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Sunday, January 26, 2020

Grammys Decoded: The Money Behind Winning a Grammy

rihanna super bowl

Many have wondered if artists get paid for performing at the Grammys or if they take home extra cash after winning an award. Black Enterprise did a little digging  to find the answers.

Turns out that the Beyonces and Rihannas of the world who cash in millions for their world tours don’t get paid a cent when they grace the esteemed ceremony. They don’t get a check for winning either; but we’re sure those golden trophies could auction off for a hefty dollar amount should they ever need the funds.

The live event is far from a loss though. Forbes reports that performers and producers see a “‘Grammy Bounce’ of at least 55% in concert ticket sales and producer fees during the year following a Grammy win.” David Banner told the source that his producer fee jumped from $50,000 to $100,000 after his work on Lil Wayne’s single “Lollipop.”

Co-producer Jim Jonsin, who also worked with Beyonce, told DailyFinance.com that the rewards were “life-changing.” “If I really wanted to, I could charge a good 20% to 30% more. I didn’t raise my prices, though,” he said of his Grammy win. Before winning a Grammy, producers on average charge $30,000 to $50,000 per track. If you’re fortunate enough to snag an award, though, Jonsin says that the starting figure is in the $75,000 area and super-producers like Timbaland and Pharrell can demand twice that.

Thanks to the high-profile night, stars benefit in mainstream visibility and in their pockets too. After winning his first Grammy, “Bruno Mars’ average nightly gross swelled from $130,000 to $202,000 (+55%).” Esperanza Spalding went from $20,000 to $32,000 (+60%) and Taylor Swift jumped from $125,000 to $600,000 (+380%).

And because it would be so tasteless for Hollywood to send its multi-millionaire guests home empty handed, celebrities leave the occasion with a gift bag worth more than some people’s salaries. As The Toronto Sun reports, “Gifts include Tiffany cat collars, Gibson guitars, trips to deserted islands, cashmere sweaters, teeth whitening products, jewelry, sunglasses and designer leather bags.” The very generous goodies in 2010 reportedly came to about $50,000 in value.

So, no, the consensus is that music’s superstars don’t walk away with a physical check in tow. The association to the Grammys, however, does fatten their wallets long after the special airs.

In Case You Missed It: 

 

 

-Editor’s Note: This article has been updated since its original publish date of January 29, 2018. 

Black Enterprise Contributors Network 



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Kobe Bryant Excelled In Business Turning $6 Million into $200 Million with BodyArmor

The late Kobe Bryant, 41, didn’t just excel on the basketball court, he also achieved major successes in business.  An investment from six years ago proved to be a huge windfall for the late NBA star Kobe Bryant. In 2014, Bryant bought a 10% share of sports drink BodyArmor. Coca-Cola just purchased a minority investment in BodyArmor.

Bryant’s initial investment of $6 million turned into $200 million with the soft drink giant’s investment.

In contrast to the many cases of former professional athletes going broke in retirement, today’s crop of African American athletes is increasingly business-savvy as both entrepreneurs and investors.

In 2016, Bryant launched a $100 million venture capital fund with entrepreneur and investor Jeff Stibel. The funding was reserved for technology, media, and data startups.

Establishing the VC fund was a real move into the financial world for Bryant. Stibel said the partnership was not about having Bryant act as a famous frontman or endorser for companies that are funded.

“The most important thing I enjoy now is helping others be successful. I enjoy doing that much much more, that’s something that lasts forever, and hope they do that for the next generation,” said Bryant at the time.

Black Enterprise contributor Jared Brown, who helped coordinate a $25 million initiative at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), said about Bryant’s fund, “Bryant is uniquely positioned to change systemic perceptions and transform how people of color navigate in the venture capitalist community. Considering that 87% of venture capitalists are white and only 4% identifies as African American and Latino, his willingness to invest in black-owned firms could propel other venture capitalists to follow suit.”

Other black athletes and celebrities have similarly stepped into the venture capital space. Recently, life insurance startup, Ethos announced an $11.5M financing round led by Sequoia Capital, to make obtaining life insurance accessible and simple for everyone. Other investors in the round included a very star-studded cast. Among the list are Stanford University; Arrive, a subsidiary of Roc Nation; Robert Downey Jr.’s Downey Ventures; Kevin Durant’s Durant Co.; Will Smith’s Smith Family Circle; and a credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank.

—Sequoia Blodgett contributed to this report. 

This story was updated and originally posted in August 2018.

 



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Georgia death row inmate whose appeal dragged on dies in prison

A man on Georgia’s death row since 1991 had won a stay of execution from the U.S. Supreme Court just over two years ago. Unfortunately, he could not survive the wait to have his conviction overturned and died in prison last week.

The lawyers for Keith “Bo” Tharpe had been trying to win his freedom for years, after a white juror from his trial made several racist remarks to those lawyers in interviews. But Tharpe died last Friday at age 61, likely from complications from cancer, according to one of the groups fighting his case.

READ MORE: Rapper 6ix9ine believes that he is no longer safe in prison and wants out

Marcia Widder, one of the lawyers helping Tharpe’s appeal for the Georgia Resource Center, called the refusal by several higher courts to consider the inflammatory comments by the juror “a stain on the judicial system,” according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Tharpe died at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Butts County, the paper reported.

Tharpe had been convicted and sentenced to death for the killing of his sister-in-law, Jacquelin Freeman, according to the Journal-Constitution. But in a signed affidavit seven years later juror Barney Gattie spoke to Tharpe’s lawyers and made multiple racist remarks, using a racial slur in one instance.

“After studying the Bible, I have wondered if Black people even have souls, ” Gattie was recorded as saying, according to the Journal-Constitution at the time. He added that he voted to sentence Tharpe to death because he “wasn’t in the ‘good’ Black folks category,” as the victim had been in his mind. Gattie reportedly backed off that statement later.

Gattie is also deceased.

On the night of September 26, 2017, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to grant Tharpe a stay of execution, according to the Journal-Constitution. His lethal injection had been scheduled for 7 p.m. local time that evening; he had already eaten what was to have been his last meal. The admissions by the white juror were the determining factor in the court returning the case to the lower courts.

READ MORE: Rob Morgan and Tim Blake Nelson discuss near-perfect performances in ‘Just Mercy’

But a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2018 that it would not hear his appeal, declining to retroactively apply the standard the Supreme Court used to grant the stay based on the juror’s seeming racial animus. The Supreme Court last year refused to hear Tharpe’s subsequent appeal.

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Gigi Bryant, 13, killed with father Kobe in helicopter crash

Kobe Bryant’s Instagram page is filled with photos of his four children, all daughters. The one in the pictures most often wearing basketball gear, playing ball or watching a game at courtside with her father, was the second-oldest, Gianna, nicknamed Gigi, 13 years old and a budding star in her own age group.

Gigi Bryant died along with her father and three others, including the pilot, in Sunday’s helicopter crash in southern California. Her life was well-chronicled by Kobe Bryant in recent months – including in a glimpse of her at a game last December, in an animated conversation with her father that became a popular social media meme.

In an IG post from last May, Bryant wished Gigi a happy birthday, alongside photos of her in her basketball uniform, and in a winter cap and a University of Connecticut jacket. She has been nicknamed by some observers “Little Mamba” and “Mamba Jr.,” and had shown enough talent already that a future at Connecticut, one of the marquee college basketball programs in America, was far from out of the question.

Reports have said that Gigi and Kobe Bryant, one of her teammates and a parent, were taking the helicopter to one of their team’s practices.

Late in 2019, Bryant told the hosts of a podcast hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, why he was showing up at NBA games with Gigi more often.

“Before Gigi got into basketball I hardly watched it, but now that she’s gotten into basketball, we watch every night,” Bryant said, according to People magazine.

“We just had so much fun because it was the first time I was seeing the game through her eyes,” Bryant continued on the podcast. “It wasn’t me sitting there, you know, as an athlete or a player or something like that, and you know it’s like about me, and I don’t like that. It was her, she was having such a good time.”

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Shaquille O’Neal ‘sick right now’ over Kobe Bryant’s death

Shaquille O’Neal has reacted to the shocking death of his NBA legend Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna Maria Onore.

O’Neal responded to the passing of his former 41-year-old teammate and 13-year-old daughter. He paid to the father and died who died Sunday in a helicopter crash. Officials stated that nine people were on board and no survivors.

“ There’s no words to express the pain Im going through with this tragedy of loosing my neice Gigi & my brother @kobebryant I love u and u will be missed. My condolences goes out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board. IM SICK RIGHT NOW,” he tweeted.

READ MORE BREAKING NEWS: Kobe Bryant dies in helicopter crash

O’Neal and Bryant won three championships together from 2000 to 2002 as teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers. Overall, they went to the NBA Finals four times.  Shaq was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004 over tensions with Bryant but the two icons mended their relationships in later years.

O’Neal was just many offering their condolences in the shocking aftermath of Bryant’s death. TMZ was the first to report that the Black Mamba died in a crash earlier today. Details are still forthcoming but Bryant, his daughter, and seven others were on board a private helicopter caught fire and then crashed. ESPN reported that Bryant had been on his way to take Gianna to a basketball game. He’d been coaching his middle daughter.

 

READ MORE Shocked world mourns Kobe Bryant’s death, celebrates his expansive life

The Staples Center immediately became a memorial site for the fallen icon who spent all 20 years of his career as a Laker. Fans gathered to remembered the G.O.A.T. who won the franchise five NBA championships and was on the all-time scorer’s list. The small forward retired in 2016, scoring an impressive 60 points during his last game against the Utah Jazz. In tribute, the Lakers retired both his number 8 and 24 jerseys.

Bryant is survived by his wife, Vanessa and three daughters, Natalia and Bianca and newborn Capri and his parents.

The post Shaquille O’Neal ‘sick right now’ over Kobe Bryant’s death appeared first on TheGrio.



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Shocked world mourns Kobe Bryant’s death, celebrates his expansive life

Famous names from every segment of society that Kobe Bryant touched reacted with shock and grief at the news of his death Sunday in a helicopter crash — in sports, where he was a sure-fire future basketball Hall of Famer and a five-time NBA champion, and in entertainment, where he won an Oscar and an Emmy award for his late-career and post-career endeavors.

Bryant’s NBA colleagues were among the first to express themselves in short bursts of utter disbelief. Fellow retiree and former champion Dwyane Wade tweeted: “Nooooooooooo God please No!” soon after the first report surfaced, echoing a phrase that quickly began trending: “Please God”.

Embiid’s team had played Saturday night against the Lakers, when LeBron James, Bryant’s longtime rival for NBA supremacy and popularity, passed Bryant into third place on the NBA’s all-time points list.

Former NBA star Amare Stoudamire found out while playing professionally in Israel and was overcome with emotion, stopping to wipe away tears often as he spoke in an on-court interview posted on YouTube. “It’s like a dagger to my heart right now, he said. “I don’t even know who I am, it seems like.”

Legends from other sports made their feelings known as well. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was to arrive in Miami Sunday for next week’s Super Bowl, tweeted: “Man not Kobe… Prayers to his family and friends!

Besides Bryant’s role as a player in bringing great riches to the company through ESPN’s NBA contract, the 2017 short film “Dear Basketball” — based on Bryant’s letter explaining his decision to retire from the NBA, won an Oscar and an Emmy award, the Emmy coming after it aired on ESPN. Bryant and Disney had worked together often on other projects for the company.

Drake, meanwhile, took to Instagram to express his sorrow, adding, “this can’t be” to an illustration of the jacket he wore to the 2016 NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto, honoring Bryant, who retired at the end of that season.

 

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ESPN basketball analyst Chiney Ogwumike posted several videos on Twitter of the crowds that were gathering in front of the Staples Center, the Lakers’ home arena in downtown Los Angeles, where Bryant is one of several Lakers stars immortalized with statues.

 

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BREAKING NEWS: Kobe Bryant dies in helicopter crash

NBA champion, MVP, and future hall of fame player Kobe Bryant, 41 has reportedly died in a helicopter crash this morning in Calabasas, California.

According to TMZ Bryant and at least three others died in the crash. Details are still coming in as to the cause of the crash.

Variety says their sources confirmed Bryant was on board and died in the crash. The LA Times confirms as well.

Just last night, Bryant congratulated LeBron James on surpassing him for third place on the all-time scoring leader board in the NBA. It was Laker to Laker love.

Bryant was a 5-time NBA champion and is consistently in the conversation for the G.O.A.T. of the NBA. He is survived by his wife Vanessa and four daughters.

We will update as details become available.

 

 

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Kobe Bryant Dies in Helicopter Crash, Everyone On Board Dead

Photo of Kobe Bryant in a Lakers jacket holding a basketball

According to TMZ, Kobe Bryant died today in a private helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.  Bryant was traveling with 3 other people when the chopper went down.  5 people have been confirmed dead.  Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, was said to not have been on board the flight.

Bryant, 41, is survived by his wife Vanessa, and their four daughters — Gianna, Natalia and Bianca and their newborn Capri.

Bryant played his whole 20-year NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers.  He was a 5-time NBA World Champion, a 2-time Finals MVP, and the 2008 Most Valuable Player.  During Bryant’s career he made the All-Star team 18 times.  He was the youngest player to ever reach 30,000 points.

This story is still developing..



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Coronavirus: Ivory Coast tests woman for China virus

A student returning to the country from China has shown flu-like symptoms, health officials say.

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SUNDANCE 2020: Russell Simmons accusers go ‘On The Record’ in controversial doc

Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick unveiled their highly-anticipated and equally controversial documentary On The Record at Sundance and the crowd that gave it two standing ovations didn’t seem to mind that Oprah Winfrey pulled out of the project weeks before its debut.

The first film to dive into the numerous allegations of sexual assault against music mogul Russell Simmons lost its backing from Winfrey and its distribution deal with Apple+ on January 10 when Winfrey revealed she didn’t think it was ready. Producers persisted despite the highly-publicized fall out that threatened to call its credibility into question before anyone ever laid eyes on it.

‘I cannot be silenced by a Russell Simmons’: Oprah explains REAL reason she backed out of #MeToo doc

The documentary isn’t just about Russell Simmons and the numerous accusations against him but also highlights the troubling position Black women find themselves in when it comes to the #MeToo movement. Through several interviews from accusers, industry insiders, editors and #MeToo founder, Tarana Burke we see that the rules that have governed the movement don’t always apply to Black women.

Aside from enduring the trauma of the assaults, we’re forced to reckon with the damage done to the culture when a successful Black man is taken down. The film points out the ways Black women have put the protection of the Black man and the culture in front of their own needs for centuries and how that innate desire to hold up our men contributes to them getting away with atrocities against us.

On The Record also indicts a system that doesn’t believe Black women the way they believe white accusers. No one listens when a Black woman says no and no one listens when a Black woman says she was raped. Why and how that trend persists is traced back to slavery in one particularly poignant moment, but the film seems to go an inch deep and a mile wide with many of its assertions.

The same goes for the stories we get from Simmons’ accusers. There are certainly enough cringe-worthy details shared from the likes of former Def Jam exec Sil-Lai Abrams, Mercedes Ladies member Sherri Hines, and others to conclude that Simmons is a serial offender, but their stories seem rushed, their appearances limited, and the details scarce. It’s easy to understand why Oprah Winfrey felt the film wasn’t ready.

It’s strong, but not as strong as it could be. Perhaps not as strong as it needs to be to chip away at the rampant subjugation of women in the music industry. There could have been more. More women, more details, more examples of who covered this up and how. Also missing are the voices of men who undoubtedly witnessed, participated, or supported this toxic culture. In the 90-minute flick, we only hear from two men and I can’t help but wonder why the filmmakers felt the need to confine this very layered story into such a tight package. Why not make it a series a la Surviving R. Kelly?

Russell Simmons and 50 Cent accuse Oprah of bashing Black men in sexual misconduct documentary

We watch as Drew Dixon, a former A&R executive at Def Jam Recordings who accused Russell Simmons of numerous aggressions ranging from exposing himself to full-blown rape, wrestles with coming forward ahead of her 2017 New York Times interview. The Stanford graduate chronicles her rise to the top of the music game and how much she respected and admired Simmons as a mentor who believed in her talents. We hear how she endured so much and let so many wrongs slide for the greater good of the culture and her career, and we see the havoc her decision to share her experiences with Simmons has wreaked on her life.

On The Record is an important step in the right direction when it comes to giving voices to Black women. For many, it will illuminate just how deep these issues go and how race plays a part in our reluctance to come forward against our tormentors. It also barely scratches the surface when it comes to demanding justice and changing a long-established system of oppression.

 

 

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SUNDANCE 2020: Justin Simien’s ‘Bad Hair’ is a wild, hair-raising horror flick

Justin Simien premiered his sophomore feature film Bad Hair on opening night at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival to a packed house at midnight.

The star-studded follow up to his first feature film, Dear White People, is another example of the director’s knack for satire and social commentary, but this time it was Black women, (or more specifically, the mainstream pressure for them to assimilate to mainstream beauty standards) that he put on blast.

5 reasons we know Sundance 2020 will be lit AF: Kerry Washington, Issa Rae, Lena Waithe to take over

In a film that features Lena Waithe, Vanessa Williams, Kelly Rowland, Robin Thede, Ashley Blaine Featherson, Laverne Cox, Blair Underwood, Jay Pharoah and MC Lyte, among others; there are plenty of hilarious moments and poignant points made about the way society has brainwashed Black women into believing their natural hair is a problem to be corrected at any cost.

The film’s breakout star, Elle Lorraine, is certainly a bright spot and her performance proves she’s poised to make a major mark in Hollywood. Her starring role as Anna Bludso,  an ambitious young woman is pressured into getting a weave in order to succeed in 1989’s image-obsessed world of music television, serves as the foundation of the film that highlights how Black women have been forced to assimilate if they want to make it.

Culture is the fledgling music network where she has worked tirelessly for four years, making little progress toward her dream of becoming an on-air personality despite her hard work and groundbreaking ideas. When the network undergoes an overhaul mandated by the new boss Zora ( Vanessa Williams) it’s clear that the folks who don’t look the part will be terminated. The network’s authentic approach to highlighting Black culture wasn’t working, and Zora, with her straight hair, light skin, and lighter eyes, is the prototype of the look the employees should aim for. She and the rising pop star Sandra (played by Kelly Rowland) are setting the tone for what Black women should look like.

Anna is reluctant to fall in line thanks to a horrifying at-home relaxer she endured as a child left her mentally and physically scarred for life. Still, she wants to make her dreams a reality and that means forking over money she doesn’t have to get a weave from the renowned stylist Virgie (Laverne Cox).

While the rest of the film is peppered with full-blown horror sequences like people running through dark hallways and having their blood sucked out; the most horrifying moments of the movie happen when Anna is getting her first weave. Several squirm-inducing moments of watching those cornrows getting pulled so tight it breaks the skin, and the dreaded curved needle moving through the scalp as the weave is sewn in is a reminder of the pain we endure to feel good enough.

From there, we get into the ridiculous consequences and learn that this blood-thirsty weave will kill anyone in its path. At first, the weave is a bit of a vigilante, murdering Anna’s landlord who recently raped her in her apartment.  Later, it sets its sights on anyone who gets in its way, including Anna.

Although this story is thoroughly entertaining it does get a little messy and when compared to the work of Jordan Peele (whose inspiration seems to be all over this project) Bad Hair falls a bit short. Still, it’s an innovative approach to demonstrating the horrors of what it means to be a Black woman in America and the price we all pay to play a game that is inevitably rigged against us.

 

 

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England in South Africa: Joe Root moves tourists closer to series win

England close in on a series victory after setting South Africa an unlikely 466 to win the fourth Test in Johannesburg.

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Ndayishimiye: Burundi government's presidential hopeful

A 52-year-old major-general and former rebel combatant will contest the election in May.

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An Origin Story, Smart Headlights, and Other Car News

General Motors' Cruise unit shows off its self-driving concept vehicle, while Hyundai smothers road noise. 

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The 'Book Murderer' Tops This Week's Internet News Roundup

What kind of sick person slashes apart their novels and posts the deed on Twitter?

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Mali: Militants on motorbikes kill 15 troops, officials say

Gunmen raid a military camp in the centre of the country, as witnesses tell of "complete chaos".

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African Champions League: Holders Esperance confirm quarter-final place

Holders Esperance draw at home with Raja Casablanca as both clubs confirm their places in the quarter-finals of the African Champions League.

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How to Be Humane to a Lab-Grown Brain

Ethicists and biologists seek to head off challenges raised by tissue “organoids” as they become increasingly similar to human brains.

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Houdini Power Air Houdi Review: An Environmentally-Friendly Hoodie

This hoodie, which sheds much fewer microplastic fibers, makes me feel bad about wearing any other hoodie.

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New Safety Gizmos Are Making Car Insurance More Expensive

The high cost of repairing sensor-packed vehicles outpaces the savings from fewer crashes.

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