Video of the Day: Samuel L. Jackson Crank Dat Soulja Boy

The video speaks for itself...

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Hip-Hop Homepage Developer GGDigital Gets $3.5 Million

(I'm hoping this news means that I can finally write and talk about this site and no longer have to remain confidential.)

From DigitalMediaWire:

New York - GGDigital Inc., a company developing a personalized home page for hip-hop fans, has raised $3.5 million of an expected $4.5 million new round of financing, led by Accel Partners, PEHub.com reported.

Other investors included hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons, who also backed entertainment network 360hiphop.

New York-based GGDigital's founders include a number of former 360hiphop executives, including Navarrow Wright, Richard Slomovitz and Osman Eralp.

GGDigital is currently in a private alpha test for Global Grind, its personalized start page, which will allow users to aggregate blogs, social networks, news sites, video, photos and RSS feeds on a single page.

(Source: DigitalMediaWire)

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Black Web 2.0 Launches

Late last week, I happened upon a new site that really resonates with a lot of the work I've been doing here over the years.

The site, Black Web 2.0, founded by creative director and designer, Angela Benton, takes a look at emerging Web trends at properties that target African-Americans or African-American culture.

Usually, I post a couple of images and discuss a site in detail. This time though, I created a video tour of the site, and well, if you visit, you're smart enough to figure out what it's all about on your own. I'm no video editor, so it's rough. But as I expect to make more videos soon -- trust, it's going to get a lot better. (Optimization for Web is a byatch.)

Video screen capture created with Jing. Jing .swf video converted with QuickTime. Video editing done with iMovie. Video sharing/Flash player by DivShare. Black Web 2.0 Video Tour also appears on YouTube.

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Philadelphia Nonprofit Seeks Funding for Event

Optimistic Thinking For Teens Through Adversity is seeing sponsorship for an upcoming event for at-risk youth.

From the event organizer:

O.T.T.A is a nonprofit foundation for low-income children between the ages of 8-18, residing in the City of Philadelphia with either one parent, guardian or in a foster care facility due to the death or incarceration of one or both parents. Our Services are designed to enhance the lives of these children by way of educational services such as back to school supplies, college road trips and scholarships. There are also motivational guest speakers as well as celebrity guest speakers to entertain and encourage youth who are considered “AT RISK.” We strive to make children feel a sense of caring and compassion in this city we affectionately call “Brotherly Love.”

“WHAT MEN REALLY WANT” CELEBRITY PANEL DISCUSSION

Young women today are growing up without Fathers or a strong male presence in their lives at an alarming rate. Without a male role model, young women tend to grow up looking for many things, including happiness within a man. There have always been discussions between men and women about what the opposite sexes are looking for and what they want in a relationship. While we all know that there is no perfect relationship, women tend to get frustrated when men don't seem to be able to properly state what it is they seek out of a relationship.

The “What Men Really Want” celebrity panel discussion, hosted by O.T.T.A and Monitored by (TBD), looks to provide answers for a stronger relationship between men and women.

On Sunday November 4, 2007 at the Philadelphia Convention Center, seven strong black men will meet to entertain audience participants with conversation on what today’s black men are looking for when they choose a mate.

This years panelists include:

1. MAILON RIVERA- CSI: MIAMI, CHARMED, THE PARKERS

Additional Panelists tba

5:30 pm Vendor Review

6:45 pm Panelist Seating

7:15-8:15pm Panelist Discussion

8:15pm-8:40pm Audience questions

8:40 pm Announcements/ Discussion Wrap up

Come join the panelists @ the First District Plaza for the Old School Black Affair featuring “The Heavy Hitter DJ Bent Roc” from 10pm-2am

$50.00 Panel VIP seating

$40.00 Panel Preferred seating

$35.00 Panel Discussion General Admission seating

$40.00 Old School Black Affair
Super Pack $7.00 discount for entrance to both events

Panel Discussion by ticket only

Black Affair $40.00/ $50.00 at the door

Sponsor Levels Available

Platinum $40,000

Gold $30,000

Silver $15,000

Bronze $10,000

Friends $3,000

PLATINUM SPONSORSHIP- BANNER AT BOTH EVENTS, WEBLINKS, LOGO ON WEBSITE, BACK PAGE (OR INSIDE FRONT PAGE) AD ON PROGRAM BROCHURE (GLOSSY), ANNOUNCEMENT OF COMPANY THRUOUT THE EVENTS, COMPANY HANDOUTS
WE CAN ALSO ADD/REMOVE AT YOUR REQUEST

GOLD SPONSORSHIP- BANNER AT ONE EVENT (YOUR CHOICE), WEBLINKS, FULL PAGE AD INSIDE PROGRAM BROCHURE, ANNOUNCEMENT OF COMPANY AT ON EVENT (YOUR CHOICE), COMPANY HANDOUTS

WE CAN ALSO ADD/REMOVE AT YOUR REQUEST

SILVER SPONSORSHIP- WEBLINKS, ½ PAGE AD INSIDE PROGRAM BROCHURE, ANNOUNCEMENT OF COMPANY AT ONE EVENT (YOUR CHOICE), COMPANY HANDOUTS

BRONZE SPONSORSHIP- WEBLINKS, ½ PAGE AD INSIDE PROGRAM BROCHURE, COMPANY HANDOUTS

ALL SPONSORSORS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT THE END OF BOTH EVENTS

OUR EVENT BROCHURE WILL BE A FULL SIZED, 20 PAGE BROCHURE

Contact Tanisha Clayton at tanishamic@yahoo.com for more details on sponsorship opportunities. Visit our website www.writebackinc.org to get more information on our foundation

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Black Weblog Awards Juding Begins

I join an esteemed panel of judges who are assisting with weeding down the finalists and determining the winners for the Black Weblog Awards. If you missed out on nominating your favorite black blogs, at least you still have time to vote for the finalists.

The Black Weblog Awards are a different entity entirely from The Black Web Awards that culminates with an event on November 3 in Baltimore. Perhaps next year both of these activities can come together.

The 2007 Black Weblog Awards Finalist List

Best Blog Community

Real Talk NY | Young, Black and Fabulous | Concrete Loop

Best Blog Design

Concrete Loop | Blogxilla.com | Young, Black and Fabulous

Best Blog Post or Blog Post Series

“Ikea: My Vietnam” | “Denounce Your Letters! You Cannot be Christian and In a Greek Letter Org” | “Who Killed Hip Hop? On some ‘JFK’ shit…”

Best Business Blog

Black Women In Europe | Black in Business

Best Celebrity Blog

Shavar Ross | Chudney Ross | Eric Roberson | Tyra Banks

Best Culture Blog

Afrobella| Young, Black and Fabulous| The “B-Life”

Best Faith-Based Blog

Light Her Lamp (the writings of a naija lady)| Reformed Blacks of America’s Blog | Are You There God? It’s Me, Dawn

Best Fictional Blog

Life and Times of Ata Nafia…a (not) true story | Yanni’s Block | The Secret Diaries of Janice Combs

Best Food Blog

Anali’s First Amendment | A Lot About Nothing | IateApie.net: Healthy Diet Food Reviews

Best Gossip Blog

Young, Black and Fabulous | Crunk + Disorderly | Concrete Loop

Best Group Blog

Reformed Blacks of America’s Blog | Concrete Loop | A Hot Mess!

Best Hip-Hop Blog

Real Talk NY | The Smoking Section | Boo Goo Doo Boom

Best Humor Blog

Daily Views, Pop Culture, Rants and News | Yeah…I Said It. | Crunk + Disorderly

Best International Blog

Black Women In Europe | The Brutha Code | A Lot About Nothing

Best LGBT Blog

Clay Cane | Keith Boykin | Adam’s Blog @ ABenjaminIrby.com

Best Music Blog

Boo Goo Doo Boom | The Smoking Section | Real Talk NY

Best New Blog

Blogxilla.com | Adam’s Blog @ ABenjaminIrby.com | illRoots

Best Niche Blog

Afrobella | Fly | Erica B’s D.I.Y. Style

Best Personal Blog

Daily Views, Pop Culture, Rants and News | The Beautiful Struggler | The Insanity Report

Best Photo Blog

photoblog: Alakija.com | The D-Nice Journal | SRPhotos

Best Podcast

Dating Roadkill | HoodHype: Underground Hip-Hop and Urban Music Podcast | Friday Favecast

Best Political/News Blog

BlackPoliticsontheWeb.com | Dr. Marc Lamont Hill | The Field Negro (read why)

Best Science/Technology Blog

NerdwithSwag.com | Darla Mack - Nokia S60 News and Reviews | The Meshverse Journal

Best Sports/Recreation Blog

The Starting Five | The Sideline Show SportsTalk Radio | Sportz-N-Album Cutz

Best Teen Blog

Nostalgia Hip-Hop: The Placers | Queer Kid of Color | My Teenage Years

Best Video Blog

Jakki Browne on LiveVideo | ill doctrine: a hip-hop video blog | Love B. Scott

Best Writing in a Blog

Daily Views, Pop Culture, Rants and News |Young, Black and Fabulous | Afrobella

Black Blogger Achievement Award

Baratunde Thurston | Michael David Cobb Bowen | Keith Boykin | Calvin Smith

Blog of the Year

Young, Black and Fabulous | Daily Views, Pop Culture, Rants and News | Real Talk NY

Blog to Watch

Blogxilla.com | The Insanity Report | Real Talk NY

Voting ends August 31; winners are announced on September 5.

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Forbes on Hip-Hop Cash Kings

Forbes has come up with a list of the top 20 moneymaking hip-hop moguls. And of course President Carter tops the list. There are a lot of surprises on there, like Yung Joc and Chamillionaire. But others we expected such as Pharrell, Dr. Dre, and Jermaine Dupri.

Here's a look at which hip-hop impresarios banked the most ducats (cash that is) last year.

No. 1 Jay-Z (a.k.a. Shawn Carter) $34 million

No. 2 50 Cent (a.k.a. Curtis Jackson) $32 million

No. 3 Diddy (a.k.a. Sean Combs, formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy) $28 million

No. 4 Timbaland (a.k.a. Timothy Mosley) $21 million

No. 5 Dr. Dre (a.k.a. Andre Young) $20 million

No. 6 Eminem (a.ka. Marshall Mathers, "Slim Shady") $18 million

No. 7 Snoop Dogg (a.k.a. Calvin Broadus) $17 million

No. 8 Kanye West $17 million

No. 9 Pharrell Williams $17 million

No. 10 Scott Storch $17 million

No. 11 Ludacris (a.k.a. Christopher Bridges) $16 million

No. 12 T.I. (a.k.a. Clifford Harris) $16 million

No. 13 Outkast (a.k.a. Antwan "Big Boi" Patton and Andre "Andre 3000" Benjamin) $14 million

No. 14 Lil Jon (a.k.a. Jonathan Smith) $14 million

No. 15 Ice Cube (a.k.a. O'Shea Jackson) $13 million

No. 16 Jermaine Dupri $12 million

No. 17 Swizz Beatz (a.k.a. Kasseem Dean) $12 million

No. 18 Chamillionaire (a.k.a. Hakeem Seriki) $11 million

No. 19 The Game (a.k.a. Jayceon Taylor) $11 million

No. 20 Yung Joc (a.k.a. Jasiel Robinson) $10 million

Read the story | View the slideshow

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What Facebook Can Teach You

OK. I bet you thought this was going to be one of my tech or marketing posts. It isn't. It's actually about connections, how you make them and what you learn about them. For instance, there are two people I've known in the blogosphere for awhile, who I've only recently found out share the same birthday with me.

One was my boy KB. And while I'm making this post about Facebook, I think we actually realized we had the same birthday while using Flickr and sharing photos, or perhaps even it was while we were on last.fm sharing our musical listening habits. Whatever the case, it wasn't until I looked at my home page on Facebook this morning that it stuck. The other shared birthday boy is Oliver Wang. Happy birthday to the both of you and anyone else who shares our August 17 birthday.

I don't know, but the more that media reports that social networking keeps us disconnected I keep finding ways that it keeps us more connected. My Plaxo address book reminds me of someone's birthday or anniversary, and I send them a card. Someone tweets on Twitter what they're reading on the Web and in real-time I can click on the link and read it at the same time as they are and then we can share our opinions about it. Someone tweets through Twittytunes the current song they're listening to, and if the song is available there, I can listen to it immediately. I can make a connection at Plaxo Pulse and find out what someone is doing on all of their media sharing services, very similarly to how Facebook is used.

People keep talking about the business implications of all of this and how The Long Tail plays a role. Though we all know, business hasn't actually caught up with all of this yet. I'm more interested in the social implications of all this anyway, like what I learned in creating a social network on Ning for my students so that they could blog, share in forums, group chat through meebo rooms service, and share videos, photos, and even files through a FlyUpload widget. And also keep track of assignment due dates with a Google Calendar published to the network.

I could go on with these examples, but you get my drift. I'm finding many more ways to be connected to people and to learn more about them as they learn more about me, both personally and professionally. I'm thinking that perhaps it is a social revolution. Do I think it'll be easier for someone to control us all as we move deeper into these networks. Not necessarily. I think people are getting smarter all the time. People are able to differentiate between real, true messages and messages meant to control them.

For further discussions on these topics, check out these books:

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My Amazon Wishlist

Just in case you were thinking about buying me a birthday gift -- the birthday is Friday, -- here's my Amazon wishlist. (I know shameless, right.) But I love placing widgets on my site, so...

update: It's been reported that the widget doesn't work, so here's the direct link.

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It's Been A Great Year

Next week I turn an undisclosed age, one that is seen by many as a milestone. One that many, once they get there, never reveal. I don't mind about all of that, and truth be told if you knew me personally, or ever met me face-to-face, you know that I'd tell you in an instant.

But it's not the chronological that matters. It's the spirit and the life (in terms of living it to its fullest). And I can truly say that I've been blessed. I've jumped over many hurdles in the years I've lived, and as I get older, I realize that all problems are really not problems at all.

Sorry that's the Zen in me trying to come out. You see, I believe in The 4 Noble Truths, that basically amount to this:

Suffering is universal
The origin of suffering is attachment
The cessation of suffering is attainable
Path to the cessation of suffering is detachment

Do I always practice it? No, of course not. But knowing it makes the life I've been living a lot easier. But enough of that. Let me get to the great year.

Well, not exceptionally great -- but just good great. The kind of great in a way that it's not about big or grand things, but just about appreciating every aspect of your life and getting in touch with the sensations of your life.

The past month, though, has been exceptional.

• My mother and I are probably closer than we've ever been, with a friendship based on trust and honesty. I even managed to spend the night at her home and spend an entire day with her without wanting to leave.
• I was able to send my niece to driving school for 12 lessons, plus 5 hour class and road test. When I first started this blog she was probably around 10 or 11, and now she's a fine young woman -- who still wants to hang out with me because she thinks I'm cool.
• All of my mentees have gone on to do great and wonderful work in the world, and I still have a relationship with them all. You all know who you are, especially the ones I just saw at the party this week.
• Under pressure, I ended up writing a chapter for a friend's book, and it actually came out pretty decent. Since writing that 50 Cent piece and that article on urban fiction in Vibe -- way back -- I've been thinking my writing was becoming mediocre. But this latest piece reveals that I still have a gift of some sort.
• I just came back from holiday in Brasil, which happens to be the only dream destination I've ever had in my life. And to top it off the trip was a surprise.
• I was given a diamond ring. (And yes, that is exactly in the context that you're speculating it's in.)

• And though I've seen her in concert before -- she the hardest working woman in showbiz -- I'm going to see Beyoncé @ Trump Plaza in AC tomorrow. I expect this concert to be better than the last because the album has a lot more energy. I just hope she doesn't fall down the steps or anything.

I'm sure I could tally up many more blessings, especially if I think of just the little things that have made me smile over the past year. Sure there have been setbacks and mishaps and misunderstandings, but overall, life ain't too bad.

I could set some goals a bit, you know, like work out more, write more, rest more, love more. Shit like that. Though, right now, all I want to do is be happy and live.

Now let's just hope I make it until next week.

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Icewater: The Next Wu-Tang Clan

While we await the return of the Wu with the recording of 8 Diagrams, Raekwon presents the four-man Icewater crew -- Stomach, P.C. (Paulie Caskets), D.C. (Donnie Cash) and Polite -- to put Staten Island back on the hip-hop map. Watch the video "Animal" to see if Icewater continues the tradition.

I think someone needs to tell HipHopCrack to not have its embedded videos autoplay. It's just not good Web etiquette and it's making me look bad for posting this video. But alas, I just wanted to show that Staten Island was trying to reemerge as a hip-hop contributor. I do have to admit that Crackspace is a nice play on MySpace in terms of independent and unsigned hip-hop artists being able to get some promotion without have to compete on the overcrowded MySpace.

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Who Owns the Black Internet?

I didn't make this up. I'm actually simply republishing a press release from BlackNews.com.

And though this team of epreneurs own all of the domains described in the press release below (which are reported to be valued at over $20 million), there's George Kelly with both negrophile and blackosphere. Michael David Cobb on the "(Re)Birth of the Blackosphere" -- just in case you have no idea what it means.

So where do all of these "high-profile African American-related domains," as taken from BlackNews' press release, fit in?
__

Columbus, OH - Who owns the Black internet? This is a seemingly easy question that anyone might be able to answer by simply doing a bit of research. But the implications of the question reach beyond simply a major corporation that might have under its umbrella a plethora of black owned websites or businesses at its beck and call. A much smaller and more far-reaching company has been buying up websites with the word “black” included in its domain address or some other term denoting its Afrocentric focus. This means that ownership falls into the hands of two black entrepreneurs.

Dante Lee and William Moss, founders of Diversity City Media and HBCU Connect - marketing firms that help companies target black consumers - have purchased a host of names (see list below) they hope will give them the edge on the Black internet.

For the past 8 years, Lee and Moss have been honing in on new names and established names to register or buyout. Their quest has already locked out numerous potential businesses from claiming the domain names. This strategic move ensures that black websites are owned and promoted by people of color.

Black internet real estate is an important commodity. Lee and Moss realized the value of these names and have now cornered the market. Their most recent acquisitions are HBCU.com, BlackSpeakers.com, BlackNovels.com, and BlackHistory.com, all of which are high profile domains. Their objective is to control how African Americans use the internet - basically, to ensure that the black experience is expressed from the black perspective, rather than through the lens of mainstream media.

Many of their high-profile domains, such as BlackNews.com, are already in use as popular online destinations. Others, such as BlackNovels.com are used to generate revenue through affiliate programs. They hold domains such as eDiversity.com for potential re-branding opportunities in the future.

Lee and Moss (who recently formed Lee Moss Media) both run companies that together generate over $1 million a year. Their plan is to build an empire that will create jobs and other opportunities for those in the African American community, allowing them to create a new empire for people of color.

"I know our companies are worth a lot, but these domains we own are worth even more," Lee says. "For instance, we own BlackNovels.com, AfricanAmericanNovels.com, StreetNovels.com, HipHopNovels.com, UrbanNovels.com, and StreetFiction.com. The street novel industry is quickly approaching the billion dollar mark, and one day someone will want to pay a lot for these domains."

Not only is the move a great way to reclaim the Black internet, but a strategic investment that allows Lee and Moss to decide who will be the voice of African Americans.

Below is a partial list of high-profile domains that they own:

Domains Currently In Use:
BlackNews.com
BlackPR.com
BlackJobs.com
BlackStudents.com
BlackExperts.com
BlackSpeakers.com
HBCU.com (currently branded as HBCUconnect.com)
BlackHistory.com (launching in September 2007)

Book-Related Domains:
BlackNovels.com
HipHopNovels.com
AfricanAmericanNovels.com
StreetNovels.com
StreetFiction.com
BlackBookReview.com
HispanicNovels.com

PR-Related Domains:
DiversityPR.com
MulticulturalPR.com
UrbanPR.com
GospelPR.com
HipHopPR.com
AfricanAmericanPR.com
EthnicPR.com
LatinoPR.com
MinorityPR.com
BlackPublicists.com
BlackPublicity.com
BlackPublicRelations.com
BlackPressReleases.com

Marketing-Related Domains:
AfricanAmericanMarketing.com
UrbanMarketing.com
HBCUmarkting.com
GLBTmarketing.com
eDiversity.com
eMulticultural.com
BlackHR.com

Consumer-Related Domains:
BlackConsumer.com
BlackConsumers.com
BlackBuyingPower.com

Education-Related Domains:
HBCU.com
HBCU.net
HBCU.TV

News-Related Domains:
BlackNews.com
BlackNews.net
BlackNews.org
BlackNews.TV
MinorityNews.com
HBCUnews.com

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I Got Your Black Tech Blogger Right Here

So I subscribe to PodTech in iTunes, primarily because it was a place where Irina Slutsky once called home. But I also watched ScobleShow and CalacanisCast when I had time, because they appealed to the geek in me. There were a few other shows that I've watched on there from time to time, but today I discovered that there's one I won't ever watch again. (Hat tip to the inside informant who sent me the link, as I'm on vacation I completely missed this one.)

It appears that Loren Feldman of 1938 Media believes that it's still funny and totally acceptable to perform in black face in 2007. And it's bad black face at that. I've never met anyone (in the 'hood) who speaks as he does in this video he released today called, Technigga. The slang he uses and outfit he wears is not only meant to be a racist parody, but it's also a throwback -- as in, black people don't speak or dress like that any longer.

If you're going to try and get laughs by mimicking a black man, at least try to get that shit right. There's only room for one Ali G, and fortunately there's Sacha Baron Cohen is only semi-distasteful.

Adario Strange at Wired Blogs spoke to both Feldman and Ariana Huffington, of Huffington Post, where you can find some of Feldman's material. Here are their responses. I'm not yet sure if the video ended up in the PodTech feed, but if it does, I'll want to see what Scoble or someone over there has to say.

Go watch the video here and judge for yourself. For the record I'll just say that it's completely unfunny, and the most insipid piece of satire that I've ever come across. On the real though, dude would catch a smackdown if I were truly 'hood. But I'm not, so all I have is this blog to share my disgust with the rest of the blogosphere. (I'm sure I'll catch some insane love mail for this one, but whatever, I'm saying what has to be said.)

Big Eddie Ed, no disrespect, but I think this one is aiming at you and your man's heads over at NiggaKnowTechnology. Represent.

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