According to Forbes, 2 Chainz conquered Christmas with his timely and super cute “Dabbin’ Santa” sweaters. While the rapper has been toying with merchandising ideas for years, he finally found a hit when “the dab” (a dance) found its way into primetime courtesy of NFL star Cam Newton.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySilAPr6fW4&w=560&h=315]
“I don’t want people to think this was an overnight success. We’ve been trying with a bunch of designs for a couple years now. This is just timing meets opportunity,” he explained. “There’s the whole dab thing, and Atlanta’s always been somewhere that actually moves the culture a little bit. We have been the backbone of hip-hop for the past couple years. So with dabbing coming out of Atlanta, it just began to grow legs and start moving on its own.”
The sweaters became wildly popular and grossed around $2 million in revenues for 2 Chainz and his team. Instead of spending the profits on frivolous things, the Atlanta native decided to help others.
“I had a numerous amount of celebrities helping with the shirt. It was on the NFL, it was on TNT, it was on Good Morning America, it’s on ESPN. So I could not continue receiving those blessings without giving back at the end of the day,” he said.
A large slice of the profits went into 2 Chainz’s T.R.U. Foundation, which is “dedicated to promoting balanced, respectful and enriched relationships and aim to create life changing moments and help build a positive outcome for our young generation.”
Because of the “Dabbin’ Santa” craze 2 Chainz’s organization was able to pay the rent for one family for an entire year, and donate a minivan to another. The move not only benefitted the families in need, but also helped 2 Chainz as well.
“For us, it’s about putting it together independently, with nobody really being the boss. We’re creating our own way to give back, to do something for people,” he told Forbes. “We’ll trickle down to the kids and lead by example. Like I say, actions speak louder than words. We could have spent this money on possessions, but giving a family that needs it will actually go further for them and for me.”
article via clutchmagonline.com
Posts published in January 2016
New York State has taken a step in the right direction when it comes to eliminating student loan debt. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the “Get On Your Feet” program, which will offer up to two years of federal student loan debt relief to recent college students in the state.
Applications will begin being accepted on December 31.
“Ensuring students are able pay for college and not saddled with debt is critical for both their individual success and the continued economic growth of New York State,” Governor Cuomo said. “With this program, we are telling recent graduates: if you invest in New York’s future, we will invest in yours.”
To qualify, applicants must have earned an undergraduate degree from a college or university located in New York State in or after December 2014, have an adjusted gross income of less than $50,000, and be enrolled in the federal Income Based Repayment plan or Pay as You Earn plan.
To learn more or apply, visit hesc.ny.gov/GetOnYourFeet
article via clutchmagonline.com
Natalie Cole, the Grammy Award-winning singer whose hits included “Inseparable,” “This Will Be,” “Our Love,” “Pink Cadillac” and “Unforgettable,” a virtual duet with her father, Nat King Cole, that topped the Billboard charts in 1991, died in Los Angeles on Thursday. She was 65.
Maureen O’Connor, a spokeswoman for Ms. Cole, confirmed her death without giving a cause, according to The Associated Press. Ms. Cole had undergone a kidney transplant in 2009 and had suffered from other ailments recently, forcing the cancellation of a series of tour dates in November and December.
Ms. Cole — who was raised around jazz royalty in the company of her father and her mother, Maria Hawkins Cole, a singer who worked with Duke Ellington and Count Basie — came into her own as a singer in the 1970s by staking out her own territory in R&B. Her first album, “Inseparable,” in 1975, won two Grammys, and “Sophisticated Lady,” on a follow-up album the next year, won another.
Ms. Cole’s reputation declined for several years, partly because of struggles with drug addiction. But she came back, creating the biggest hit of her career by uniting, at least in the studio, with the legacy and voice of her father, singing along with him on a recording of his standard “Unforgettable” and winning several Grammys in 1991.
The song reached a level of success that Ms. Cole said stunned her, even with the combined wattage of her name and her father’s.
“The shock of it all is that this record is getting airplay,” Ms. Cole said in an interview at the time. “It’s absolutely shocking to see it between Van Halen and Skid Row on the charts, totally out of its element. It should be encouraging to record companies and my contemporaries.”
Watch Ms. Cole perform one of her biggest hits, her debut single from 1975, the #1 R&B hit and #6 Pop hit “This Will Be”, live on “Midnight Special” below:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-LBiZcN5RI&w=420&h=315]
article by Randy Kennedy via nytimes.com; additions by Lori Lakin Hutcherson