Monday, January 27, 2020
I Monitor My Teens' Electronics, and You Should Too
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GRAMMYS 2020: Lizzo scores three victories + complete winners list
The 2020 Grammys went down at the Staples Center on Sunday night and while hearts were heavy from the loss of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, artists did their best to keep the energy up on music’s biggest night.
Lizzo earned more nominations with eight nods and managed to bring home three trophies after opening the show with a shout out to the beloved athlete. 18-year-old Billie Eilish swept in all four of the annual award show’s biggest categories and Lil Nas X scored won in two of the six categories he was nominated in.
PHOTOS: Lizzo, Billy Porter, H.E.R. and more serve bold fashion at Grammys
Check out the complete list of winners:
Record of the Year
Billie Eilish – “bad guy”
Album of the Year
Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Best New Artist
Billie Eilish
Best Rap/Sung Performance
DJ Khaled, Nipsey Hussle, John Legend – “Higher”
Song of the Year
Billie Eilish – “bad guy”
Best Rap Album
Tyler, the Creator – IGOR
Best Comedy Album
Dave Chappelle – Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones
Best Country Duo/Group Performance
Dan + Shay – “Speechless”
Best Pop Solo Performance
Lizzo – “Truth Hurts”
GRAMMYS 2020: Alicia Keys and Boyz II Men deliver touching tribute to Kobe Bryant
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical
FINNEAS
Best Pop Vocal Album
Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
Elvis Costello & The Imposters – Look Now
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Lil Nas X – “Old Town Road [ft. Billy Ray Cyrus]”
Best Americana Album
Keb’ Mo’ – Oklahoma
Best American Roots Song
I’m With Her – “Call My Name”
Best American Roots Performance
Sara Bareilles – Saint Honesty
Best World Music Album
Angelique Kidjo – Celia
Best R&B Album
Anderson .Paak – Ventura
Best Urban Contemporary Album
Lizzo – Cuz I Love You
Best R&B Song
PJ Morton – “Say So [ft. JoJo]”
Best Traditional R&B Performance
Lizzo – “Jerome”
Best R&B Performance
Anderson .Paak – “Come Home [ft. Andre 3000]”
Best Alternative Music Album
Vampire Weekend – Father of the Bride
Best Rock Album
Cage the Elephant – Social Cues
Best Rock Song
Gary Clark Jr. – “This Land”
Best Metal Performance
Tool – “7empest”
Best Rock Performance
Gary Clark Jr. – This Land
Best Musical Theater Album
Hadestown
Diddy calls out the Grammys during Clive Davis’ gala: ‘Black music has never been respected’
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Jennifer Higdon, composer – Higdon: Harp Concerto
Best Classical Compendium
Nadia Shpachenko – The Poetry of Places
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Joyce Didonato – Songplay
Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Nicola Benedetti – Marsalis: Violin Concerto; Fiddle Dance Suite
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
Attacca Quartet – Shaw: Orange
Best Choral Performance
Ken Cowan; Houston Chamber Choir – Duruflé: Complete Choral Works
Best Opera Recording
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Boston Children’s Chorus – Picker: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Best Orchestral Performance
Los Angeles Philharmonic – Norman: Sustain
Producer of the Year, Classical
Blanton Alspaugh
Best Engineered Album, Classical
Kronos Quartet – Riley: Sun Rings
Best Rap Song
21 Savage – “A Lot [ft. J. Cole]”
Best Rap Performance
Nipsey Hussle – “Racks in the Middle [ft. Roddy Ricch and Hit-Boy]”
Best Tropical Latin Album (Tie)
Marc Anthony – Opus Aymée Nuviola – A Journey Through Cuban Music
Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)
Mariachi Los Camperos – De Ayer Para Siempre
Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album
RosalÃa – El Mal Querer
Best Latin Pop Album
Alejandro Sanz – #ELDISCO
Best Roots Gospel Album
Gloria Gaynor – Testimony
Best Contemporary Christian Music Album
for KING & COUNTRY – Burn the Ships
Best Gospel Album
Kirk Franklin – Long Live Love
Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
for KING & COUNTRY and Dolly Parton – “God Only Knows”
Best Gospel Performance/Song
Kirk Franklin – “Love Theory”
Best Country Album
Tanya Tucker – While I’m Livin’
Best Country Song
Tanya Tucker – “Bring My Flowers Now”
Best Country Solo Performance
Willie Nelson – “Ride Me Back Home”
Best Latin Jazz Album
Chick Corea & the Spanish Heart Band – Antidote
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
Brian Lynch Big Band – The Omni-american Book Club
Best Jazz Instrumental Album
Brad Mehldau – Finding Gabriel
Best Jazz Vocal Album
Esperanza Spalding – 12 Little Spells
Best Improvised Jazz Solo
Randy Brecker – “Sozinho”
Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals
Jacob Collier Featuring Jules Buckley, Take 6 & Metropole Orkest – “All Night Long”
Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
Jacob Collier – “Moon River”
Best Instrumental Composition
John Williams – “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Symphonic Suite”
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
Rodrigo y Gabriela – Mettavolution
Best Dance/Electronic Album
The Chemical Brothers – No Geography
Best Dance Recording
The Chemical Brothers – “Got to Keep On”
Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling)
Michelle Obama – Becoming
Best Children’s Music Album
Jon Samson – Ageless Songs For the Child Archetype
Best Reggae Album
Koffee – Rapture
Best Regional Roots Music Album
Ranky Tanky – Good Time
Best Folk Album
Patty Griffin – Patty Griffin
Best Contemporary Blues Album
Gary Clark Jr. – This Land
Best Traditional Blues Album
Delbert McClinton & Self-made Men – Tall, Dark & Handsome
Best Bluegrass Album
Michael Cleveland – Tall Fiddler
Best New Age Album
Peter Kater – Wings
Best Music Film
Beyoncé – Homecoming
Best Music Video
Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus – “Old Town Road (Official Movie)”
Best Immersive Audio Album
Anita Brevik, Trondheimsolistene & Nidarosdomens Jentekor – Lux
Best Remixed Recording
Madonna – “I Rise (Tracy Young’s Pride Intro Radio Remix)”
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Best Historical Album
Pete Seeger – Pete Seeger: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection
Best Album Notes
Steve Greenberg – Stax ’68: A Memphis Story
Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
Various Artists – Woodstock: Back to the Garden – The Definitive 50th Anniversary
Best Recording Package
Chris Cornell – Chris Cornell
Best Song Written for Visual Media
Lady Gaga – “I’ll Never Love Again (Film Version)”
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
Hildur Guðnadóttir – Chernobyl
Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper – A Star Is Born
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Sunday, January 26, 2020
For cheaper solar cells, thinner really is better
Costs of solar panels have plummeted over the last several years, leading to rates of solar installations far greater than most analysts had expected. But with most of the potential areas for cost savings already pushed to the extreme, further cost reductions are becoming more challenging to find.
Now, researchers at MIT and at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have outlined a pathway to slashing costs further, this time by slimming down the silicon cells themselves.
Thinner silicon cells have been explored before, especially around a dozen years ago when the cost of silicon peaked because of supply shortages. But this approach suffered from some difficulties: The thin silicon wafers were too brittle and fragile, leading to unacceptable levels of losses during the manufacturing process, and they had lower efficiency. The researchers say there are now ways to begin addressing these challenges through the use of better handling equipment and some recent developments in solar cell architecture.
The new findings are detailed in a paper in the journal Energy and Environmental Science, co-authored by MIT postdoc Zhe Liu, professor of mechanical engineering Tonio Buonassisi, and five others at MIT and NREL.
The researchers describe their approach as “technoeconomic,” stressing that at this point economic considerations are as crucial as the technological ones in achieving further improvements in affordability of solar panels.
Currently, 90 percent of the world’s solar panels are made from crystalline silicon, and the industry continues to grow at a rate of about 30 percent per year, the researchers say. Today’s silicon photovoltaic cells, the heart of these solar panels, are made from wafers of silicon that are 160 micrometers thick, but with improved handling methods, the researchers propose this could be shaved down to 100 micrometers — and eventually as little as 40 micrometers or less, which would only require one-fourth as much silicon for a given size of panel.
That could not only reduce the cost of the individual panels, they say, but even more importantly it could allow for rapid expansion of solar panel manufacturing capacity. That’s because the expansion can be constrained by limits on how fast new plants can be built to produce the silicon crystal ingots that are then sliced like salami to make the wafers. These plants, which are generally separate from the solar cell manufacturing plants themselves, tend to be capital-intensive and time-consuming to build, which could lead to a bottleneck in the rate of expansion of solar panel production. Reducing wafer thickness could potentially alleviate that problem, the researchers say.
The study looked at the efficiency levels of four variations of solar cell architecture, including PERC (passivated emitter and rear contact) cells and other advanced high-efficiency technologies, comparing their outputs at different thickness levels. The team found there was in fact little decline in performance down to thicknesses as low as 40 micrometers, using today’s improved manufacturing processes.
“We see that there’s this area (of the graphs of efficiency versus thickness) where the efficiency is flat,” Liu says, “and so that’s the region where you could potentially save some money.” Because of these advances in cell architecture, he says, “we really started to see that it was time to revisit the cost benefits.”
Changing over the huge panel-manufacturing plants to adapt to the thinner wafers will be a time-consuming and expensive process, but the analysis shows the benefits can far outweigh the costs, Liu says. It will take time to develop the necessary equipment and procedures to allow for the thinner material, but with existing technology, he says, “it should be relatively simple to go down to 100 micrometers,” which would already provide some significant savings. Further improvements in technology such as better detection of microcracks before they grow could help reduce thicknesses further.
In the future, the thickness could potentially be reduced to as little as 15 micrometers, he says. New technologies that grow thin wafers of silicon crystal directly rather than slicing them from a larger cylinder could help enable such further thinning, he says.
Development of thin silicon has received little attention in recent years because the price of silicon has declined from its earlier peak. But, because of cost reductions that have already taken place in solar cell efficiency and other parts of the solar panel manufacturing process and supply chain, the cost of the silicon is once again a factor that can make a difference, he says.
“Efficiency can only go up by a few percent. So if you want to get further improvements, thickness is the way to go,” Buonassisi says. But the conversion will require large capital investments for full-scale deployment.
The purpose of this study, he says, is to provide a roadmap for those who may be planning expansion in solar manufacturing technologies. By making the path “concrete and tangible,” he says, it may help companies incorporate this in their planning. “There is a path,” he says. “It’s not easy, but there is a path. And for the first movers, the advantage is significant.”
What may be required, he says, is for the different key players in the industry to get together and lay out a specific set of steps forward and agreed-upon standards, as the integrated circuit industry did early on to enable the explosive growth of that industry. “That would be truly transformative,” he says.
Andre Augusto, an associate research scientist at Arizona State University who was not connected with this research, says “refining silicon and wafer manufacturing is the most capital-expense (capex) demanding part of the process of manufacturing solar panels. So in a scenario of fast expansion, the wafer supply can become an issue. Going thin solves this problem in part as you can manufacture more wafers per machine without increasing significantly the capex.” He adds that “thinner wafers may deliver performance advantages in certain climates,” performing better in warmer conditions.
Renewable energy analyst Gregory Wilson of Gregory Wilson Consulting, who was not associated with this work, says “The impact of reducing the amount of silicon used in mainstream cells would be very significant, as the paper points out. The most obvious gain is in the total amount of capital required to scale the PV industry to the multi-terawatt scale required by the climate change problem. Another benefit is in the amount of energy required to produce silicon PV panels. This is because the polysilicon production and ingot growth processes that are required for the production of high efficiency cells are very energy intensive.”
Wilson adds “Major PV cell and module manufacturers need to hear from credible groups like Prof. Buonassisi’s at MIT, since they will make this shift when they can clearly see the economic benefits.”
The team also included Sarah Sofia, Hannu Lane, Sarah Wieghold and Marius Peters at MIT and Michael Woodhouse at NREL. The work was partly supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and by a Total Energy Fellowship through the MIT Energy Initiative.
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Michelle Obama wins her first Grammy for ‘BECOMING’ audiobook
Our Forever First Lady, Michelle Obama can now add a Grammy win to her already impressive resume.
The best-selling author took home the award for Best Spoken Word Album for the audio recording of her memoir, Becoming, at the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards.
Although this is her first Grammy win, Mrs. Obama is no rookie when it comes to Grammy nominations. She received a nod for 2013’s American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America.
READ MORE: Michelle Obama announces new Instagram TV series
Since hitting bookshelves in 2018, Becoming has sold more than 12 million units worldwide and has been published in 46 languages. The audiobook has also been on the New York Times Audio Nonfiction Best Seller List for 14 straight months since its publication, including 7 months in the #1 slot.

Becoming tells the story of Mrs. Obama’s journey from the South Side of Chicago to finding her voice as an attorney, non-profit leader, and eventually the first African-American First Lady of the United States.
We think it’s safe to say that Becoming is a bonafide success.
The always eloquent Mrs. Obama celebrated her win saying, “Thank you to the Recording Academy for this honor! I had plenty of doubts about sharing so much of myself in Becoming, but this moment is another reminder that when we own the truth of who we are, we give ourselves the chance to connect with others in real, meaningful ways.”
Published by Penguin Random House Audio, Becoming, beat out the Beastie Boys, Eric Alexandrakis, John Waters, and Sekou Andrews & The String Theory for the top spot.
Congratulations, First Lady Michelle Obama!
READ MORE: President Obama and First Lady Michelle have scored their first Oscar nomination
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Alicia Keys and Boyz II Men deliver touching tribute to Kobe Bryant
The 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards were shrouded in a dark cloud of sadness when the world learned of Kobe Bryant’s sudden passing early Sunday afternoon.
GRAMMY host, Alicia Keys, opened the evening by addressing today’s tragic events saying, “We’re all feeling crazy sadness right now. Earlier today, Los Angeles, America and the whole wide world lost a hero. We’re literally standing here heartbroken in the house that Kobe Bryant built.”
The iconic basketball star and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna ‘Gigi’ Maria Onore Bryant were killed in a helicopter crash in California on Sunday alongside seven other people. The group was headed to Mamba Sports Academy training facility for athletes.

Shortly after her opening words, Keys sang the first notes of a song that has become a staple in the Black community following the loss of a loved one, “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday.”
She was then joined by iconic R&B group Boyz II Men in a touching tribute to Kobe, his daughter Gianna and the seven others that lost their lives in the tragic accident.
“We wanted to do something that could describe a tiny bit [of] how we all feel right now,” Alicia shared. “We love you Kobe.”
Watch a clip from the powerful performance below.
ICYMI: @aliciakeys and @BoyzIIMen pay tribute to #KobeBryant at the #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/7UzV8EtIId
— theGrio.com (@theGrio) January 27, 2020
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PHOTOS: Lizzo, Billy Porter, H.E.R. and more step out at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards
Our favorite stars hit the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards and did not disappoint! From Lizzo’s stunning all-white Atelier Versace moment to the show-stopping slay we knew Billy Porter was going to deliver, the red carpet was set ablaze by these looks.
Check out the conversation-worthy fashion moments below!










Stick with us throughout the evening for more Grammys updates!
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Diddy calls out the Grammys during Clive Davis’ gala: ‘Black music has never been respected’
In a rousing speech, Sean “Diddy” Combs used his platform as a Grammys Industry Icon award-winner to call on The Recording Academy to treat hip-hop and Black music better.
“Truth be told, hip-hop has never been respected by the Grammys. Black music has never been respected by the Grammys.” Diddy told the crowd at The Recording Academy and Clive Davis’ Pre-Grammys Gala in Los Angeles on Saturday, the night before the nationally-televised music awards show.
Diddy also put the Grammys on notice, with the organization already under fire from back-and-forth accusations between them and its former CEO, Deborah Dugan.
“I’m officially starting the clock: you’ve got 365 days to get this sh— together,” he told the audience during his approximately 50-minute speech, according to Variety. “We need the artists to take back control, we need transparency, we need diversity.”
Diddy received his award at The Beverly Hilton Hotel, with Jay-Z, Beyonce, Janet Jackson, Cardi B, John Legend, and Byron Allen, among the onlookers.
Also, several performers from Diddy’s history performed in his honor, including Faith Evans, Ma$e, Lil’ Kim and his son King Combs. TheGrio was in the building and witnessed Combs enter the ceremony flanked by his three daughters, three sons, Swizz Beats, Wiz Khalifa, and an entourage of supporters.

As is the case with most traditional major entertainment awards, the Grammys have been called out for constantly snubbing and overlooking non-white and non-male contributors.
Well into his speech, Diddy said: “There’s something that I need to say to the Grammys — and I say this with love. Every year y’all be killing us. I’m speaking for all the artists and executives: in the great words of Erykah Badu, ‘We are artists and we are sensitive about our sh–.’ For most of us, this is all we’ve got. This is our only hope.”
READ MORE: Diddy to receive Industry Icon Award at 2020 pre-Grammy Gala
He also spoke about the conflict between the Grammys and president Deborah Dugan, pushed out of the organization nine days earlier after five months on the job — a move Dugan fought, according to Variety, by accusing the academy of nominating practices that were corrupt and full of conflicts of interest, among other charges. Many of the initiatives Dugan had proposed when she was appointed had been aimed at greater diversity.
“There’s something that I need to say to the Grammys — and I say this with love. Every year y’all be killing us.”
“So right now, with this current situation, it’s not a revelation,” Diddy said. “This thing been going on — not just in music, but in film, sports, around the world. And for years we’ve allowed institutions that have never had our best interests at heart to judge us — and that stops right now.”
Diddy’s comments were met with enthusiastic cheers.
READ MORE: Diddy blasts Comcast over Byron Allen lawsuit: ‘Comcast is choosing to be on the wrong side of history.’
These were far from the first claims of the industry overlooking, at best, the contributions of Black music every year at this time, but Diddy is likely the best-known and loudest voice. With his one-year ultimatum, their response will be worth following long after this year’s Grammys are handed out.

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Grammys Decoded: The Money Behind Winning a Grammy

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:
- POWER OF WALKING AWAY: TAMRON HALL TALKS LIFE AFTER ‘TODAY’
- JACK IN THE BOX TEAMS UP WITH SNOOP DOGG’S CANNABIS COMPANY FOR A SPECIAL COMBO MEAL
- BEYONCÉ LAUNCHES NEW VEGAN MEAL-PLANNING APP
-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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