![[News] Jay Z invested in black-owned vegan cookie company](https://i0.wp.com/sloppyvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/jayzvegancookie.jpg?resize=768%2C384&ssl=1)
by Sean Collins | Jun 7, 2019 | Business, NEWS
Jay Z just invested $1 million in a black-owned vegan cookie company called Partake Foods. It’s also dope because it is based in New Jersey.
Partake was founded in 2016 by the former Coca-Cola’s national sales director, Denise Woodard. This is a big upside because investors might be unsure of the market for vegan cookies but if someone with that much sales experience is sure to know a lot about potential markets.
It didn’t start out easy for Woodard; after launching the company, she had to sell cookies out of her car for 6 months while delivering daily demos for store managers and consumers.
Currently, Partake Food products are in 300 stores with Woodard commenting to Black Enterprise, ““We expect to finish this year with a new pack offering and in over 1,000 stores. We are so excited to collaborate with the MVP and Factory teams, as they both bring a wealth of knowledge in brand building and scaling consumer companies.” That’s a long intelligent sentence…another good sign.
Woodard said she would use Hova’s investment to expand the brand and her employees. Other investors include The FactoryBackstage Capital, SoFi Ventures, and Chuck Muth, Chief Growth Officers of Beyond Meat.
![[News] Heinz Ketchup teamed up with Ed Sheeran and released the limited edition line “Edchup”](https://i0.wp.com/sloppyvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/edsheeranheinz.png?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
by Sean Collins | Jun 7, 2019 | NEWS
I’m learning so many new things today: first, that there is a National Ketchup Day and second, that in honor of that day, Ed Sheeran got his own Heinz Ketchup line called Edchup. On National Ketchup Day this past Wednesday, Heinz released the Ed Sheeran inspired line, if you couldn’t see that connection.
Back in March, Ed posted an Instagram photo of him holding a Heinz Ketchup bottle and in the comments, tagged Heinz and told them he had an idea for a TV ad.
Unsurprisingly, Heinz responded to the offer and commented, “Yo yourself @teddysphotos! We’re all. Actually, we’re all. But you get the idea. And we’d love to hear YOUR idea. Sorry, we’re nervous. Team Heinz is hitting you up RIGHT NOW”. Clearly, this limited edition bottle is the result of the collaboration.
If you weren’t convinced of Ed Sheeran’s love of Heinz, he even has a tattoo of a bottle on his arm. If anyone’s going to get a tattoo like that, it should be Ed Sheeran and it should be a redhead.
![[News] R Kelly pleads not guilty to 11 new charges of sexual abuse](https://i0.wp.com/sloppyvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/rkellynotguiltyplea.jpg?resize=620%2C431&ssl=1)
by Sean Collins | Jun 7, 2019 | NEWS
On Thursday, R Kelly pleaded not guilty to the 11 additional charges of sexual assault. These charges are related to abuse of Jerondha Pace, who appeared in the Surviving R Kelly docuseries.
The 11 charges relating to Pace, who was a minor at the time, include four counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, two counts of criminal sexual assault, and five counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, according to court documents.
According to BuzzFeed News, Kelly was arrested in February with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving four women — three of whom were underage during the alleged acts. Also reported by BuzzfFed, R Kelly’s lawyer, Steve Greenberg, said that the new charges “are not really new — they are the same conduct, just charged differently, same alleged victim, same time frame, same facts.”
The plot thickens in the ever-expanding R Kelly story, with the charges piling up against the singer, and yet still a plea of not guilty. I’m not saying that this might be evidence that there is a giant conspiracy and R Kelly is innocent, just that there’s a lot to this story that the media, and thus the public, doesn’t know.
![[News] Billboard to release weekly Top Songwriters and Top Producers charts](https://i0.wp.com/sloppyvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/billboard-logo-b-20-billboard-1548.jpg?resize=636%2C421&ssl=1)
by Sean Collins | Jun 7, 2019 | MUSIC, NEWS
For those who don’t follow music but want to seem educated, Billboard has come to the rescue with its new weekly Top Songwriters and Top Producers charts. A quick look at these lists will definitely score some points in a conversation. The charts will debut in the Billboard issue that comes June 15th and in a June 13th email blast delivered to Billboard subscribers. This addition seems like a smart move by Billboard, perfectly complimenting their weekly Billboard song rankings.
The charts will be calculated quantitatively: based on total points accrued by a songwriter or producer for each attributed song that appears on the respective charts. I like this move because if the Top Songwriters and Producers charts were ordered subjectively, that would ruffle many feathers, no matter the order.
According to Billboard.com, “We’re extremely excited to acknowledge the top creative forces behind music’s biggest hits on a weekly basis,” says Silvio Pietroluongo, Billboard SVP of charts and data development. “A songwriter or producer’s influence and importance within the industry and beyond certainly merits recognition beyond our yearly rankings.”
“Anytime a light is shone upon the songwriters and producers who are the backbone of the industry, it’s a very good thing,” Atlas Music founder and CEO Richard Stumpf tells Billboard. “What Billboard is doing ties together with the digital services starting to show songwriter credits, so all of this is going the right way in helping the music fans become aware of the songwriters and the role they play.”
![[News] Obama’s sign deal with Spotify to create podcasts](https://i0.wp.com/sloppyvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/obamaspotify.jpeg?resize=275%2C183&ssl=1)
by Sean Collins | Jun 7, 2019 | Uncategorized
Barack and Michelle Obama have signed a deal with Spotify to produce podcasts.
In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, Barack said, “We’ve always believed in the value of entertaining, thought-provoking conversation. It helps us build connections with each other and open ourselves up to new ideas. We’re excited about Higher Ground Audio because podcasts offer an extraordinary opportunity to foster productive dialogue, make people smile and make people think, and, hopefully, bring us all a little closer together.”
The LA Times also noted, “The Obamas’ production company Higher Ground said Thursday that it has forged a partnership to create podcasts exclusively for Stockholm-based Spotify’s global platform. Publicly traded Spotify is the world’s largest streaming music company, with 100 million paying subscribers and more than 217 million monthly active users”.
Characteristically of Barack, he was smart to sign specifically with Spotify, not only because it’s the largest streaming service on the market, but that’s also the one I have.
