2007 was a pretty rough year for Hip Hop. Besides all the various run-in’s with the law that many artists seemed to experience, the real craziness began when just about everyone outside of the music industry began to blame hip hop for their own troubles. I don’t think I have to remind you guys about the events that kicked things off, or do I? Anyhow, Ice Cube recently dropped a new track with an accompanying video, properly titled “Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It “, that touches screams on the entire hip hop blame game of ‘07. Take that!
Wired has an interesting article up that traces the iPhone from its conception, to boardroom prototype, to becoming the wireless device that has gone on to completely revolutionized the mobile phone industry. One of the key points of the story focuses on the way that the iPhone completely turned the standard relationship between phone manufacturers and wireless carries on its head:
For decades, wireless carriers have treated manufacturers like serfs, using access to their networks as leverage to dictate what phones will get made, how much they will cost, and what features will be available on them. Handsets were viewed largely as cheap, disposable lures, massively subsidized to snare subscribers and lock them into using the carriers’ proprietary services. But the iPhone upsets that balance of power. Carriers are learning that the right phone — even a pricey one — can win customers and bring in revenue. Now, in the pursuit of an Apple-like contract, every manufacturer is racing to create a phone that consumers will love, instead of one that the carriers approve of.
And let’s not forget about the money:
The company nets an estimated $80 for every $399 iPhone it sells, and that’s not counting the $240 it makes from every two-year AT&T contract an iPhone customer signs. Meanwhile, about 40 percent of iPhone buyers are new to AT&T’s rolls, and the iPhone has tripled the carrier’s volume of data traffic in cities like New York and San Francisco.
Tata Motors, India’s largest auto company, unveiled the world’s cheapest car today, at the 9th Auto Expo in New Delhi. The ultra-compact Tata Nano, also dubbed the “People’s Car”, carries a price tag of $2,500, and will be sold exclusively in India (although the company does plan to export the model in the future). The Nano is powered by a two-cylinder engine, seats four passengers, and according to Tata, is more environmentally friendly than many of the two-wheelers that crowd India’s streets today. In fact, two-wheelers partly served as the inspiration behind the Nano. Ratan N. Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group and Tata Motors, observed entire Indian families (mom, dad, young child and baby) crammed onto two-wheelers, and wanted to develop a cheaper and safer alternative for families like these to get around in. While there is no exact launch date at the moment, the Nano will officially go on sale sometime later in the year.
The “People’s Car” is one of the latest products to emerge on the market that is largely intended to meet the needs of those living within developing countries - just a few months ago we saw the launch of the “$100 Laptop” (see: One Laptop Per Child). While projects like these do have some trouble catching on initially, I’m still pretty certain that we’ll continue to see more of them come along in the near future.
Donwan Harrell, founder and creative director of PRPS, recently sat down with Debonair Magazine to discuss the ins and outs of premium and luxury denim (his company produces the latter, as you’ll soon find). He offers a few tips on distressing your own jeans to emulate the premium look, and also explains some of the factors that make premium and luxury denim, well, premium and luxury denim. Not the longest interview in the world, but it’s certainly worth the read! Peep.
Early prediction for 2008: This will be the year of IPTV!
Earlier today, Comcast, the nation’s leader in entertainment, information and communications product/services, officially launched Fancast.com. It’s the company’s latest crack at the IPTV game, and what many may view as the first real competitor to News Corps /NBC’s IPTV site, Hulu.com (although I’m not quite sure that this is the case). Much like Hulu, members of Fancast have access to a massive library of full length TV shows and movies from an array of national and cable networks. As an added bonus, members will soon be able to control the functions of their Comcast DVR directly from the site. Cool stuff. In the meantime, go register and take a look at things for yourself!
By now I’m pretty sure that most people are familiar with, or have at least heard of the American Express Centurion Card aka The Black Card. You’ve probably heard your “favorite rapper’s favorite rapper” dropping the card’s name on a track or two. In short, its an exclusive American Express credit card only given to those that spend a minimum of $250,000 a year, includes a complimentary concierge service, and is sure to get you plenty of attention in any retail establishment. Anyhow, if you’ve ever wondered how you too could get your hands on one of these glorious pieces of plastic, and appear all “precipi-tastic” like the big boys, Neil Patel of QuickSprout.com gives you answers in this step by step guide. Peep. It seems like a pretty straight forward process, however, a very expensive straight forward process. Don’t go hurting your pockets trying to score one of these joints…ha!
For some time now, I’ve heard various rumors about Jay-Z (and Beyonce) possibly teaming with Apple to form some type of new age record company. Interesting move, endless possibilities, I thought, but at the end of the day I knew better than to “hold my breath” on such a thing. Well here were are now, and once again this rumor has made its way back to the surface, this time it looks like it may have some legs to stand on though. BGR reports that a source very well connected with Hov, has revealed to them that a deal involving Apple is indeed on the horizon. The exact details are still unclear at the moment, so whether or not this will be a simple partnership or something a lot heavier still remains to be seen. Again, I’m taking this with a grain of salt, but Hov is stepping down from his leading role at Def Jam, and well…let’s just wait and see.
This one’s been floating around like a hot air balloon, but we’ve just about confirmed it. For those that don’t know, Jay-Z left Def Jam as President last month, and everyone’s been talking about where he’s heading. While this might be one of his many other venutures, we just heard that Jay-Z is launching a record label with Apple. No, Beyonce will not be formally attached. This is from a high-up person attached to Jay (no, not who you’re thinking), and it’s said to be a go! Jay is supposedly totally into the business model, and really wants this to happen.
I know I’m a couple days late with this, but I had to post it anyway. Skillz brings us another installment of his annual “Rap Up”, and this time around he’s teamed up with director Chris Robinson to produce an official video. I love these joints!
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