#LOL they should just sell billboards

[fruityghast]

all I'm saying is that impdubs should make a billboard for etho's froglights in the city

[beautifulpersonpeach]

This is an opinion piece. Many will not agree with me, so I have laid out some facts. Scooter’s wife divorces him and his biggest clients leave him by the end of 2022. As if the pandemic wasn’t hard enough, hey Scooter? Karma?

2017

-On May 21, 2017, BTS won the Billboard award for Top Social Artist, beating out Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, and Shawn Mendes. Beiber and Grande at that time were both signed to Scooter Braun’s agency. Everyone took notice.

Except Justin that is, lol.

2018

-Here he is in August 26, 2018 answering fans questions about Jungkook and BTS. He had listened to one song - FIRE.

https://youtu.be/aDHRFWrM08g?si=_0ql84of_Z6R1lVw

2020

-Jan 14, 2020 Justin announces he has been diagnosed with Lyme Disease

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/justin-bieber-lyme-disease

-July 23, 2020 Justin announces tour dates - previously delayed because of Covid pandemic

https://www.cp24.com/entertainment-news/justin-bieber-announces-2021-dates-for-rescheduled-tour-1.5036378b

2021

-April 13, 2021 The Redemption of Justin Bieber. Justin has struggled. With addiction, depression, anxiety and the law. He has been isolated from his peers and elevated to celebrity superstar status before reaching adulthood. In the western world that’s a recipe for disaster. Whether you like his music or not, there’s no denying Justin Bieber has talent. The numbers speak for themselves.

https://www.gq.com/story/justin-bieber-cover-profile-may-2021

-May 6, 2021 covid pandemic causes Justin to cancel tours until 2022

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/05/06/justin-bieber-postpones-canadian-summer-tour-dates-until-2022/

-April 2, 2021 Scooter sells Ithaca Holdings to Hybe.

https://www.reuters.com/article/hybe-ma-ithaca-idUSL4N2LV13C

(Interesting that 11 days later that month the redemption of Justin Bieber article in GQ is published)

-And a month later, June 25, 2021, Scooter flies to South Korea to meet his new company, the vast potential of new, polite, trainees, various established groups under the Hybe umbrella and world superstars, the BTS members. I have to sigh here, the author of this article can’t even be bothered to include each member’s name. Just a general Scooter says “they’re great”. Because he couldn’t care less? He had his wonder boy Justin, and potentially a whole new generation of talented people to work with should the need arise in the future. I believe the members of BTS individually or as a group weren’t his priority at the time. I remember that period when fans were asking if a collaboration with Justin Bieber would be possible in the future. BTS handled these questions very delicately.

https://www.koreaboo.com/news/scooter-braun-experience-meeting-bts/

And during the epidemic, all is quiet except for the BTS members who work continuously through this period, appearing virtually on several shows aimed at the western audience.

2022

-March 13, 2022 Hybe’s gross profit from of PTD concert one night show in theaters is a Blockbuster Hit! $32.6 million in revenue earned from 3711 cinemas.

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/bts-permission-to-dance-on-stage-seoul-llive-viewing-gross-1235203444/

-June 8, 2022 Justin postpones North American tour dates (Look at the scheduled list of dates)

https://www.sportskeeda.com/pop-culture/why-justin-bieber-postponing-north-american-tour-dates-singer-says-sickness-getting-worse

-September 4, 2022 BTS’s PTD tour reportedly earns $ 230.7 million in concert revenue

-September 15, 2022 Scooter to pay $20 million in divorce settlement but gets to keep private jet

https://people.com/music/scooter-braun-ordered-pay-ex-wife-20-million-divorce-settlement-keeps-private-jet/

2023

-January 24, 2023 Justin sells his music catelog

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/24/media/justin-bieber-music-catalog-sale/index.html

-January 25, 2023 Scooter becomes sole CEO of Hybe America

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/scooter-braun-hybe-ceo-bts-1235500913/

- February 9, 2023 Scooter buys Quality control music

https://www.thefader.com/2023/02/09/scooter-braun-quality-control-music-hybe-deal

-February 10, 2023 Hybe buys 14.8% stock in SM entertainment

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/09/media/south-korea-hybe-sm-entertainment-deal-intl-hnk/index.html

-Feb 23, 2023 Justin cancels remaining tour dates

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/28/justin-bieber-cancels-justice-world-tour/11368719002/

-March 5, 2023 Hybe to raise up to $769 million to purchase shares in SM Entertainment

https://www.kedglobal.com/mergers-acquisitions/newsView/ked202303050002

-March 24, 2023 Hybe sells shares in SM Entertainment

https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/hybe-sm-entertainment-k-pop-1235563480/

-March 26, 2023 Records are broken worldwide with Jimin’s album release FACE on March 24, 2023

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbenjamin/2023/03/26/bts-jimin-sells-over-1-million-copies-of-face-solo-album-worldwide-for-record-breaking-24-hours-in-korea/

-August 23, 2023 ABANDON SHIP!! Is everyone leaving Scooter?

https://www.koco.com/article/scooter-brauns-artist-roster-what-we-know/44894780

Everything I have ever read about Scooter, I don’t respect him enough to write his proper name, is that he puts himself first. Previous clients do not speak highly of his management. Taylor Swift for example.

Interesting fact, Taylor Swift, Halsey (Boy with Luv collaboration with BTS) and Camilla Cabello (Shawn Mendes is her ex) gave a great performance of “Shake it off” at the American Music Awards in Nov 2019.

Perhaps when Justin’s health issues became too grave to hide from the public or Justin himself refused to be held to his contract, (and perhaps Justin sold his catalog to cover his costs/penalties of canceling his tour) Scooter had an empty sandbox with no one to play with.

And, having lost his main source of income and having a keen head for business, (vulture capitalist) he had already set his sights on a new revenue stream. Of the seven BTS members, one in particular had released songs by Justin Bieber, proving he had what it took to be successful in the western market.

Jungkook has been a Bieber fan since he debuted with BTS. He ticks all the boxes needed for the western market, doesn’t he? Masculine build, tattoos, piercings, outstanding vocal ability and dance skills/technique and is a member of the greatest musical group in history?

No wonder Scooter went to the White House with BTS. Had to be sure to be there at the Grammys too. Front and center as though he was responsible for their success.

https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/hybe-is-raising-380m-to-fund-more-music-acquisitions-in-the-us-report/

Confusing isn’t it?

1) Hybe buys Ithaca holdings April 2021

-$ 1 billion + reportedly

2) Justin Bieber Tour is canceled several times, and he pulls out of remaining tour dates February 2023

- $ unknown

3) Scooter buys Quality Control music one month after being named CEO of Hybe America February 2023

-$ 300 million

4) Hybe buys 14.8 % stock in SM entertainment February 2023

-$ 334.5 million

5) Hybe sells stock in SM entertainment for

+ $ 191.8 million March 2023

Well thank goodness for BTS. In 2022, their PTD tour earned:

+ $ 230.7 million concert revenue for PTD Tour

+ $ 32.6 million from PTD theater showing, limited engagement, in 3711 cinemas

Someone had to keep the lights on in that new building and families of the employees fed.

Which brings us back to Jeon Jungkook, Bieber admirer, a man who most definitely fits the “western audience appeal”, possessing talent beyond what we in the west have seen in many years.

And then there’s his equally talented, gifted dancer “Bro” Jimin who broke all the records right before him but does not bow down to those who whisper behind his back, lol.

And by coincidence, their music videos, promotional materials for their solo albums and many of their conversations seem to hinting at something 😉

Oh Scooter, it isn’t fun when someone beats you at your own game, is it?

When in doubt as to what is going on in an organization, follow the $$$.

I firmly believe the budget allowed for BTS’s chapter 2 “solo period” was capped due HYBE’s financial acquisitions at the same time.

In my opinion.

***

Now, @westcoastgal1,

I commend the effort you've put into this ask and I can tell you're trying to build a case for your theory(-ies), but I'm not sure what exactly that theory is.

Is it that "I firmly believe the budget allowed for BTS’s chapter 2 “solo period” was capped due HYBE’s financial acquisitions at the same time." ?

Is it that Scooter is broke and HYBE shifted financial resources from BTS to support him and their SM acquisition? Didn't HYBE tap capital markets precisely to raise proceeds for that purpose though? Or is it that Scooter is looking for a windfall in BTS now that his old roster of artists have abandoned ship?

But then, what is the implication here?

"And then there’s his equally talented, gifted dancer “Bro” Jimin who broke all the records right before him but does not bow down to those who whisper behind his back, lol.

And by coincidence, their music videos, promotional materials for their solo albums and many of their conversations seem to hinting at something 😉"

Is it that Jimin wasn't willing to play Scooter's balls like JK did apparently? But he had no issues accepting the Fast & Furious gig? And if so, what's the takeaway here? How does this tie in to the similarities in their concept pics styling, etc, so far?

You've already put quite some effort into building out this timeline so I hate to ask you to do more work, but I'm afraid the dots aren't quite connecting for me just yet. If you'd like to send me a follow up ask succinctly explaining what you mean, I'd appreciate it. Otherwise, all I can say is this looks like a variation of the same fan theories I've seen people come up with to explain Jimin's solo rollout relative to Jungkook's. The fact there's so much discourse around it indicates something else to me, but I'll let the dead horse be.

[theresa-of-liechtenstein]

it wouldn’t be the linda fairbairn extended universe without air caledonian! (enlarge for better quality. notes below)

(a320 illustrations provided for free personal use)

i spent almost eight hours total doing this and i do not regret a single minute of it 😮‍💨😮‍💨

the liveries

literally fought for my life with the clipping masks 😵‍💫

this is my attempt at a ‘retro’ livery which was sort of teased in late 2022

it combines a few elements that saw some vogue in the 70s (the cheatline, or the stripe running down the fuselage) and the hockey stick (the cheatline being carried up into the tail, which i…sort of did…to incorporate it into the saltire) combined with an element that didn’t really become popular until after the 70s (the ‘eurowhite’ color scheme that forced me to invert the saltire)

if caledonian’s origins can be traced back to regional flights in the very late 70s, slowly growing the fleet until acquiring the A320 to expand its range, i’d want it to have a sort of ‘retro’ looking livery. the original planes probably wouldn’t have been white, though. most likely aluminum

i used helvetica for the name of the airline on the side of the fuselage, which also happens to look very similar to the font of choice for philippine airlines. i did not realize this until after i’d exported it because my dad looked over my shoulder and commented.

this is their ‘redesign’ livery and the last one before the acquisition. i’d previously depicted a version of it back in 2021 but when i tried it for size parts of it looked so horrifying that i had to change it up a bit

caledonian has always existed in my head as some mix of ‘national carrier’ and ‘budget airline’ swinging a little more toward the latter for purposes of the lfeu so the bold color scheme and billboard style is honestly inspired by airlines like southwest (thank god they’re not shit brown anymore), easyjet (easy go… and thee air caledonian blueprint), and spirit (highlighter planes)

the saltire was literally me messing around with brushes and realizing like hmmmm. this actually looks pretty neat! now i know i’ve been saying air caledonian’s probably a budget airline, but as stated before, it’s also got some elements of the national carrier thing going, which is why i’m so insistent on the saltire motif

not to do with the livery but i also think since cal exists in that grey area they do have certain elements of a Not Low Cost Airline (like business class vs economy seats…i mean you’re not lying flat in any of these planes lol but you can have a kit if the pilots didn’t burgle the socks out of them) and that could have financially hurt them which would make selling out to swiss more appealing and less wounding that a ‘national carrier’ is being chopped. idk how this works though. im playing with airlines like dolls

the uniforms

i love designing uniforms. actually i love uniforms in general. i miss wearing a school uniform i did not have to think about what to wear on a daily basis. i could commit time to silly fanfiction and my meager attempts at making my own drawing style

qantas did not have tailored uniforms for differing body types until 2016 but this is fiction and the chief pilot of air cal is canonically a #GirlDad. we have tailored uniforms here. and a hat/tie variant. and a skirt option.

i reasoned since air caledonian is a scottish airline it should have formalized cold weather uniform requirements and i saw some rly cute pullover sweaters (think they were on easyjet pilots) so those went in

also the reason hats are required with the trench coat is for easy recognizability. this is indeed a policy at some airlines. martin crieff does have a point here.

oh also i darkened the jackets and trousers lol i just felt like it looked better

i think that’s all i wanted to say…

[the-firebird69]

Watch "Kikker 5150 hardknok HK-III" on YouTube

Well pleased to reintroduce the Hard knock kicker 5150 line of motorcycles for sale now globally and we are available online to take your order. We're looking for store locations if you would like to offer one we are interested in franchisees and we do have deals on bulk orders and small bulk orders for those interested in becoming a distributor so please feel free to use our website and enjoy have a good time riding.

The bikes are available in three sizes no, we do have a smaller size but this is pretty much the large size that we sell most of and the smaller sizes for smaller people. And this is a 250cc but our motors are larger and faster a lot faster.

Thor Freya

I want to sell these in store so I'm going to open one and you said they're looking for a franchisees so Im going to open a store. I have a location and everything and main is closed the state but they do have all those shoe company buildings and yes I thought of it and he's amazed it's greatness and I'm putting my proposal together. They are saying yes already but they haven't seen what I'm thinking and he's curious. I want to take the stores and plop them all over the United States I have a plan of approach to attack and systematic and he'll think that I'm nuts but I want to put them in Florida using those resort places that never sold and see them sitting there empty I just prep them move them. And the best part is to try and get them to one and can't get there so keep trying lol. He likes it. They do. Thor Freya approve it. We move on it now

Hera

Great idea!

And I need some

Zues

You shall have some

Hera

We approve

Olympus

Good. I see it too. Cheap buildings and re used and inexpensive as is the bike. Good. Needed this too

Thor

We ride too soon.

Freya

Lol on our brand new Hard knock 5150

Hera

Thank you Hera

Zues

You're welcome Zeus i see why, i revived it

Hera

Good too the best I see him too hey I'm sensitive now and felt it sad from loss so we revive it now advertise it

Thor Freya

Need this it up and out on now. We see why. We begin an ad campaign now all. Hardknocks style ok. Lol good we see it

Olympus

I post mine ok. Online and tagged. Put on my websites a button get funding per hit and on billboards in restaurants and more. Clubs etc bars especially

Hera

Me now I'm at a bar post it too

Zues on thier board hv cards too I resell. Bought 100 will sell 99. Good price too at suggested retail 1,850.00 I mk 200/bike

We do this I hv 300 I sell at retail 1,800.00 make 200/ bike now. Awesome lots say

Hera

We buy the bulk and I have 4,000 and I'm selling it 1750 and I made 200 a bike and and that's a lot of dough this is sold out already

Thor Freya

I'm at 40,000 and I'm selling them I make $300 a bike. And I'm sold out and I'm a millionaire

Zig

Me too, I sold out same numbers together made 2 million dollars

Zag

The buy them get a resale license and we can get those houses too and modify them today

Mac

I'm putting up a shop and it will be in Florida and it's going to sell like madness tons I said they want one.

Zues

Me too but in Arizona

Thor Freya

I'm setting up mine in California right now I know so probably a billion bikes and I made 200 bucks now I'll make probably 400 each and that's $400 billion dollars

Hera

And yes one shop has been known to sell that money bikes so you should get your franchise now

[studentofetherium]

and now for some criticism of a 50 year old book that none of my followers have read

The Monkey Wrench Gang is such a problematic text because while i love parts of its messaging, particularly the fact that people who care about the environment should rise up and protect it themselves, it's also wretched in many other ways, including the very message i like

so the point of the book is that a dam is being built, and it will kill the local ecosystem to do so. this is bad, so the protagonists, the titular monkey wrench gang, set out to stop it through the use of everyday common tools to sabotage industrial equipment. namely, a monkeywrench to loosen the screws. that's a beautiful message to send. we already have the tools to make the world a better place, we just need to use them

the problem is that the book is deeply, deeply libertarian. this exists in two forms. the first is the classical definition, the bottom half of the political compass. the book is deeply anti-authoritarian and anti-government. cool! i am too! but while it doesn't resemble the "sell cocaine to the child sex slaves" brand of capital L Libertarianism that would come to be known over the next 50 years, the book is still very much right-wing in nature. while the characters want to protect the environment, they do so because it's something they like, not because of some greater good. it's a selfish form of environmentalism. on its own, that might be fine, but the selfishness affects the text. the earliest act of monkeywrenching the characters engage in is blowing up billboards in the desert. are billboards a problem to natural beauty? yes, definitely. is anything gained by destroying them? no. if you have an issue with them, you can lobby with the local government to ban or limit them. except the book is so deeply libertarian that it sees the individual solution as the only one

also, the book is really sexist. i never finished it because the single female character is treated like shit, and the male characters aren't any more pleasant

but the book doesn't exist in isolation. The Monkey Wrench Gang formed a political movement, Earth First! who saw it as their bible to protect the world. with the understanding that the key to saving the world was in their hand, they set forth to protect the natural beauty of the US. i love Earth First! they are a cornerstone of my political ideology. but The Monkey Wrench Gang casts a dark shadow over the history of the group

Earth First! was founded by men who saw themselves in the protagonists of the book. rude, aggressive men. Libertarians. Dave Foreman (who i just delightfully learned is dead) in particular was outspoken about what the group should be, which was gruff, libertarian men who did things on their own. and for many years, that's what Earth First! was

but in the late 80s, Earth First! began to experience a cultural shift as they focused their attention away from the American Southwest and towards the Pacific Northwest, where extreme logging threatened to completely strip the region of its forests. a lot of the people who participated in Earth First! events in the PNW were young women (such as my mom), and importantly, left-wing. by the end of this cultural shift in the early 90s, Earth First! had a notably anarchist lean, and David Foreman had left (he was mad about this until his death. lol)

Redwood Summer was a months-long event where Earth First! had thousands of volunteers show up. the summer was preceded by an attempted FBI assassination too. between the bombing and the loud noise they were able to make, the movement caught national attention. Redwood Summer remains the event that the group is most known for, and once they got what they were trying for, aka local governments limiting the amount of logging that companies were able to do, there was a noticeable decline in activity

i love Earth First! but their origins are deeply problematic because it's so much rooted in The Monkey Wrench Gang and the budding libertarian ideology of the 70s. other texts were used as inspiration, such as Silent Spring by Rachel Carson or A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold, but The Monkey Wrench Gang and the individualism it espoused were always a core part of the group, especially in its early days. it's also hard to separate The Monkey Wrench Gang from the practice of tree spiking, which is putting metal spikes in trees to prevent logging. this doesn't harm the tree, so theoretically a forest can be spiked, and the company logging it informed of such, meaning that they have to leave it alone, as if a spiked tree is logged, it will destroy equipment such as saws. the problem is that this can easily lead to loggers being hurt or killed, such as if a chainsaw's band breaks and strikes them. for advocates of the rugged individualism, this is fine, because it's their fault for logging in the first place, but any reasonable view will see this as unacceptable, because the loggers themselves are not the ones at fault. tree spiking was controversial for many years and Earth First! pamphlets would come with guilds for how to effectively tree spike. it was eventually banned, but it's a black mark on the group's history

i've lost the point here, a bit. all of this is the legacy of The Monkey Wrench Gang. i respect it for starting this movement which would go on to be so important, but at the same time, the text itself is rather vile and the worst aspects of Earth First! all lay in this and similar texts. i wish i could find more personal value in it, but it's a case where everything of value to do with it is what came after. people don't talk about the book much anymore except in the context of Earth First! but i think it has a fascinating history and despite all the Problems i just spent a thousand words talking about, i think it would do the world some good to have it and similar texts be apart of the discourse again

[sunmiyah]

?? what did they say? that billboard 26th place not good enough for them or?

the company posted an article thats super tone deaf like calling the blm movement a hot issue ??? and then basically praising bts and armys for donating and saying bts are so influential they should win a grammy and if they dont .. is cause of this  racist music industry that hates them and they are gonna be robbed just like Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar ... which doesn't make no sense cause they are successful in their own music industry already 😭 idk I keep reading the article and its so confusing and stupid . 

I think the main problem is that now that BTS is successful big hit cant sell  the underdogs act anymore like they cant sing about struggles from being at the bottom cause its like bro you are the biggest bg in the world every member is filty rich what struggles can you really have right now ?? so now everyone is just realizing all they are doing is plain capitalism and its gonna start crumbling apart lol 

[hoochy-coo]

The sentiment that having a man open the show somehow goes against their attempt at “giving women their flowers” is just a lazy attempt at criticizing the Grammys any way you can. Literally nobody cares if a woman or a man opens the show LOL that’s actually ridiculous. And by the way, how have they marketed this year as “giving women their flowers”???? That’s literally not true. Just because Dua and Taylor got a lot of nominations doesn’t mean that. Last year Ariana, Billie, and Lizzo were everywhere in nominations.

Harry is literally a decade into his career. His solo career has been 5 years long and he’s been performing for 10 years. To act like he’s “not ready” is based on zero merit. Go watch his Kiwi performances or his Medicine performances, or his Only Angel performances. He knows how to keep a crowd entertained and he’s also clearly going all out with opening the Grammys, so I don’t know why you think he’s just going to stand at a mic and sing. Also saying that his music just isn’t the sound you’d expect to open the Grammys is very weird. First of all, why does only one type of music merit Grammy opening status? Secondly, Lizzo literally played the flute to open the show last year - is flute playing considered typical Grammy opener style? No. She sang a ballad also. There’s many ways you can open the show and I guarantee Harry will bring it visually as well.

Harry had the biggest pop album of the last year by the numbers, look at the Billboard list and IFPI list if you don’t think that’s true. He had 2 huge hits, one of which went #1 and the other which peaked at #6. He has also had one of the biggest breakthrough years we’ve seen in a while. Lizzo had a breakout year in 2019 and then she opened. Nobody complained then because it made sense then also. Harry was also snubbed from the general field so having him open is a nice make up gift for that all time robbery. He knows how to perform and has been doing it for years. Taylor Swift throwing her hair around and singing off key doesn’t merit an opening act yet she’s gotten it plenty of times, so I don’t get your argument there either.

There’s no reason he that he doesn’t deserve this nor is there any reason that somebody else deserves it above him. He had a massive year, and on top of that he’s going to draw in ratings, it’s as simple as that. If you’re bitter he’s opening the show, just say that.

Ok firstly, you’re coming at me very aggressively when my answer to you was perfectly respectful to your opinion and polite. I literally said I didn't Harry was ready to open for reason A, B, C, D, E, so I don’t know why you felt need to tell me “YOU’RE WRONG!!!” just because I responded with why I personally felt this wasn’t his year. If you think it is then that’s perfectly fine. Some of us just simply don’t feel that way and that’s okay. 

Secondly, considering that this is a MASSIVE year for female artists across all genres, I can see why a bunch of people was looking forward to a female opening act. That’s not weird imo. If you don’t care about who opens then that’s perfectly fine too, some of us do, obviously. 

Thirdly, I apologize I misspoke and said he's 2-3 years into his career. What I should have said that he was 2 eras in and his first era wasn’t an all-around/global hit. (In terms of his career as a part of 1D, performing as a group vs. performing as a solo should not be comparable - 5 people carrying a stage and captivating an audience is simply shared work. Being a solo artist means having to do all of that by yourself.) FL is undoubtedly his breakout era, and I don’t think this era has really showcased his skill as a performer all that much either. Hence, I said that in my prior response that I didn’t think this was the era for it. Had the self-titled era been as big as this era and he’d been asked to open with ‘Kiwi’ or ‘Only Angel’ or even ‘Sign of the Times’ then I would have actually thought that was a good fit musically. No one type of music is suitable for the opening performance but FL’s songs, in general, don’t have a climax point, the bridge is stagnant. That’s not a critique on the music itself but when there is no peak in a song, that can dull down a performance. Also, no one ever said they thought he was gonna stand there and sing. We simply didn’t think he was going to deliver to the standard of let’s say, Bey, Kendrick, Lizzo, Adele, and this included if he danced around the stage. No one ever called him a bad performance, but we just doubt he could put on a show because again, that takes experience to figure out what works. Speaking of Lizzo, she is a songstress. Her performance hinges on her vocals and her music showcase her vocal. If she’d given an opening performance that consisted of dancing around and fancy props/effects, then it would have taken away from her strong point as an artist and that’s what people want to see from her. Harry does not excel as a vocalist to that level - most of us aren’t looking to him for that. Also, saying that there is ‘zero merit’ to is convenient for you when all of this is subjective. Hence, I said before this that if you think he’s ready/the right fit then no one can tell you you’re wrong just like you shouldn’t be dismissing anyone else’s opinion just because it contradicts yours. Also, I looked up the numbers for the biggest selling pop albums of 2020 and Billboard tells me it’s ‘folklore.’ I’m unsure how accurate that is but that’s what the site says. I won’t be getting into what you said about Taylor as a performer because that’s your opinion and you’re entitled to that. 

Fourthly, we all acknowledge that Harry will be drawing in an audience due to his fanbase. This was never brought up at all and we were all simply focusing on his skills when discussing how suitable he is to do the opening performance. 

[factual-fantasy]

I'm just skenjendnd looking through a bunch of your art I missed and wondering how the fuck you arent famous???? Like it's all just so amazing and awesome and like your art should be on TV and billboards and books and merch. Dude, one day you're gonna be incredibly famous, I know it. Your style just makes me so happy and I feel like one day its gonna make millions of people happy.

This was the coolest thing I could’ve woken up to. (*´∀`*) (the rest of this is just going to be me struggling to take a compliment lol.)

I think I’m as famous as I’m gonna get, 1,116 followers is the most I’ve ever gotten in anything anywhere. I-I don’t know how well my art would do on TV, books and billboards haha.. I’d have to go to some kind of school to learn how to draw properly heh.. self taught me ain’t going too far like this. ●﹏●;

I’ve actually been asked a few times if I take paid commissions and if I ever plan to sell my art. I don’t think that would.. I-I mean, for one I don’t.. really know how to do that at all.. and I’ve heard too many stories of artists being scammed and having their art stolen. I’ve already had it stolen once and don’t know how i’d handle it if money was involved.. B-But maybe one day I could be known, m-maybe not famous though haha.(ー﹏ー;)

And that last part.. I.. I don’t know what to say.. I knew my art could make people smile maybe.. but.. I never in a million years thought.. that I could..That my art would be..

..Well.. thank you. Just.. thank you so much. This means a whole lot to me. All of you do. Every single one of you guys. I hope one day I can do that. Spread joy and happiness as far as it can go. Someone could be having a bad day, see something I drew and.. just feel a little better.

If my art can do that to at least one person. All of this would have been worth it.

Thank you for sending me this. My morning started out pretty rough, This is just what I needed to lift my spirits. ♡●ᴗ●♡

[obxfiles]

I feel that way about the BBMA noms too.. Like, JUST Top Social and Duo/Group?? No. That's not enough. I dunno; was the Savage Love remix put out too late?? 'Cause that hit number one and it would've been a great collab nomination too you know? It's high key unfair, not that I'm discrediting any other artist but BTS really deserves a lot more... Also we're definitely bias but the truth is that they do deserve more so I don't think we're being catty. 💕💖💓💘💞 Hmm... On second thought maybe we are, but HELLO, there's a reason behind it. Just waiting for the day! Suga wants a Grammy so it's definitely gonna happen for them!

right?????? they’ve been like, the top of the top and it’s like that one person said “they constantly outsell, constantly outperform, and yet aren’t acknowledged” it’s just irritating. like i just found out that the awards are tonight and i looked up the nominations so, so excited because we’ve been dominating the chart and to see just those two categories.....there was one like “top chart artist” or “top 100 artist” and it just feels like those sorts of categories, we should be under too. like i’m grateful for the nominations, but i just feel like bts have earned more than just “top social group” it also reminds me back when billie eilish said she was the top selling artist or something when it reality it was bts. it’s like no one, not even the other artists, know bts’ accomplishments. they’re just deserving of so, so much. and other artists are deserving too, but bts have been working so, so, so hard for so long. and especially with how they’ve been the top of the charts and broken billboard records, i was just expecting a bit more. i’m so glad you understood what i was trying to say lol i don’t want to sound like i’m putting down other artists but it just felt like “oh my gosh this is finally bts’ time” and then to see what we were nominated for......*sigh* did you watch bts on fallon! he was so confident that grammy is gonna come to them, and i am all about that energy. they need more jimmy’s in their corner over here. i just wish more people over here knew. that’s also the big problem, that no one really knows. but thankfully more and more people are being introduced to them through things like dynamite and the whole bts jimmy fallon week. their hard work and passion and pure talent is being showcased finally, and i just know so many good things are still in store for them. 

[audreycj-things]

[𝓫𝓵𝓸𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓮𝓮]   Why League of Legends’ K/DA is Slaying the Music Scene

Have you ever stumbled across social media posts about a virtual girl group called K/DA? You know, the one with a pretty nine-tailed fox girl? Rings a bell? Well, you should have because this year, the group has been continually spoiling us with breathtaking music and visuals. K/DA regularly tests the limits of that border between virtual reality and actual reality, so it’s no surprise that they’ve gained a strong fan base beyond the gaming world in just a few months.

Before anything else, what is League of Legends?

Popularly abbreviated as LoL or League, League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games in 2009. It is often cited as the most popular game in the world, both competitively and casually.

The mode most people are familiar with takes place in one map called Summoner’s Rift. In this mode, a game involves two teams of five members. All players assume the role of chosen champions, which are characters with unique abilities and characteristics. The goal is to destroy the opposing team’s Nexus, a structure that lies at the heart of their base. Along the way, there are plenty of obstacles and objectives that can easily turn the game around.

For me, league is incredibly fun when I get all my friends into voice chat and play with them. It’s been a great destressor for me whenever online classes overwhelm me too much. Cheers to my friends who are always down to play with me!

Well, what is K/DA?

K/DA is a virtual girl group consisting of four themed versions of League of Legends characters, namely Ahri, Akali, Evelynn, and Kai’Sa.

Ahri (voiced by K-pop group (G)I-dle member Miyeon) is a nine-tailed foxgirl mage in League, who is one of the most popular characters in the game. In-game, her abilities revolve primarily around dashing around and a Charm ability which forces enemies to walk towards her. In K/DA, Ahri and Evelynn serve as the main vocalists.

Akali (voiced by K-pop group (G)I-dle member Soyeon) is an assassin-type character who weaves in and out of the darkness and throws kunai (a Japanese tool and weapon) at opponents. In K/DA, Akali is the rapper of the group.

Evelynn (voiced by American singer Madison Beer) is, similar to Akali, an assassin-type character, whose lore is centered around being a succubus. In K/DA, Ahri and Evelynn serve as the main vocalists.

Kai'Sa (voiced by American singer Jaira Burns) is a marksman character in the game. According to her lore, after spending most of her life trapped in The Void, a horrific alternate dimension, she returned as a killer who zooms around and shoots missiles from cannons floating above her shoulders. In K/DA, Kai'Sa is the main dancer of the group.

The group was developed by Riot Games, the company behind League of Legends. The concept around K/DA was based on Riot’s desire to create more musical content, promote the League Worlds Championship, and sell in-game K/DA skins of the characters. And the name “K/DA” is actually an in-game term that refers to a player’s kills, deaths, and assists. Talk about creativity!

Needless to say, K/DA has achieved significant popularity within and beyond the league community. Aside from flooding social media platforms with official posts and fan-made content, the group is breaking YouTube records and charting on Billboard’s world lists. It’s a perfect case of virtual reality transcending the boundaries of the 2D world.

How are they dominating the world?

Simple: by releasing banger songs paired with equally stunning visuals!

     [1]   POP/STARS (2018)

POP/STARS was released as a single on November 2, 2018 as promotion for the 2018 League of Legends World Championship. It became popular with one of the fastest viewership records for its music on YouTube. Commercially, the song topped the World Digital Songs chart, making K/DA the fourth K-pop girl group to top the chart and fifth female act overall.

    [2]   THE BADDEST (2020)

The Baddest was released as a single on August 27, 2020. It is also the lead single from K/DA’s extended play All Out. It is the group’s first song since POP/STARS in 2018. The song was accompanied by a lyric video which was uploaded to League’s to official YouTube channel.

   [3]   MORE (2020)

More was released as a single on October 28, 2020. It is also a single from K/DA’s extended play All Out. It features Seraphine, League’s newest champion who was initially introduced as a virtual influencer on Twitter and Instagram.

  [4]   VILLAIN (2020)

Villain was released as a single on November 14, 2020. It is also a single from K/DA’s extended play All Out. The song was accompanied by a concept video which was uploaded to League’s to official YouTube channel.

BONUS: SERAPHINE CONTENT

As established earlier, Seraphine started out as a virtual influencer on Twitter and Instagram. Before professionally stepping into the music industry, she began in the comfort of her home, doing songs covers and uploading them to YouTube. (She is voiced by Jasmine Clarke.)

Well, her covers are absolutely amazing. Here is my most favorite one. I hope it blesses your ears as much as it did mine!

      ☆  CHILDHOOD DREAMS

[mermaidsirennikita]

ngl my heart dropped when I saw the bridgerton posters. I wasn’t surprised they’d put the 3 of them on a poster, but to not give kate/anthony one together at all? I really didn’t think they’d go so far. How is that fair or logical? I think I might get a little incensed the first time I see it on a billboard.

I’m just really baffled by the strategy. It’s not like they’ve been hiding Simone/Kate as the female lead. But they keep muddling everything by inserting Edwina. I naively thought with the last few days they’d begun pivoting to selling the couple. It’s one thing to have a love triangle in the plot, but for it to seep into the marketing…it feels like it cheapens and kind of undermines the actual K/A romance.

I also just hate the visual of Anthony being flanked by 2 brown sisters.

I think it's valid to dislike that visual and it's something I can see as an issue as well. I would love a poster of just Kate and Anthony, looking romantic together--I think it should happen, and I think it very well may, as the tie-in cover has not been officially designated.

But I'll be honest: for me, personally, the ~love triangle~ is not a big deal. Firstly, because we haven't even seen a trailer, let alone the whole season, which makes it impossible for me to judge what they'll actually do. Secondly, because like... yeah. No wonder they're using that to promote the show. Love triangles may be hated by fandom, but they tend to reliably get eyeballs--Jacob vs. Edward, Damon vs. Stefan, Gu Jun-pyo vs. Yoon Ji-hu. The list goes on. They sell, like it or not.

I also think it sounds fun. To be blunt, I think that there is kind of a romanticizing and softening of the love story in the book. I've seen people discussing the like "slow burn from dislike to respect to friendship" with Kate and Anthony. Like... what? Anthony was courting her sister, they sniped each other verbally, he forcefully kissed her and played some grabass before saying he wouldn't marry her, and they ultimately only ended up together because he thought she was gonna die after a bee stung her tit. I think what makes them one of the more appealing Bridgerton couples is that there is a level of dirtiness and nastiness (however mild; lol believe me, I've read and loved MUCH worse) to their romance.

I don't see the story as being tainted at all if Edwina has a crush on Anthony while Kate and Anthony long for each other. To me, that sounds fun. I don't want to watch a story where people act perfectly nice to each other and then decide to marry. One of my favorite parts of the book? Is when he forcefully kisses her and says he won't marry her. That's such an asshole move. And I love it.

This is most likely going to be a very mild love triangle. But honestly, if it wasn't, I'd be down. Give Edwina and Kate some sisterly angst to get through. Give me the forbidden kisses in the woods before Anthony gets his shit together. Give me DRAMA.

And honestly, it's just marketing. I understand that's how you feel about it and I respect that, but the angle of the marketing often doesn't reflect the angle of the plot. If you'd gone by the marketing in s1, you might think that Marina was like, a character the show had respect for. And that wasn't really the case, unfortunately.

[zanesgirlfriend]

Celebrity Crush | Zane Hijazi

Requested?: yes by anonymous : hey gorgeous! i was wondering if you could do an ilya (or zane or matt) imagine where y/n is like an actual singer (sells out stadiums and everything) and is carly’s sis or something (so there’s a correlation LOL) and everyone’s like “how’d he get her??” and she was like his ultimate celeb crush. idk but it’s just really cute and stuff ??? i hope that made sense and i LOVE your writing! ✨✨✨

A/N: i took out the correlation and carlys sis thing and kinda made them each other’s celebrity crushes lol but i hope you like it!

_____

Y/n was huge. Her face was on billboards everywhere, she was headlining Coachella, and she had a sold out world tour coming up. Inside, though, she was a sheepish young fangirl that just wanted to do what she loved. Any time she had off from working was spent talking to fans and watching YouTube. 

“Who is your celebrity crush?” The interviewer asked her as she sat in front of a colorful backdrop. She blushed and a name immediately popped into her head.

“Okay well, he’s not like a traditional celebrity, but I’m obsessed with the Vlog Squad, and I swear I’m in love with Zane Hijazi.” She giggled as she awaited the next question.

Zane holy fuck YOU HAVE TO WATCH Y/N’S NEW INTERVIEW NOW

The texts were blowing up his phone. He was in love with y/n, and literally cried when she followed him on Instagram. He got all excited and nervous as he wondered what everybody was going on about. He screamed when she said he was her celebrity crush. He jumped up and down on his couch, freaking out like twelve year old girl. Fans were almost as crazy as he was.

There’s no way Zane could get with Y/N

How did he get lucky enough to have her attention?

Bro how did he get y/n I don’t get it

As soon as he arrived to David’s house they were asking him if he was going to DM her.

“Should I message her? Or just like put the clip on my story or something?” Zane asked calmly, even though he was freaking out inside.

“Do both!” Carly suggested.

“Or when you put it on your story, tell her to DM you.” Jeff added in. Zane liked that idea and did exactly that. He filmed David’s laptop as it played that question in it, and then he tagged her and wrote ‘don’t hesitate to slide into my DM’s’

She squealed when she saw his story, replying to it with a simple ‘omg hey’ before turning back to her makeup artist. The group screamed as her message appeared on his phone. Before long the two had exchanged numbers and moved onto texting.

David wants you to be in the vlog now that we’re friends lol

I WOULD LOVE THAT (and then we could finally meet!)

yes! are you in town any time soon?

I’m off for a few days next week, and then I have a photo shoot in L.A.! Maybe I could fly in early and we could hang out?

And so they did. Y/n went straight from the airport to David’s house, happily shooting a few bits, and surprising a few fans for his vlog. Zane sat next to her all day, talking to her any chance he could. It wasn’t until later that he invited her back to his place.

“You have a beautiful house.” She commented as Zane rolled her suitcase through the door.

“You have a beautiful face.” He said before laughing. “I’m sorry, that was cheesy, this is all just so weird.” He admitted as he lead her into the living room.

“Thank you! I actually love cheesy stuff.” Y/n told Zane as they sat down. They became very aware of how close they were, and suddenly all she wanted to do was kiss him.

“Well, I’m basically a walking ball of Mozzarella, so hopefully you’ll love me.” He jiggled his belly slightly, making y/n laugh. She was still so focused on his face though. Their eyes locked and she leaned in, really taking a risk.

“I think I will, don’t worry.” She muttered before finally kissing Zane.

[acoolchickouthere13]

November 2019 Taylor hosts friendsgiving

November 24, 2019 Artists of the Decade AMAs

“In 2020, Swift will embark on Lover Fest, a run of stadium dates that will feature a hand-picked lineup of artists (as yet unannounced) and allow Swift more time off from the road. ‘This is a year where I have to be there for my family -- there’s a lot of question marks throughout the next year, so I wanted to make sure that I could go home,’ says Swift, likely referencing her mother’s cancer diagnosis. ...New artists and producers and writers need work, and they need to be likable and get booked in sessions, and they can’t make noise -- but if I can, then I’m going to,” promises Swift. This is where being impossibly famous can be a very good thing. “I know that it seems like I’m very loud about this,’ she says, ‘but it’s because someone has to be.’...I’ve spent a lot of time recalibrating my life to make it feel manageable. Because there were some years there where I felt like I didn’t quite know what exactly to give people and what to hold back, what to share and what to protect. I think a lot of people go through that, especially in the last decade. I broke through pre-social media, and then there was this phase where social media felt fun and casual and quirky and safe. And then it got to the point where everyone has to evaluate their relationship with social media. So I decided that the best thing I have to offer people is my music. I’m not really here to influence their fashion or their social lives. That has bled through into the live part of what I do….I get so many phone calls from new artists out of the blue -- like, “Hey, I’m getting my first wave of bad press, I’m freaking out, can I talk to you?” And the answer is always yes! I’m talking about more than 20 people who have randomly reached out to me. I take it as a compliment because it means that they see what has happened over the course of my career, over and over again….From a creative standpoint, I’ve been writing alone a lot more. I’m good with being alone, with thinking alone. When I come up with a marketing idea for the Lover tour, the album launch, the merch, I’ll go right to my management company that I’ve put together. I think a team is the best way to be managed. Just from my experience, I don’t think that this overarching, one-person-handles-my-career thing was ever going to work for me. Because that person ends up kind of being me who comes up with most of the ideas, and then I have an amazing team that facilitates those ideas.

The behind-the-scenes work is different for every phase of my career that I’m in. Putting together the festival shows that we’re doing for Lover is completely different than putting together the Reputation Stadium Tour. Putting together the reputation launch was so different than putting together the 1989 launch. So we really do attack things case by case, where the creative first informs everything else. ...I do think about [starting a label or signing other artists] every once in a while, but if I was going to do it, I would need to do it with all of my energy. I know how important that is, when you’ve got someone else’s career in your hands, and I know how it feels when someone isn’t generous….Thankfully, there’s power in writing your music. Every week, we get a dozen synch requests to use “Shake It Off” in some advertisement or “Blank Space” in some movie trailer, and we say no to every single one of them. And the reason I’m rerecording my music next year is because I do want my music to live on. I do want it to be in movies, I do want it to be in commercials. But I only want that if I own it. [i dont know how long the recording process will take, but] it’s going to be fun, because it’ll feel like regaining a freedom and taking back what’s mine. When I created [these songs], I didn’t know what they would grow up to be. Going back in and knowing that it meant something to people is actually a really beautiful way to celebrate what the fans have done for my music.”(x)

Christmas Tree Farm Dec. 1, 2019(p: Jimmy Napes) here

“Icy and blue”

Dec. 4, 2019

Dec. 4, 2019 karlie sells her west village apt. here...meanwhile reports say Taylor “spends a lot of time in London with Joe and doesn’t go out much” and it’s hilarious

I don’t know when The Man was shot yet, but I just put it here

Dec. 13, 2019=30 years old, Billboard Woman of the Decade here

Dec. 16, 2019 jack tweets “hi from the studio”...Taylor goes to Cats premiere in London with Joe

Dec. 18, 2019

(Wears the same shirt March 4, 2019)

Reports say Taylor was in London with Joe the week of Christmas, and family flew in from Nashville BUT WHAT I FIND INTERESTING IS JACK’s TWEET THE NEXT DAY SEEMS CRYPTIC GIVEN THIS CONTEXT WETHER ITS TRUE OR NOT lol

December 27, 2019 jack tweets “ok. back to the studio now. goodmorning to my upstairs neighbors!”

January 1, 2020 Taylor goes to concert in Maldives with Joe

January 5, 2020

“Her experience with the trial was crucial, she says, in finding herself “needing to speak up about beliefs I’d always had, because it felt like an opportunity to shed light on what those trials are like. I experienced it as a person with extreme privilege, so I can only imagine what it’s like when you don’t have that. And I think one theme that ended up emerging in the film is what happens when you are not just a people pleaser but someone who’s always been respectful of authority figures, doing what you were supposed to do, being polite at all costs. I still think it’s important to be polite, but not at all costs,” she says. “Not when you’re being pushed beyond your limits, and not when people are walking all over you. I needed to get to a point where I was ready, able and willing to call out bulls— rather than just smiling my way through it.”...[Regarding the speech at the Woman of the Decade BBA]: “Well, I do sleep well at night knowing that I’m right,” she responds, “and knowing that in 10 years it will have been a good thing that I spoke about artists’ rights to their art, and that we bring up conversations like: Should record deals maybe be for a shorter term, or how are we really helping artists if we’re not giving them the first right of refusal to purchase their work if they want to?” “Obviously, anytime you’re standing up against or for anything, you’re never going to receive unanimous praise. But that’s what forces you to be brave. And that’s what’s different about the way I live my life now.” (Braun’s camp could not be reached for comment.)...Whereas typically she’d spend nine months in the year after an album release on the road, she plans to limit herself to four stadium dates in America this summer and a trip around the festival circuit in Europe. This may not be 100% for personal reasons: “I wanted to be able to perform in places that I hadn’t performed in as much, and to do things I hadn’t done before, like Glastonbury,” she says. “I feel like I haven’t done festivals, really, since early in my career — they’re fun and bring people together in a really cool way. But I also wanted to be able to work as much as I can handle right now, with everything that’s going on at home. And I wanted to figure out a way that I could do both those things.”

Is being able to be there for her mother the main concern? “Yeah, that’s it. That’s the reason,” she says. “I mean, we don’t know what is going to happen. We don’t know what treatment we’re going to choose. It just was the decision to make at the time, for right now, for what’s going on. Everyone loves their mom; everyone’s got an important mom,” she allows. “But for me, she’s really the guiding force. Almost every decision I make, I talk to her about it first. So obviously it was a really big deal to ever speak about her illness.” During filming, when Andrea’s cancer had returned for a second time, “she was going through chemo, and that’s a hard enough thing for a person to go through.” Then it got harder. Speaking about this latest development publicly for the first time, Swift quietly reveals: “While she was going through treatment, they found a brain tumor. And the symptoms of what a person goes through when they have a brain tumor is nothing like what we’ve ever been through with her cancer before. So it’s just been a really hard time for us as a family….I chose Netflix because it’s a very vast, accessible medium to people who are just like, ‘Hey, what’s this? I’m bored.’ I love that, because I do so many things that cater specifically to fans that like my music, I think it’s important to put yourself out there to people who don’t care at all about you.”...I don’t think I’ve ever written this much. That’s exhibited in ‘Lover’ having the most songs that I’ve ever had on an album” (18, to be exact). “But even after I made the album, I kept writing and going in the studio. That’s a new thing I’ve experienced this time around. That openness kind of feels like you finally got the lid off a jar you’ve been working at for years. ...you become a brand. That’s inevitable for me, but I do think that it’s really necessary to feel like I can still communicate with people. And as a songwriter, it’s really important to still feel human and process things in a human way. The through line of all that is humanity, and reaching out and talking to people and having them see things that aren’t cute. There’s a lot that’s not cute in this documentary.”(x)

January 5, 2020 Taylor goes to Golden Globes with Joe

January 27, 2020

February 6, 2020-LA

February 12, 2020 Taylor goes to NME awards in London with Joe

February 23, 2020 Joe’s birthday-double date in London at restaurant

February 24-28, 2020

March 3, 2020

[dippedanddripped]

A Q&A With Keary Kase On Pioneering Hip Hop In Portland

Trenton, NJ born rapper Keary Kase is now pioneering hip hop from Portland, Oregon. After having been involved in a Nike ad campaign that featured him on Billboards across the US, Keary’s singles began to top the radio charts. He began to work with artists like The Wutang Clan and producers Bosko and Non-Stop Da Hitman. Most recently, he partnered with Adidas designers in Portland to develop ‘Reder’ – an athletic apparel brand with focus on CBD delivery systems for athletes who are recovering from injuries.

We had the chance to sit down with Keary Kase to talk about Portland’s thriving hip hop scene, his Nike campaign, and what fans and followers can expect in 2020.

Tell us a little bit about the hip hop scene in Portland. We’d love to know more!

Portland hip hop has so many facets, I’m not sure where to begin. We do have a solid foundation of originals, like Mic Crenshaw, Cool Nutz, Mellenium (Kenny Mack), Maniac Lok, Bosko, Vursatyl, X-Kid, DJ Wicked, Pete Miser and myself, who are still active.

Having strong artists, who have made careers in Hip Hop, as role models and idols allows the kids to aspire to become musical artists. Without these examples, the endless call to normalcy and job security (which we all now know is B/S) by pretty much EVERYBODY, would lead these young Ore-guns to self doubt and failure.

Mike Capes, Swiggle Mandela, Drae Steve’s, JR Patton and Keith Canvas are a few Portland artists to check out.

Right now, a lot of artists are showing support to the BLM movement using their voices to speak, rather than rap to those participating in protests, rallies and such.

How do you feel being originally from the east coast has affected your musical style?

In my embryonic years, I saw myself as an east coast rapper. I felt like, with the exception of rappers like Ice T, Too Short, NWA and The DOC, west coast rappers were mostly basic compared to east coast rappers. They had KRS, Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick (my favorite golden era rapper), Special ED, Kool G Rap & Polo, RAKIM!!! Plus WBLS used to play all the hot new shit off the block.

I was enamored by east coast swagger and tone. The slang and accent was natural for me because my entire family spoke with it. My ability to slip in and out of the style made me different in Portland.

In the early 90’s I started spending time in LA. I was slanging FIMO beads to tourists at Venice Beach in the daylight and going to clubs and shows at night. I met this dude named Self Jupiter at this summer festival called The African Marketplace, where I was selling jewelry and celebrating my black youth. Jupiter was a member of a rap group called Freestyle Fellowship. He gave me a tape. After I listened to it, my entire opinion of west coast hip hop was turned upside down. I witnessed west coast rappers like Volume 10, WC, Divine Styler, Cypress Hill and E40 change the game. I became influenced by them and my style was set free. I became open to all influences, no matter if they came from the east, west, northwest, midwest or south.

Tell us more about the Nike ad campaign you were featured in. How did that come about?

One day I was leaving my boy Tommy Hestmark’s studio in downtown Portland. I was walking down the street with my back straight and my chest and chin up, as all men and women should. This guy approached me and said “excuse me, can I talk to you?” I looked at him sideways and he says “no, no. It’s just…. Your face is CRAZY!” I squinted as if to say “do you hear yourself fool?” He pulls out a card and explains that he owned a modeling agency and he thought my look was money. He asked me to call to schedule a test shoot. I called and scheduled the shoot. When I went there, he asked me if I was wearing boxers. I confirmed, then he asked me if I would take some test shots in my boxers. I’m thinking this dude is either going to proposition me for sex or he wants to see if I can be the next face of Calvin Klein. I gambled on Calvin Klein and agreed to take the pics. We walked into a hall and he said “you can get undressed here,” then walked away. So there I stood baring all that my boxers would not cover, with my clothes in a small pile on the floor. I heard footsteps, then an attractive woman appears holding a camera. It was his wife. She told me where to stand , took a couple quick pics and said “Keary, you’re a machine,” then allowed me to get dressed and walked me out.

A few weeks later they called me back and said a photographer knew of me and wanted to do a martial arts shoot. There was no pay, but the photographer was well known and really good. I had no portfolio, and no published work so this was an opportunity to do TFP to add to my comp card.

The photographer, Marcus Swanson, wanted me to do a flying sidekick, which is a classic taekwondo photo kick. When I got there, there was nowhere to get a running start so I improvised and pulled it off. While I was there, a Nike scout was lurking. As I was leaving, Marcus’ assistant, Amber Geiger, mentioned a potential shoot for Nike and asked if they could do a quick polaroid. Snap snap and I was out. A few months passed by before I got a call back from my agent about the shoot. In those few months, I became a black belt, won a gold medal at the the regional national qualification tournament in the black belt dividion, then a silver medal at the US National Championship, and was leaving in a few days to go whoop everybody’s ass at the invitational US Team Trials. It didn’t play out that way but I believe being so active in the few months between the martial arts test shoot and the paid shoot is what influenced their decision to go with me for the ad campaign. We agreed on a date and time, after my return, for the shoot.

When I got back, we did the shoot. I thought it was going to be light work but it was brutal. Modeling is hardcore. I remember seeing myself on a billboard for the first time. It felt like a distant relative to masturbation. I also remember it taking forever to get my money. Agencies can be gangster. I had to make some very firm promises before I got the check. After that, our relationship became square.

You have worked with several platinum artists and producers. Do you have any memorable stories about your experiences that you’d like to share?

Hmm. I don’t like to deride or D-RIDE anyone, but there was an interesting encounter with a Wu-Tang Clan member named Cappadonna. Cappadonna, Killa Priest and a small crew they were touring with were staying at my house when they stopped through Portland. My roommate, MyG,  was helping them do some business in Portland while they killed time before their next tour date. At the time, we had a lil 5 bedroom spread with 2 recording studios in it, so we let their whole crew crash at the spot. The house was already like a revolving door for whoever was on tour in the NW. Artists could come through while in town and collab, get local pub through us and be blessed with some Oregon grown greeneries for the road.

So this was the first time we met (Cappadonna & I). I was taking acting classes at the time so I was gone when they pulled up. When I got home after class, Cappadonna was in the booth. I walked in the room and he started talking wild like “aye yo break that nigga watch!…stab that nigga!” I’m standing in a room full of dudes, with New York energy, that I don’t know, so I assumed he was talking about me. I dip out to my room and get a screwdriver just so I have something in my hand incase things go left. A few minutes pass, then MyG tells Cappadonna to move on to the next part. At this moment I realize he’s in character and not talking about me at all. Killah Priest enters the room. We introduce ourselves and dap up. He asks me what I do and I tell him that I’m in acting school. When Cap comes out, KP says “this is Kase, he’s an actor.” They gave each other a look that, to me , expressed what he spoke as “this is Kase, he’s a fake nigga.”

Granted, I’ve been a skater since day 1, so I understand that some black people (especially at the time) associate being a black skater with being less black or more white. With that in mind, I let what he said breeze by.

After we blessed up, we got to the business. Bosko had let me hold a beat that I wrote a sticky verse to; Cappa liked it so I let him put a hook on it. Me and KP did a DOPE song on a track that this dude named Smoke produced. It sounded like some official Wu-affiliate shit. MyG lost the session so none of that material was ever released.

The next day the energy still felt suspect. Like they thought I was a suburban negro, lol. I took them to the block, which is now gentrified, but was still hood at the time. Cappa called my whip a 666. It was the same Denali XL with the same 26” Trump Spinners that was in the video for the song he was promoting at the time, but mine was cleaner. It seemed like he felt a way about it. We went to my mom’s restaurant, where Cappa requested a Psalms verse from my mother. She said “how about a Revelation,” and laced all of us.

I dropped them at the barber shop to get faded and bladed. When they came out, the energy was different. Cappadonna got in and said “you know your hood and your hood knows you. He said you put your moms in that restaurant, didn’t you?” I just looked at him and put my hand out. We dapped up and the respect, which was first being given by me and received by him, suddenly felt mutual.

Cappadonna is a wise dude and a beast MC. I asked him questions related to his lyrics. He explained to me what “God Degree” and “7:30” meant and told me the story of the origin of his name. You might be able to detect that I’m most definitely still a Wu-Tang fan, although I liked his earlier work. KP knows what I mean by that.

Tell us about your involvement with the CBD industry and your views on how it can be a therapeutic tool for people?

CBD is my go-to treatment for a number of conditions. If I am anxious, I use a non-psychoactive tincture. This gives me a general sense of well-being, without making me feel altered or high. I feel like myself on a good day. If I need to restful sleep, I employ a cannabinoid rich CBD blend that allows me to drift off into REM without jumping up 100 times to make sure the garage door is closed (or whatever). Using CBD is like taking premium vitamins.

In 2019, I started a company called Nina Botanica with a material designer who works for Adidas in Portland. I began researching how to use compression technology as a CBD delivery system for athletic injury rehabilitation. There are some products on the market that offer a similar product, but none that fully address the issues of muscle strains, tears and associated pain that can knock an athlete off of their game. What sets us apart is, our CBD compression system has a lifetime guarantee. You can use it until you’re tired of using it.

We also designed a pod based delivery system, called the NINA , with Shenzen based technology company Smoore. The smart hexagonal pod + cartridge system uses inductive charging in place of the industry standard USB to power up.

Due to COVID-19 and our current bout with systemic racism, the techy products will be in preliminary production until mid-late 2021.

Tell us about your latest project “Craze”. Who is involved and what inspired it?

I was a week back on after being off music for years. Just getting my lungs back, not planning on dropping anything yet; just warming up. An artist named Uneek, who had been my mentee for several years, reached out. He was talking about how he blew all of his savings on medical expenses for his seed and how William, Lil Willi and Big Bill were all coming for him at once. He had just got robbed in Atlanta, so he was shy about who he could trust in Portland.

Uneek asked me to help him to rebrand himself and act as a manager, as I did in the beginning of his career. Since he had just found the strength to come out about his sexual identity, he wanted to look to the LBGTQ community for support. Since that was outside of my sphere of influence, I decided to help him generate some traffic in his home studio, offering tracking and mixing as an engineer. I told him we could put out a mixtape to re-introduce him to his followers and the rest of the world. I got 15 tracks from  producers, Sixteen and J Doe. I wanted to see how serious he was about his career so I told him to put hooks on  all 15. He would send me a rough lyric or melody, then I would write or rewrite the lyrics then massage the melody and coach him on how to execute it.  After he did it, I would chop it and arrange it in a Logic, while I was on the road.

Once the mixtape concepts were in the bag, I told him we needed a real record to kick it off. There was a lot of material in his catalog, but nothing that sounded like a hit single to me.

He got a track from this lil dude named 64 and put a hook on it that had us laughing. He was like “yeah this track sound like something Da Baby would get on.” It wasn’t my style, really, but I kept getting drawn into the drums. I let the first line go off the top then it seemed like the rest of the lyrics were just there. We called it “She A Thot.” It dropped on all platforms back in April of this year.

Craze, the follow up single, manifested itself off of the vibe we were on after “She A Thot” dropped. 64 had sent us a 3 pack of beats so it had some of the same feel as the others, however, the “Craze” beat was much more elegant than the other two.It was like the bigger, sexier, more mature and pondering sister of the “She A Thot” beat.

When I started writing, I felt the beat asking me to confess. It was saying “tell your truth, Kase.” The melody in my head was so balanced that I just let it drive through the first verse. I remembered, as a young man, being so caught up in hustling that I lost my compassion for people. I reflected on how I had spent the last decade, since my first daughter was born, re-approaching life with more compassion.

Whatever you have done in your past does not define you. But sometimes it’s good to talk about it. Black  people have traditionally been afraid of counseling or therapy. Mostly because of our trust issues with the people providing those services. I strongly suggest talking to someone about the things that trouble you. My uncle Jeff calls it “dumping.”

Music is my therapy. Dumping is my new craze.

What artists are you listening to right now and why?

I like listening to new music. I’m listening to Lil Durk, Pop Smoke, Amine, Jack Harlow, etc. But that’s like research for me. I like to see and hear what the big dogs are investing in. But right now, I’m developing a K-Pop artist, so I’m listening Big Hit Entertainment’s people. I’m about to go over there and liberate some musical slaves. (*artists)

But I still listen to Sade.

What’s next for you in 2020? What can fans look forward to?

I’m dropping a mixtape later this month. I may be doing a record + video with Compton artist, AD in the next few weeks. We’re still working out the details, but he’s doing real good right now.

Other than that, I’m developing a young K-Pop idol named Kiari. That genre is making big waves. I’m also looking at television as a next play. I have a pocket ace in the Chinese market that I’m keeping tucked. Oh I’m doing business with China.  Sorry Chump…I mean, Sorry Trump. No, wait, I had it right the first time.

[wellthatwasaletdown]

“Hasn’t done suck up promo”

lmao like performing for the grammy commitee and donating money for a nomination isn’t desperate? all he does is kiss ass. he just doesn’t publicize it lol hiding the strings from the little puppet show. even then, fleetwood mac is OWNED by jeff’s dad, so all he’s done is promote them. the week after stevie nicks performed with him her album dropped. it’s always been suck up promo. 

“has avoided press and over exposure”

he had a 2 hour bbc radio hour, two more 2 hour bbc interviews, hundreds of syndicated articles across billboard, people, ny times, and bbc, snl, graham norton, a documentary, the today show, a WEEK on lls, a billboard, a wall mural, a BUS, a bbc tv special, dozens of radio interviews, spotify ads, priority radio circulation, 2 magazine covers, the anniversary cover of rs, iheart, vsfs, TWO MONTHS OF DUNKIRK PROMO, he HOSTED the lls, AND HE HAD A COMMERCIAL . he hasn’t avoided ANYTHING. he is a self proclaimed narcissist and attention seeker and he is obsessed with fame and being in the spotlight. he was overhyped to the point were uk twitter was complaining about seeing him everywhere when his bbc special played and flopped. he’s done MORE promo than ANY of the boys. it was obnoxious, absurd, and shows exactly where his priorities are. fame, money, attention, and notoriety. it’s about his suits, his relationships, his “status”, his appearance. nothing is ever about the music lmao.

“doesn’t do mainstream radio garbage or dance remixes, doesn’t make generic popular sounding songs”

you know what the beatles were when they came out? a pop act. you know what bowie and prince were when they came out? pop acts. you know what the rolling stones were? a MAINSTREAM act. you knoe what elvis was? a POP act. popular, mainstream, modern. elvis didn’t sing music from 40 years ago. david bowie didn’t make music from 40 years ago. they were innovative pioneers. they were the justin biebers, the shawn mendes, the one direction of their times. the beatles were POP and MAINSTREAM. you’re right, harry doesn’t make radio music. but it’s still mainstream, and still garbage. he’s been circulated and pushed through every mainstream radio by his team because he wants MAINSTREAM MONEY. he’s a poser. he COPIED artists who made real, innovative art. it’s why he has no new fans why alternative radio never plays his music. he’s a copycat and a wannabe and has been called as such by actual fans of rock music. never forget that.

“isn’t an attention whore on sm”

harry is a self proclaimed attention seeker and narcissist. he says he always has to have someone’s attention, and always wants praise. just because he isn’t on social media doesn’t change the fact he calls the paps, tries to upstage his peers and fellow band members to the point where he had them playing in the dark while the spotlight was on him AND he took it upon himself to talk over the dunkirk cast during interview. harry is an attention seeker and his manipulative promo shows how desperate he is"

“doesn’t care about charts”

i can’t even begin to comprehend how anyone can think he signed an $80 million record deal and dished out $20 million on his debut and never intended to top charts and make money lmfao. of course he wants to top charts. promo costs money. no one spends money they don’t want to triple in profit. that’s certainly not what columbia wanted to do. hdd confirmed that harry needs to sell $1.7m per album just to break even, meaning they wanted at least $5m to make a profit. harry’s sold $1.2m lmfao he fucking lost them money. why do you think his promo has stopped? why do you think he’s desperately selling another house just before tour and his album? it’s all about money. always has been always will be.

“All we get is a few grainy photos and a sweet thanks for hbd wishes”

mm yeah except for the 3 day pap photoshoot with his pr girlfriend complete with syndicated articles across all news platforms for a story NO ONE cared about. but yeah he’s so modest, so humble, so private. he hates fame, hates attention, hates money, hates paparazzi - right? yeah. you wish. we have months of evidence that proves the contrary. it’s why so many people have unstanned. because he’s an opportunistic fake and a liar. i hope you’re happy with the birthday tweet, because it should serve as motivation when he has the leftover arena tickets to sell since so many seats are still available. which is all he wants. just like his friends who don’t exist to him until he needs them for promo, fans don’t exist to him until he needs them to support his extravagant lifestyle. 

“The rest is the music.”

hm yeah you’re right. 95% of his entire career is about his image, his suits, his relationships, and money. the rest is the music.

“He’s doing it the right way.”

if debt, a flop album with only one hit, millions of fans lost, lowering the lls ratings, having his bbc special flop, having vsfs flop, making everyone lose trust in him, and losing the support of hundreds of artists he’s too much of a snob to associate with - then yeah, harry did everything the right way. lol.

[toriwestonwriterartist]

I am posting not just because I am fan of @todrick but also because I oversee programs for teens and someone like #todrickhall is such an inspiration to an LGBTQ+ teen because he shows that “yes you can live your dream.” Representation matters!!!! #Repost @todrick with @make_repost ・・・ Part of my billboard quote that wasn’t put in the article but that I want the entertainment industry to hear: “If you, as a manager, represent a gay or black artist and you don’t give them the same amount of attention and resources as you do your white and non gay artists, you and your team should take a moment and consider the reasons why. I think that every music manager in the financial and political position to do so should be taking steps towards getting people on the radio who’s target demographic is not aimed at white tweens from middle America. If you don’t see the importance of a little gay boy or girl getting to hear pronouns that reflect same sex love on the radio for once the way straight identifying people have heard since the radio was created then I firmly believe you are on the wrong side of musical history. There are much more important accomplishments in music than charting (no offense @billboard lol), winning grammy’s and selling out tours. While I like Katy Perry’s song “I Kissed a Girl and I liked it” and thought it was somewhat progressive for it’s time, it’s 2020 and now I want to hear “I kissed a girl and I LOVED it!” Not because I was being crazy one night and did something wild and kinky for the boys I was trying to impress, but because I simply loved someone who is the same sex as me and it’s no big deal. The fact that we as gay people have to rummage through literally millions & millions of pop songs searching for something with a non specific pronoun to play at our weddings is sad. I want to hear “Honey” by @Kehlani on the radio, I want to live in a world where @AdamLambert wouldn’t be basically blacklisted for kissing a boy on stage while it’s “cool” & “edgy” for Madonna and Britney (who don’t identify as queer) to do the same, I want to exist in a space where @samsmith’s new albums get played as much as they did when people assumed they were singin https://www.instagram.com/p/CBWKNUWhXe8/?igshid=10td5sqodb742