendous financial loss comes after KSI has been very visible with his investments in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and digital currencies, evidenced by his YouTube channel. In a YouTube video, the famous YouTuber revealed that he used a trading strategy called leverage trading by borrowing money from a broker. The strategy, which he fully regrets, led to this significant loss. Leverage trading is a way for traders to use the borrowed funds from brokers to increase their exposure in the market while paying less than the total price of the desired stock. In this process, the trader takes on a more prominent stock position. Sounds like a dope idea? While the process seems beneficial, it comes with...

Kanye West is known for thinking outside of the box. And, with his next album “Donda 2,” things are no different. Ahead of its release on Feb. 22, Kanye West took to Instagram to announce it will not be available on streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify, and YouTube. But, the album will be available for streaming on his $200 stem player that AfroTech previously reported allows fans to “customize any song.” “Donda 2 will only be streaming on my own platform, the stem player. You can download new music from stemplayer.com. You can play 4 different elements of the track: vocals, drums, bass and music. It also has a MP3 player available. We currently have 67,000 available and are making 3,000 a day,” Kanye West wrote via Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/tv/CaHAZv4ju7N/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link If you are wondering why the sudden move to venture away from streaming giants, West revealed his disdain for the “oppressive system.” “Donda 2 will only be available on...

When taking a look at Mattaniah Aytenfsu’s resume, your first guess wouldn’t be that she had no prior experience within her pursued field going into her freshman year of college. While balancing being a student in college, the young science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) student worked with the likes of NASA and TaskRabbit — which eventually led to Google. At 24-years-old, Aytenfsu is a UX engineer for YouTube and a budding TikTok influencer.