black mag: March 2021

Wednesday, 31 March 2021

Lady Gaga Is Headlining Campaign For Luxury Champagne Brand

Lady Gaga is admired by fans across the globe, and it comes as no surprise that her loyal fans and followers are highly impressed by her brand new collaboration with the luxury champagne label, Dom Pérignon. The ever-stunning singer has announced the collaboration on her Instagram page in the form of a creative video, and her excitement is immediately visible. People quotes her excitement as she stated; "I always thought Dom Pérignon was a model of what creation is all about. There is no rule, except one: To never stop reaching for the stars." If reaching for the stars is what she's seeking, attaching herself to such a highly esteemed brand of champagne is definitely the way to go. The concept for this campaign is creative and completely designed to push the boundaries of artistic exploration. Fans are definitely tuned in to learn more.

The ad campaign for the Lady Gaga, Dom Pérignon collaboration is sharp and captivating. Gaga is seen holding a vintage sparkling rosé in a purple-hued bottle, and the imagery has definitely garnered a whole lot of attention. It's edgy, it's classic, and it's absolutely timeless.

She also went on to impress her followers by teasing the upcoming fashion film that is also associated with this project and will be revealed to the world on April 6th, with the help of Nick Knight.

The natural execution of Lady Gaga's messaging makes this new relationship seem more natural than most. She fluidly and seamlessly described her new venture by declaring the respect and admiration she has for the messaging behind the brand. Within her Instagram video she states; "Their tradition is centuries old, but they push their own boundaries and find ways to reinvent themselves completely... And I am thrilled that we will be able to celebrate this together."

As PR Newswire reports, April 6th will be the introduction of this creative, innovative marketing mission. It will consist of limited edition bottles along with a sculpture that was actually designed by Lady Gaga herself. Dom Pérignon is known to align with creative artists and when this brand merges with someone as skilled and truly as passionately creative as Lady Gaga is, the potential is absolutely limitless.

They also went on to indicate that there is a mutual form of respect between both parties in this partnership. They declared that this "alliance will empower meaningful support for Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation."

Sources: People, PR Newswire

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Dwayne Johnson Dethroned Kylie Jenner As Highest-Paid Instagrammer

The 226 Million Instagram followers of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will not be surprised to find out that former professional wrestler turned Hollywood it-man has now surpassed Kylie Jenner as the highest-paid celebrity when it comes to sponsored Instagram posts.

In 2017, the marketing firm Hopper HQ began comprising a list of celebrities and social media influencers to determine who among them receives the largest payouts for their social media posts. Until recently, the title of highest paid celebrity on Instagram went to Kylie Jenner.

The media personality, socialite, model, and businesswoman still has an impressive following with over 181,500 followers on Instagram. That amount of influence means that Jenner has the power to reach an extremely large audience with her posts, and advertisers are keenly aware of this fact. Accordingly, she is paid a whopping $986,000 for every sponsored post.

Unfortunately for Ms. Jenner, in 2020, Dwayne Johnson took the lead as the number one highest-paid celebrity for his sponsored posts. According to Hopper HQ, the actor now has an Instagram following of 189 million fans. Although there is a certain amount of secrecy around how much celebrities actually charge for individual posts, it has been suggested that Mr. Johnson can charge upwards of $1,015,000 for each post.

In 1996, the actor/producer began his career as a professional wrestler with the World Wrestling Federation. By 1998, he won his first WWF championship and became the first African American in history to hold the title. His smack-talking character as "The Rock" made him one of the greatest and most commercially successful wrestlers of all time.

Johnson's first leading role was in the movie The Mummy Returns in 2001 and the follow-up film, The Scorpion King in 2002. Since then, he has gone on to star in multiple successful movies, including The Fast and the Furious franchise and a trilogy of Jumanji movies.

More recently, he produced and starred in the wildly successful HBO series, Ballers, and has a full slate of movies in various stages of production, which he has both starred in as well as produced.

One reason Mr. Johnson is so widely followed on Instagram is the fact that he is known for his generosity towards his fans. He truly appreciates the people who made him what he is today and that genuine gratitude towards his fans keeps them loyal. In a 2020 interview, Mr. Johnson explains the moment he consciously made the decision to be nice to his fans.

Back then [in 1998, 1999], I saw this couple [at a restaurant] getting ready to come over. They finally came over. They worked themselves up to come over to ask me for a picture. They come up, and they were so nice. I’ll never forget it because this moment became my teachable moment and a great lesson that I took with me for life. And I’m so grateful it happened. And I thank this couple, by the way. They probably had no idea that they were part of a defining moment of my life. So they came over and they were so nice. They said, ‘I’m so sorry. We’re so sorry. Can we please have your autograph and a picture? So sorry.’ Of course I said yes, but how I said yes was a psychological play, like I was playing chess, because I said yes, but in a way that made them feel bad. So I said ‘...Sure. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Come on. Sit down.’ And in that moment, their demeanor changed, their energy changed. They went from excited, and ‘sorry’ but really excited, to then they felt bad. I have goosebumps now thinking about it.

During the lock-downs that affected people all over the world, the actor used his Instagram page to answer fan's questions, created posts to inspire and boost the morale of his followers, and spoke at length about his disappointment in the government's response to the pandemic. Unlike other celebrities who used the opportunity to post rather tone-deaf videos about their own struggles, The Rock's empathy towards those who were suffering made him all the more popular among his supporters.

The obvious reason sponsors are paying such huge sums to Mr. Johnson for a single Instagram post is the large amounts of people each post will reach. For every one of his posts, the mega-star receives at least 500,000 page views. For his more popular posts, that number can go up to as much as 12 million for a single post. That's a huge audience of people who respect the actor's opinion and it seems that advertisers are willing to pay exorbitant amounts of cash in order to reach that audience.

Another contributing factor to the high price tag is the limited number of sponsored posts that the star will commit to. Unlike Kylie Jenner, who tends to use her social media solely for the purpose of product and brand promotion, Mr. Johnson does so more sparingly. Because his followers know that he doesn't plug every product that is offered to him simply to collect a paycheck, they are more inclined to focus on and potentially purchase the products that he does endorse.

Regardless of the reasons, it is clear that Dwayne Johnson's popularity and wealth will only continue to grow in 2021, and he will have more than a million dollars per sponsored Instagram post to thank for it.

Next: The Rock And Redbird Capital Have Bought The XFL For $15 Million

Sources:Instagram, Moneywise, Cinemablend,Harperhq

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Computex 2021 Physical Show Cancelled; Virtual Event Still Taking Place

When it comes to technology tradeshows, one of the biggest early victims of the coronavirus outbreak was Computex, the annual PC-centric trade show in Taiwan. After the 2020 show was delayed and then canceled entirely, event organizer TAITRA vowed to come back with a proper tradeshow in 2021. However, even with vaccinations well underway, it’s become clear that it’s not going to be possible to hold the physical show this year either. As a result, the physical Computex tradeshow has once again been cancelled.

In a very brief news release, TAITRA noted that with the pandemic still ongoing, and border controls preventing international travel, it would not be possible to hold the show in 2021.

With another wave of coronavirus pandemic across the world, it doesn't look like we are close to the end. The majority of the show's stakeholders, including international exhibitors, visitors, and media, cannot join the show due to border control. Therefore, the organizers of COMPUTEX have decided to cancel the onsite exhibition this year.

The silver lining, at least, is that while the physical show TAITRA wanted to hold won’t be happening, their parallel virtual show, #COMPUTEXVirtual, will continue on as planned. Scheduled to run for a full month, from May 31^st to June 30^th, #COMPUTEXVirtual will be the show’s first attempt at doing a large-scale virtual event. The virtual show was originally scheduled to run alongside the physical show, but now with the physical show cancelled, it has become the de facto plan B. At this point it’s not clear who will be presenting and what with the virtual show, and undoubtedly vendors and organizers are scrambling to draw up new plans in light of the physical show’s cancellation.

None the less, even a virtual Computex could stand to be a major show. With a strong and ongoing demand for electronics, the lack of a 2020 show, and CES 2021 being a relatively modest event earlier this year, vendors have been eager to roll out new products – and to do so in front of an audience. So we’ll see how things pan out over the next two months.

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7 Celebrities Who Were Rich Before They Were Famous | TheRichest

We all assume that a celebrity's talent in their area of expertise is the catalyst behind their success. The fame and fortune is assumed to have come from the platform of artistic talent that they present to the world. In most cases, that is precisely the case. Most of the stars that are rich and famous did in fact have to work very hard to attain that level of success, and even harder to maintain it. However, the lavish lives led by the world's wealthiest celebrities don't always come as a result of their efforts. In fact, Collider reports that there are quite a few stars that are rightfully wealthy due to their incredible success, but had actually begun their careers with a whole lot of financial stability in the first place. It may not be glaringly obvious at first glance, but here are some celebrities we've uncovered that were rich far before they became famous...

7 Lady Gaga

It's likely shocking to most fans that Lady Gaga started off with wealth, well before she encountered her soaring fame. In fact, Lady Gaga attended private school in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, as her parents were both affluent and very well off. Her mother was a high powered business executive, and her father was an internet entrepreneur that had several businesses in his portfolio.

The Daily Mail reports that when Gaga wanted to get into the music business, her father funded her journey and aligned the best producers that worked towards her success.

6 Taylor Swift

One of the biggest players in the music industry happens to be none other than Taylor Swift. She has an undeniable level of confidence and a powerful air about her when she takes command of a stage, which is likely due in part by the fact that her parents are very well-off and played a huge role in assisting her along the way. Her father is a bank president who moved his entire career to a new bank in Nashville, in order to support his daughter's dreams. Her mother worked in finance, which also came in handy.

As Taylor rose to fame, her father attained part ownership in the music label Big Machine, to which Taylor was already signed.

5 Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande may be dominating stages and leading her millions of fans on a social media musical journey these days, but she already had a good thing going before she opted to take reigns of her music career. Her father is Edwards Butera and he is the man that founded Ibi Designs Inc.

His company offers a series of printing and design solutions, and his wealth stemmed quickly... only to later compete with that of Ariana's!

4 Julia Louise-Dreyfus

Best known for her role as Elaine on Seinfeld, Julia Louise-Dreyfus has been entertaining the masses with her comedic acting for decades now.

Most of her fans believed her fortune to have been earned from the success and syndication of the show, however, Dreyfus was living a very luxurious lifestyle well before her acting career ever took off. She is the daughter of Gerard Louis-Dreyfus, who happens to be a billionaire. He is the grandson of a man worth $3.4 billion.

3 Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus is rich and famous now, but she was always rich in the first place, too! Her fame came when she broke out into a solo singing career, but her fortune was already pre-existing.

Miley is the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus who went nine times platinum in 1992, which just so happened to be the year that she was born. Best known for his hit Achey Breaky Heart, Billy Ray Cyrus had already established financial wealth before Miley's career took flight.

2 Paris Hilton

Paris Hilton is not just the lady in pink that poses for a series of selfies. She may spotlight as a DJ and appear in a series of luxury brand endorsement as a way of raking in millions of dollars each year, however, she doesn't really need to. She's the grand daughter of Conrad Hilton, of the Hilton Hotel empire, and is an heiress to the deep wealth that exists in the company's fortune.

1 Kim Kardashian

Many fans believe that Kim Kardashian rose to fame with the release of an explicit video and an appearance on Paris Hilton's reality TV show. Of course, there's all that Kardashian wealth that comes along with the show Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and the endless endorsement opportunities.

However, it's worthy of noting that her late father was a big player in the court house and is best known for his high profile representation of one of his top clients, O.J. Simpson.

Sources: Star Insider, Ranker, Collider

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7 Successful Celebrity Investors | TheRichest

Celebrities often splurge and spend their fortunes on fancy cars and luxurious homes. There are endless reports of private jets that are used to travel to private islands. The lifestyles of the rich and famous are filled with fun times and limitless spending.... sometimes. There also happens to be a small group of celebrities that happen to be far more guarded about their finances. They are known to spend more wisely, and in many cases, take on some seriously impressive investment portfolios. There are a significant number of celebrity investors that quietly dominate the market and find clever ways to exponentially grow their wealth. Insider reports that many of the top celebrity investors find ways to dominate the market without anyone even knowing about their impressive skills.

7 Snoop Dogg

One of the top investors happens to be the ultimate OG, Snoop Dogg. He has been the driving force behind many cannabis start up companies such as Leafs By Snoop, Eaze, Merry Jane, and FunkSac, through his fund, Casa Verde Capital. He also has a lot of money tied up in Reddit and Robinhood.

It's safe to say that Snoop Dogg's investment portfolio is very much representative of what he feels like, and how he is doing, and clearly, he just hasn't been ok.

6 Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. has super strength and super smarts, and he has used his powers to invest a good chunk of money into Loot Crate and Masterclass, which is a site that offers interactive video courses that are taught by major celebrities.

Most fans have no idea that Robert Downey Jr. puts his faith in his investments, but he definitely remains focused on growing and expanding his fortune, and stocks lead the path.

5 Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber has had some flighty moments as a teenager, and he definitely blew a lot of money on partying, and fast cars. However, now that he has matured and has settled into his fame in a more fluid, organic way, he has taken his finances far more seriously and has invested into Spotify as well as Selfie App Shots. His money now earns him more money, and his net worth just keeps on growing.

4 50 Cent

50 Cent routinely takes to Instagram to brag about his luxurious lifestyle and flaunt the flashy items that his fortune has afforded him. His wealth hasn't entirely come from his music, though. He has quite a bit invested in Glaceau's superior water, and he has even founded SMS Audio, a company that deals with consumer electronics.

3 Will Smith

When fans think of Will Smith, 'savvy investment guru' isn't quite what comes to mind. Best known for his acting in the role of Will on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, he also happens to be a great source of wisdom when it comes to turning big profits with his investments. Smith has invested in the mental health start up company called BioBeats, and has also invested a significant amount of money in his men's clothing company which is called Vastrm.

2 Ashton Kutcher

One of the biggest contenders when it comes to investments happens to be Ashton Kutcher. He has extensive knowledge of the market and has had a genuine interest in investments from a very young age.

Kutcher is known to have one of the most diverse portfolio, and easily beats out the competition when it comes to dollars spent... and dollars earned. He has financially backed Airbnb, Box, and Bebo. He's not just the pretty face that appeared on the big screen for Dude, Where's My Car?, he also happens to be one of the most active investors in all of Hollywood.

1 Tyra Banks

Tyra Banks knows a good thing when she sees it, and is trained to appreciate beauty and potential in all forms. She opted to invest in The Muse, which works to assist those looking for jobs by guiding them through the various levels of technology, and now she has a whole other slew of assets that have nothing at all to do with the fashion world.

Banks has graced the largest stages and has walked the runway for some of the biggest designers of our lifetime. She has earned a fortune as a model and even as a host, and she keeps on generating impressive income as well. Her investment in The Muse allows her to represent something that remains near and dear to her heart; the strength of women in business. In 2016, The Muse was already worth $100 million, and it continued to grow and soar with success since then.

Sources: Celebrity Net Worth, Insider, Money and Markets

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'Good Morning America' Host Michael Strahan Shares Glimpse Of Luxury Home

Good Morning America star Michael Strahan showed a tiny glimpse into his N.Y.C. home that he shares with his 16-year-old twin daughters, Sophia and Isabella, whom he shares with his ex, Jean Muggli.

Anyone who spends even a second on Strahan's Instagram knows that he loves to show off what life is like as a dad to twin teens. The girls often talk their famous dad into doing TikTok dances and funny skits with them. Strahan also has older children (daughter Tanita, 29, and son, Michael Jr.) whom he shares with ex, Wanda Hutchins.

The short clip that allows us to check out Strahan's decorating chops and sense of style has him chatting with fellow former NY Giants player Carl Banks. Strahan stops the interview by saying that he has a question.

"Well I have a question real quick," Strahan asks Banks. "Why are we basically wearing the same shirt?"

It's a great question because as Strahan says, both men seem to be wearing the exact same cobalt blue pullover with a silver zipper near the throat.

"Because I want to be like you," Banks replies without missing a beat.

Strahan bursts out laughing and says that he only wished that was true.

If you can get past the coincidence and the laughter, you'll noticed a gray-toned shelving unit in the backdrop with a few books stacked up in a tidy way. Other posts on the host's Instagram show Strahan's fifth "child", his dog, Enzo enjoying the luxury New York City property. One post depicts Enzo taking in a nap on a sage-colored sofa, his back tucked into a patterned pillow, and a tiled floor and what looks to be a marble breakfast bar in the near distance while another post shows Enzo on the floor underneath a white dining table with matching patterned chairs.

Daughters Sophia and Isabella graced one post which the former football player captioned, "Date Nights... = the best night!#LoveMyKids." The post shows the pair of teen girls sitting at a breakfast bar with identical dinners in front of them and full glasses of water. Behind them is the same sofa that Enzo napped on as well as three full panels of windows with a set of French doors which we are assuming leads out to a balcony with what are probably incredible views.

Strahan actually owns several properties but his favorite location is the Upper West Side and not just because it's close to his place of employment, the Good Morning America studio.

Strahan told the New York Times that he likes the N.Y.C.'s Upper West Side because "being a father, I like the family feel to it. you see mothers with strollers, people walking their dogs."

He went onto say that he also has an affinity for the neighborhood because he's "just Michael" as opposed to being treated as Michael Strahan, the celebrity.

Source: Hello Magazine

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Gigi & Bella Hadid Account For Almost Half Of Versace's Media Impact

A big brand needs a big presence and Versace's partnership with the Hadid sisters has brought big things to both. A new analysis shows that Gigi and her sister Bella accounted for 45 percent of Versace's media impact value at its Fall 2021 fashion show. By comparison, runway veterans Mica Argañaraz and Rianne Van Rompaey were responsible for 2 percent.

Alison Bringé, chief marketing officer of the data research and insights company Launchmetrics, addressed this at Zoom press conference. According to the metrics executive, “You need to think about who are those talents who connect with your consumers.”

Analysis by Bringé didn't end there as she pointed out a conclusion that most might assume but sounds better when presented with data behind it - newsworthy names can be responsible for a larger impact that a brand has on social media posts. Between envy and FOMO (fear of missing out), consumers flock to these posts and it makes the products within seem all the more enticing.

To illustrate this point, Launchmetrics calculated three posts by Gigi Hadid regarding the Versace show and determined that it generated a Market Impact Value of $3.3 million on its own. When it was then amplified by others through likes, comments, and shares, the company found the posts reached an astounding MIV of $7.1 million.

“She’s become a standout face and name within our industry,” Bringé pointed out.

With the Hadid sisters leading the charge, analysts determined that the influencer effect was in full bloom as the the impact famous voices had one market growth jumped 13 percent. For celebrities, the jump during Milan Fashion Week was even more substantial with a mind-boggling 394 percent.

All of these recent shows and their social media boosts also spotlighted the growing importance Asian influencers and celebrities hold in the market value department, with 29 percent of total MIV. Some brands saw on even bigger boost with Prada getting a 70 percent of MIV from Asian celebrities. earned by celebrities came from Asian voices.

Traditional media faltered in comparison by seeing its voice value drop 22 percent during fashion weeks. According to Launchmetrics, the blame is on “media fatigue” along with a a dilapidated stream of original content being put out by typical sources.

“There’s a lot of ways to create echo around videos post-fashion week,” Bringé stressed when viewing the numbers. “Content is king no matter if it’s a physical or a digital event.”

Sources: WWD, Launchmetrics

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8 Richest Kids In The World | TheRichest

On the path to adulthood, there are certain rights of passages - landing your first job, figuring out how you're going to scrounge up enough cash to pay rent and bills and learning how to budget. But none of those things apply when you're considered one of the richest kids in the world.

These kids and young adults have lucked out big time, whether it's due to the parents who they were born to, their natural talent or a wildly successful business venture.

8 Prince George Alexander Louis

He's actual royalty and, at one point, was actually the world's youngest billionaire, according to Luxatic. Prince George of Cambridge, son of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, was born into a family of extreme wealth and is estimated to have a net worth of approximately $1 billion. And he's only eight years-old.

7 Phoebe Adele Gates

She keeps a low profile, but that does not mean she's anywhere close to short in the cash department. Phoebe Gates is the 18-year-old daughter of Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft who, according to Forbes, has an estimated net worth of 127.5 billion, and philanthropist Melinda Gates. As reported by Tuko, she is estimated to inherit more than $1 billion from her parents, which will make her the biggest beneficiary of her parent's wealth despite being the youngest sibling in the Gates family.

6 Nick D’aloisio

At just 15-years-old, Nick D'aloisio became an internet entrepreneur and was labeled a technological genius. His claim to fame is the invention of the iOS app Summly, which summarizes news articles and provides easy to understand briefs about current events. He sold the app to Yahoo for an estimated $30 million, according to Luxatic, although the official selling price has never been disclosed. When he was 16, Nick became the youngest person to receive a round of venture capital in technology and he is currently the founder of Sphere, a knowledge-sharing startup that allows users to swap information via instant messaging, which has raised $30 million worth of investments to date. He's now a student at Oxford University with a net worth of $30 million, which means he's probably got the nicest dorm room you've ever seen.

5 Abigail Breslin

Starting a career at just three-years-old certainly helped Abigail Breslin accumulate an estimated net worth of $12 million, as reported by Luxatic. Abigail's big breakthrough was her starring role in Little Miss Sunshine when she was 10. The film was a commercial success and earned Abigail an Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress and a Screen Actors Guild Award Nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role. The now 24-year-old is still a busy working actress.

4 Moulay Hassan

Moulay Hassan is the first born child of King Mohammed VI of Morocco and Princess Lalla Salma. At just 17-years-old, he already has a royal title, the Crown Prince of Morocco, and an estimated net worth of a little over $1.5 billion, according to GQ. He is set in life and he's set to succeed his father as king one day.

3 Dannielynn Birkhead

In 2007, when she was only a year old, Dannielynn Birkhead's mother, Anna Nicole Smith, former American Playboy model, actress and TV personality died from a prescription drug overdose, leaving behind a valuable estate. That estate was passed onto Dannielynn who, in turn, inherited a net worth of $59 million, as reported by Luxatic. To help her fortune, Dannielynn was nominated as the face of Guess Girl's Spring Line in 2013.

2 Rico Rodriguez

Rico Rodriguez was not born into fame and fortune. His notoriety and money comes from the hit ABC show, Modern Family, on which he played Sofia Vergara's son, Manny Delgado, for eleven seasons. The show helped Rico's acting career take off. Since Modern Family, he has been in multiple movies, has appeared in multiple television shows and even published a book, all of which help contribute to the 22-year-olds estimated net worth of $4 million.

1 Blue Ivy Carter

Considering her parents are music royalty, it would be hard for Blue Ivy Carter, daughter of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, to not make this list. Tuko estimates that Blue Ivy's net worth comes in at a nice $1 billion. Keep in mind she is only nine-years-old. That number continues to grow. She has forever been used to fame - two days after her birth, Time coined Blue Ivy "the most famous baby in the world" according to Wikipedia - and she certainly better get used to fortune as she continues to build a name for herself. In 2020, when she was only eight, she became the youngest winner of a BET Award for "Brown Skin Girl" a single she collaborated on with her mom, Wizkid and Saint Jhn and went onto win the Grammy Award for Best Music Video for the same song, which made her the second youngest person to win a Grammy Award.

Sources: Tuko, Forbes, Luxatic, GQ, Wikipedia

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Billie Eilish's Journey To Being A Grammy Winner & Multi-Millionaire

Billie Eilish is one of the most successful singer-songwriters in the world right now. Her unique sound has brought a sardonic, gothic edge to pop music. Before turning eighteen Eilish had been nominated for six Grammys and ten MTV video awards, performed at the Academy Awards, and sold out massive tours.

How did Billie Eilish go from a homeschooling kid writing songs in her brother’s bedroom to one of the biggest names in modern music?

Billie Eilish, born Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell, comes from a family of entertainers. She started dancing, writing lyrics, and singing at a young age, including performing in the LA Children’s Chorus at age eight – but she wasn’t alone. From the beginning, she and her brother Finneas always worked on music together.

The homeschooling siblings Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell wrote songs together while growing up. Both agree that it took some time to find their unique sound, and that it got easier when they stopped trying so hard.

“I think when we first started, we were trying to make music that sounded like the music that we liked…” O’Connel explained to NPR, “And I think as we progressed, we stopped trying to make music that fit with any other music or was in comparison and any other music.”

When Eilish was thirteen, the brother and sister wrote and produced a song for Billie’s dance class, so her dance teacher could choreograph a routine to it. That song was “Ocean Eyes,” and it would send Eilish straight to superstardom.

Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell uploaded their song to SoundCloud, and shortly after it went up it gained millions of plays – an overnight viral sensation.

The duo would go on to sign with UK-based Platoon, and then Interscope in 2016. Despite being signed with a major label, Eilish continues to write and record with Finneas – sometimes in her brother’s bedroom – which was where they created her debut album “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”

The album debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200, reached triple platinum, won Eilish a spot in Grammys history with awards for best new artist, album, record, and song of the year.

If there’s anything people love about Billie Eilish as much as her sound or her lyrics, it’s the intense, gothic videos.

“I just love the idea of glorifying people's biggest fears,” Billie Eilish stated, “You know, people are freaked out by needles, people are freaked out by things under the bed and people are really afraid of the dark ... I just really wanted something that's going to kind of make you jump a little bit.”

Eilish’s video for her hit “Bad Guy,” which opens with the singer bursting through a yellow wall and handing her Invisalign to a man standing next to her, made headlines for passing one billion views, just over a year and half after the video’s release.

Eilish’s videos for “You Should See Me in a Crown” and “When the Party’s Over” gained public attention for their bold imagery, including black tears running down the Billie’s cheeks and a massive spider crawling out of Eilish’s mouth – which the singer confirmed were all real – including the tarantula: “I just hate doing everything CGI.”

Eilish is no stranger to Hollywood. In the Spring on 2017, before her first album was released, her song “Bored” was featured in the controversial Netflix series “13 Reasons Why.”

Now Billie Eilish has also been producing original songs for soundtracks of new TV shows and movies. Famously, she wrote and sang the title track for the new Bond film, “No Time to Die,” being the youngest artist to write a song for a Bond film. She also collaborated with Rosalína on a song for the HBO series Euphoria.

In February of 2021, a documentary covering Billie’s life from 2018-2020 called “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry” directed by R.J. Cutler was released on Apple TV+. Eilish was drawn to participate because of her passion for film, she told Vanity Fair, “I just have always loved cameras. and I loved being on camera, and I’ve always loved watching videos of myself, since I was a little kid. I remember being 10 and being like, ‘Mom, can I watch home movies?”

Although she initially gained success by releasing her first song online, Eilish is a talented live performer. Critics called her Cochella performance “a triumph”, and her first two tours were enormously successful. Her third tour, “Where Do We Go? World Tour” had to be cancelled due to COVID-19.

Sources: NPR, Seventeen, udiscover music, Magic 98.3, Vanity Fair, Vox

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Kingston Introduces NV1 Entry-Level NVMe SSD

As previewed at CES, Kingston's newest entry-level consumer NVMe SSD is now shipping. The new NV1 uses a similar strategy to Kingston's entry-level SATA drives like the A400, where Kingston is not guaranteeing a specific set of internal components and expects to mix controllers and NAND to hit the cheapest price points. That results in very conservative performance and endurance specifications: sequential transfers around 2GB/s and endurance ratings around 0.2 DWPD for three years.

Kingston NV1 SSD Specifications
Capacity	500 GB	1 TB	2 TB
Form Factor	M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0 x4
Sequential Read (MB/s)	2100
Sequential Write (MB/s)	1700
Warranty	3 years
Write Endurance	120 TB 0.2 DWPD	240 TB 0.2 DWPD	480 TB 0.2 DWPD
Launch Price	$63.70 (13¢/GB)	$115.70 (12¢/GB)	$224.90 (11¢/GB)

The Kingston NV1 uses DRAMless SSD controllers like the Phison E13T and Silicon Motion SM2263XT, which are both getting a bit old but are still sufficient to offer a step up from SATA performance. The NAND will tend to be TLC on the smaller capacities and QLC for at least the 2TB model, but realistically Kingston could use either type of NAND on any of the capacities depending on what kind of leftover NAND they have lying around.

The NV1 is a more low-end drive than Kingston's existing A2000 NVMe SSD, which uses TLC NAND and has DRAM, but uses the 4-channel SM2263 controller rather than a more mainstream 8-channel controller. The NV1 does reflect the market's shift toward higher capacities, with the product line starting at 500GB and going up to 2TB. We expect retail prices for the NV1 will end up cheaper than the A2000, but for the moment the pricing direct from Kingston is only marginally cheaper.

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Mushkin Launches DELTA And GAMMA PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs

Mushkin has announced two new product lines for PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSDs. Following on from last year's introduction of the ALPHA series, the new DELTA and GAMMA drives continue Mushkin's recent trend of using Phison's SSD controllers and reference designs. The ALPHA uses the Phison E12S controller and QLC NAND, the new DELTA uses the Phison E16 controller and QLC NAND, and the new GAMMA uses the Phison E18 controller and TLC NAND.

The new Mushkin DELTA series and their existing ALPHA series both use QLC NAND, but the DELTA is not a complete replacement for the ALPHA. The DELTA does offer a performance boost due to the faster controller supporting PCIe 4.0, but that faster Phison E16 controller also takes up more PCB area than the compact Phison E12S controller used in the ALPHA. That prevents the DELTA series from offering an 8TB option. The ALPHA series is focused specifically on extreme capacities since it only includes 4TB and 8TB models, while the DELTA is a bit more mainstream with 1TB through 4TB capacities.

Mushkin DELTA Specifications
Capacity	1 TB	2 TB	4 TB
Form Factor	M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4
Controller	Phison E16
NAND Flash	3D QLC
Sequential Read (MB/s)	4700	4975
Sequential Write (MB/s)	2100	3750	3975
Random Read IOPS (4kB)	195k	380k	700k
Random Write IOPS (4kB)	510k	650k
Warranty	5 years
Write Endurance	200 TB 0.1 DWPD	400 TB 0.1 DWPD	800 TB 0.1 DWPD
Launch Price	$159.99 (16¢/GB)	$299.99 (15¢/GB)	$599.99 (15¢/GB)

The new GAMMA series is Mushkin's new flagship based on the Phison E18 controller. Performance specs are similar to other drives based on the same reference design, with sequential read speeds of over 7 GB/s and peak sequential write speeds starting at over 5.5 GB/s for the 1TB model.

Mushkin GAMMA Specifications
Capacity	1 TB	2 TB
Form Factor	M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4
Controller	Phison E18
NAND Flash	3D TLC
Sequential Read (MB/s)	7150	7175
Sequential Write (MB/s)	5600	6800
Random Read IOPS (4kB)	360k	640k
Random Write IOPS (4kB)	645k	630k
Warranty	5 years
Write Endurance	700 TB 0.4 DWPD	1400 TB 0.4 DWPD
Launch Price	$259.99 (26¢/GB)	$499.99 (25¢/GB)

For both the DELTA and GAMMA series, Mushkin's initial pricing is in line with street prices for other drives based on the same hardware. Among that club, Corsair's MP600 CORE and MP600 PRO SSDs come with substantial heatsinks, while Mushkin is following the approach taken by Sabrent, Inland and other brands by keeping the drives slim and leaving any heatsink up to the end user.

Mushkin hasn't specified the exact NAND used in these new drives, but we expect them to both be using 96-layer 3D NAND. Later this spring we will see a new round of high-end Phison E18 drives adopting Micron's 176-layer 3D TLC for marginal performance improvements, but it's still a bit early for Mushkin to be including the new NAND on the GAMMA.

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Gucci Debuts Harry Styles In New Luxury Campaign | TheRichest.com

The pop icon Harry Styles has quickly become a trailblazer in the realm of fashion, branding himself as the new muse for trend-setting couture houses. The former teenage heartthrobs' most recent fashion venture is his starring in Gucci's new campaign, #Beloved.

In celebration of the fashion house's stellar 100 years in the game, Gucci enlisted Styles to promote a new line of luxury handbags. He wasn't alone though. Six other big names are attached to the campaign - Serena Willams, Awkwafina, James Gordon, Dakota Johnson, Diane Kenton, and Sienna Miller.

Styles is no stranger to the Italian fashion house. Who can forget his iconic 2021 Grammy performance, when he performed his hit song "Watermelon Sugar" while wearing one of Gucci's posh, yet risqué banana necklaces?

Or his 2018 Gucci advertisement in the freshly reopened fish and chip store, The Camp Fish Shop? At this point, it's safe to say that Styles is the poster boy for the brand.

Initial portraits for the campaign were shot by Harmony Korine. In them, Styles can be seen posing against a luxurious, blue velvet backdrop and sporting a massive fur coat. At second glance, one can spot its resemblance to one worn by pop queen Lady Gaga during the production of the upcoming crime biopic, "House of Gucci" - a movie that tells the tale of the former head of the Italian house, Maurizio Gucci's, assassination. Underneath the coat is a flashy, floral shirt.

While the #Beloved line is officially set to release on April 22nd, ELLE had the scope on what Gucci has in store bag fanatics.

"The Beloved collection is comprised of four iconic styles: the Jackie 1961, Horsebit 1955, Dionysus, and Marmont," according to ELLE, "many of which were introduced by [Alessandro] Michele in his first fashion shows. "

Creative director, Alessandro Michelle landed his role at Gucci in January 2015 - though he'd be working for the house since 2002. Michelle was tasked with curating the line after François-Henri Pinault proposed a 2021 strategy for the company to heighten sales for handbags. Fun fact: handbags were the catalyst of Gucci as the company started off selling backs to horsemen in 1921.

With a star-studded cast of style-savvy celebs beside him, Styles' image continues to become synonymous with the Gucci brand in this new campaign. We'll just have to wait until April to see how this chic line turns out!

Sources: Page Six, BBC News, ELLE, Business Insider

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Jennifer Lopez & Alex Rodriguez Reunite Through New Business Deal

Worldwide sensation, Jennifer Lopez, has been a prime subject for tabloids in light of her still-complicated relationship with the baseball player, Alex Rodriguez. However, the two were coupled in recent headlines for another reason: they've gone into the supplement business together!

While most people would rather go broke than work with one of their exes, this isn't the case for these two business-savvy lovers. After some radio silence regarding their relationship since the separation announcement, Rodriguez went to his Instagram to promote the "former" couple's new business venture.

"Jennifer and I are very excited to announce that we've joined forces with Goli Nutrition," the basketball star says, "They've revolutionize the health and wellness industry with their innovative, delicious, and nutritious gummies!"

Goli is a nutrition company that focuses on promoting wellness healthy lifestyles through top-of-the-line dietary supplements. The brand's name is no stranger to the likes of big times celebrities. In June, Goli products were displayed on the Ellen Degeneres Show during a game of "Truth or Dare".

"It’s our goal to help you reach your nutrition goals while enjoying your daily supplements," says the Goli website, "Our ACV gummies are just that! Made with the best vegan and gluten-free ingredients - enjoy the taste of your daily ACV!"

The company also took to Instagram to promote the partnership saying," Global icons Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez have joined our team to empower the world with innovative products that make living a healthy lifestyle simple and delicious."

This rather sudden partnership is added to the ever-extending list of business ventures shared amongst the wealthy couple. From their 2019 partnership with wellness company Hims & Hers to their fitness coaching deal with app Fitplan, the two made millions together. Not to mention, their recent attempts at purchasing the New York Met's. Though their hefty bid of $1.7 billion shocked fans, their plans didn't go the way the millionaires wanted.

All this happens within the midst of Lopez living her best life on her Instagram feed. Posts of her swimming in her beautiful pool show the star being happy with herself as she continues to work on even more projects. In her highlights, she shared an old interview with television icon, Oprah Winfrey. In the short clip, Lopez simply says to Winfrey, "I am enough."

Sources: Page Six, Fox News, Koimoi

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Tuesday, 30 March 2021

Arm Announces Armv9 Architecture: SVE2, Security, and the Next Decade

Today, as part of Arm’s Vision Day event, the company is announcing the first details of the company’s new Armv9 architecture, setting the foundation for what Arm hopes to be the computing platform for the next 300 billion chips in the next decade.

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Started At The Bottom, Now He's Here: The Rise of Drake

Drake is from Toronto, Canada, and he has often rapped about how he has 'Started At The Bottom' . While many are aware of his upbringing in what is perceived to be an affluent neighborhood in the city, Drake maintains that he came from very humble beginnings and is a self-made man. He has achieved worldwide acclaim for his musical talents and addictive sounds, and has gone on to receive an abundance of accolades and recognition for topping the charts and shattering records time and time again. So how did he make it to the top, and what were the steps that Drake took along the way? Unlike some stars that just shoot to fame with a quick hit or a lucky break in a movie role, Vulture reports that Drake really did seem to climb the rungs of the ladder one step at a time to make it to the top.

Drake was raised in the Jewish faith and sings the praises of his mother. She devoted her life to his happiness, but sadly she suffered from ailing health and an unhealthy lifestyle. She eventually passed away, and Drake recalls his childhood as being one that reflected his wealth status: poor. He was broke and truly didn't have the luxuries of life that are now afforded to him through his success in the music industry.

U Discover Music quotes Drake as saying; "I grew up on Weston Road. That's near the west end of the city. It's not the nicest area in the world. I grew up there... I moved to Forest Hill in the sixth grade. So I didn't grow up in Forest Hill."

Some fans are stuck on the semantics when it comes to this topic. Many do believe that if Drake spent grade 6 onwards in Forest Hill, then he really did grow up surrounded by affluence, yet Drake associates his childhood and early life to the time he spent on Weston Road.

Drake was eventually cast as Jimmy Brooks in Degrassi: The Next Generation, and this is when people first started to take note of his persona, as well as his skill. He seemed to enjoy this experience and GQ reported that Drake made $40,000 a year for acting his role on this show.

As Drake grew into his late teenage years, he started evolving alongside the Hip Hop era, and he quickly discovered that dropping lyrics was something he was truly passionate about. He claims that at this age, he started creating front to back songs, and kept jotting down ideas and developing his lyrics into music.

Drake finally released his debut mixtape Room For Improvement in 2006 which was followed nearly immediately by Comeback Season. Vulture quoted Drake as saying; "Back then, I'd spend a full day on set and then go to the studio to make music until 4 or 5 a.m. I'd sleep in my dressing room and then be in front of the cameras again by 9 a.m. Eventually, they realized I was juggling two professions and told me I had to choose. I chose this life."

This was the pivotal moment in which Drake truly committed to his musical craft, and it didn't take long before he released So Far Gone which was created by Drake's label October's Very Own. Shockingly, up until this moment, Drake's musical career hadn't really taken off in the manner he expected or needed it to, and he was contemplating throwing in the towel and getting a 'real job.'

Best I Ever Had shattered records and dominated the charts. This was one of the biggest songs of Drake's career. Thank Me Later soon followed, and Hold On, We're Going Home really catapulted Drake's career in 2013.

Drake kept shining brighter and brighter with each new album release and single drop. He was invited to host Saturday Night Live in 2014, and also was the musical guest on that same night. 2015 saw the explosion of Hotline Bling, which was immediately embraced by fans of all ages and really became the song of the season.

Hotline Bling became the song that nobody could un-stick from their minds all summer, and then, Drake took his chances by stepping away from music and taking on the role of producers on a documentary called "The Carter Effect."

While this may not exactly be a rags to riches story, it was to Drake. From his perspective, he went from humble beginnings on Weston Road in Toronto, to the Grammy stage.

Sources: UDiscoverMusic, Vulture, Insider, GQ

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Intel Rocket Lake (14nm) Review: Core i9-11900K, Core i7-11700K, and Core i5-11600K

Today is the official launch of Intel’s 11^th Generation Core processor family, given the internal name ‘Rocket Lake’. Rocket Lake showcases new performance gains for Intel in the desktop space, with a raw clock-for-clock performance uplift in a number of key workloads. In order to do this, Intel have had to retrofit its 10nm CPU and GPU designs back to 14nm, because only 14nm can achieve the frequency required. In exchange, the new processors to get this performance run hot, cost more for Intel to produce, have two fewer cores at the high end, but customers also get PCIe 4.0 on Intel’s mainstream desktop platform for the first time. In our review today, we will be going over Intel’s new hardware, why it exists, and how it performs, focusing specifically on Intel’s new flagship, the Core i9-11900K, which has eight cores and can boost up to 5.3 GHz.

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Fenty's Journey: Rihanna's Fashion & Beauty House From Start To Hiatus

Robin Rihanna Fenty is known for her stellar sounds and unmistakable vocals. Her music has captivated a worldwide audience for many years, and her fans and loyal followers invest tens of millions of dollars each year, snatching up all the products she markets. Rihanna was just 32 years old when she realized there was such incredible income potential that could come along with paring the sweets sounds of her music to some pretty sweet fashion items and beauty products. Her very own fashion line quickly emerged, and Fenty was born. The brand is known to be an ultra luxury label and the price tag was daunting to many viewers. The year 2017 was a year of great achievement for Rihanna, as her Fenty brand took the world by storm and became a high grossing business venture. Sadly, The BBC reports that Fenty's days are numbered, with reports being issued that the brand is taking a hiatus. Could this be a sign of the times? There was once a moment where this was one of the most highly sought after labels!

It didn't take long before Rihanna's millions and millions of adoring fans began scooping up her Fenty products in huge numbers. Sales were high and everyone was vibing, as Rihanna's sense of personal flair was put on full display, and made available for purchase.

However, this didn't last as long as the people that created the brand thought it would. In fact, it has just been announced that the Fenty brand is now being put on a 'hiatus,' and most of us aren't foolish to think 'everything is going to be ok.' It seems in this case, that 'hiatus' translates to; "no longer in business."

Could the rumors be true? If the company is folding, Rihanna has remained tight-lipped about the whole thing. According to Glamour Magazine; "a high-end designer collection launched with LVMH in 2019, is going on a hiatus...Rihanna and LVMH have jointly made the decision to put on hold the RTW [ready-to-wear] activity, based in Europe, pending better conditions." Going on a hiatus is never a good sign and many in the industry have taken this to be a gentle way of putting that the business is shutting down for good."

The luxury brand pumps out high volumes of cardigans, body-hugging knits and fabulous trousers, to name a few. It appears, however that just as Fenty seems to be slipping into the background, eventually to disappear, there is another of Rihanna's brands that seems to be doing very, very well.

Fenty may be struggling to maintain any sort of leveled footing in today's current climate, but that doesn't mean that Rihanna's organizations are having any actual financial difficulties as of now. In fact, it's just Fenty that is affected, and not any of the other brands.

Savage X Fenty is not seeing any of the struggles or cryptic messaging that Fenty seems to be under the spotlight for at this moment. Critics are trying to understand how the same designer, and the same artist are seeing such dramatically different sales and overall numbers. While Fenty is being slowly stripped of its existence, and laying claims to the status of 'hiatus,' Savage X Fenty continues to grow in leaps and bounds. Savage X seems to show no signs of slowing down at all, leading fans to continue to invest in these items and increase profits on a regular basis.

Sales have grown exponentially, with a mixture of seductive lingerie and comfortable sleepwear and loungewear all soaring with success.

Fans were shocked to hear that Fenty is going on a 'hiatus,' and potentially never returning. This is especially shocking considering that the company was only in business for just over 2 years. LVMH is stating that they are 'waiting for better times', which is likely to have translated to Covid taking a real toll on their business model.

The great news, for fans that could sure use some after hearing about the 'hiatus,' is that the rest of the brand remains intact and seemingly unscathed. It seems there is a specialized market for some of Rihanna's projects that far exceed her others. The Savage X Fenty lingerie line will continue to live on, as will the cosmetics lines Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin." Consumers that are loyal to those brands need not worry about the fact that they will be denied or restricted access to the final merchandise. That portion of Rihanna's business structure remains unscathed.

Sources: Glamour , BBC, Vogue , WWD

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