90s underground hip hop artists

Brooks Dame has an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. But when he and his brothers started Proof Wood Eyewear , which offers sunglasses, prescription glasses and accessories made from sustainable woods, they built a successful business by ignoring almost everything he learned there. "Sometimes being a bit naive pays off," he says now. Here's how knowing too much could be a bad thing: 1. You might be too timid. Proof Wood started, classically, with Dame in his garage, making glasses for family and friends. People kept telling Dame that he ought to be selling the glasses. Eventually he agreed, and he and his brothers Tanner and Taylor started a small business. Fifteen days after launching, they arrived at the MAGIC accessories show in Las Vegas. "We walked in to set up our booth not knowing what to expect," Dame says. "The guy in the booth across from us was selling his T-shirts to Urban Outfitters and many other stores. He told us not … [Read more...] about Starting a Business: Why You Don’t Need an MBA (or Experience)

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin In a recent collaboration with AND1 for Footlocker's “ 12 Days of Greatness ” holiday campaign, digital artist Jeff Cole channeled the nostalgia of street style basketball and the style of the 90s into a capsule that represents the ethos of the iconic basketball brand. This capsule collection, however, is just a window into Jeff’s creations. He is also the artist behind IKONICK, an inspirational art brand he co-founded with Mark Mastrandrea . IKONICK blends nostalgia, pop culture, and the kind of inspirational quotes you find on social media to create unique, motivational canvas art . Originating from the Gold Coast and the East Coast, Jeff , who grew up in Chicago, and Mark , a born and raised New Yorker, have come together and found a way to translate art into a business. A business that dresses a room and sells inspiration as its product, the co-founders and dynamic duo of IKONICK have found a … [Read more...] about From AND1 To The NBA. How IKONICK Co-Founders​ Jeff Cole And Mark Mastrandrea Are Inspiring The World Through Pop Culture

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The visual arts sector continues to grow at a rapid rate integrating applications of artistic and technological talent into the entertainment, fashion, and marketing industries across the world. Students are clamoring for more educational opportunities to get a head start on careers that often begin well before cap and gown ceremonies at the hand of doodlers across the nation. With such a profound need for art skills in growing career sectors, it’s often puzzling how art programs are one of the most affected by budget cuts in education. Even with the $263 billion Education Stabilization Fund (ESF) earmarking certain funds for art programs, the upcoming years face future uncertainties for art initiatives. Many teachers and advocates recognize the value the arts have in expression, connection, healing and future career endeavors. For instance, advocates on the City Council in New York and Roundtable’s, It Starts with … [Read more...] about The Intersection Of Art, Education And Cultural Awareness

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Liquor used to be so easy to buy when there wasn’t all that much to choose from. In my father’s liquor cabinet there was a bottle each of Dewar’s and Cutty Sark Scotch, Gilbey’s gin, Bacardi rum, Canadian Club rye and maybe Smirnoff vodka. Options were more than sufficient at the liquor store but he, like most people in those days, found a favorite label and stuck to it. This was before distillers discovered they could make single malts, barrel strength, uncut, reserves, vintage and legions of whiskies aged in various wooden barrels and before vodkas (defined by the U.S. Standards of Identity as a neutral, odorless, colorless, tasteless spirit) were being filtered over diamonds or made in the Czar’s own kettle from water that came from 10,000 feet underground. What used to be an easy choice has become a bewildering one, and marketing and advertising have a great deal to do with it. The spirits industry caught on to the … [Read more...] about The Best Of New Spirits In The Market

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Day 4. Bitcoin's value hit its low point on Friday On Friday, I skip breakfast again; it’s an unavoidable part of the Bitcoin diet as there are no places that serve food before 10 a.m. accepting my currency. I lose my appetite anyway when I check the value of Bitcoin; it has plummeted to $90 over night. It has been on a steady decline since I started my Bitcoin challenge. Is it me? My editor suggests the value is falling because I’m showing “ what a drag ” it is to use it. But I think it's due instead to a huge Bitcoin lawsuit that became public Thursday night. The virtual money  has sparked a $75 million (real world currency) complaint; Seattle start-up Coinlab is suing Mt. Gox, saying the Japanese Bitcoin exchange has failed to follow through on the partnership they inked, refusing to let Coinlab take over management of Mt. Gox’s American and Canadian accounts as it allegedly agreed to do. Wrote Adrian … [Read more...] about Living On Bitcoin For A Week: Bitcoiners Are The New Vegans

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin It USED to be a crackhouse. Now it's being renovated. Day 6. It’s Sunday morning. I have only two days left of living on Bitcoin. I can see the US-minted light at the end of the tunnel, but the end of my week is going to be an adventure. My landlord didn’t want to take Bitcoin for rent. Understandably. I think she’d be similarly put off if I offered to pay the rent in Starbucks gift cards or in the form of a week’s supply of succulents (which are all the planting rage in San Francisco). She’s willing to accept the rent late when I’m back to using greenbacks after the week is up, but that’s a time-traveling violation of my rule for this experiment: all transactions must happen in Bitcoin. It is May 5, the deadline for my rent payment. I have to move out. The Forbes E-book On Bitcoin Secret Money: Living on Bitcoin in the Real World , by Forbes staff writer Kashmir Hill, can be bought in Bitcoin or … [Read more...] about Living On Bitcoin For A Week: Can’t Pay The Rent

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Many of manager Kevin Cash’s pregame media sessions in recent weeks have been heavy on injury updates, rehab assignments and the like. That likely will not change at any point soon as his Rays continue to be hit hard by an injury bug felt throughout the roster. In recent series, the Rays media relations folks have devoted part of their game notes – “From the Infirmary” — to injuries that have been piling up. Not that anybody is making excuses during a stretch in which the Rays have lost nine of 12 heading into a weekend series against the Pirates. While the pitching far more often than not has been superb, they have shot themselves in the foot at the plate, on the base paths and in the field. Frankly, they need to look in the mirror and not the injury report to see the source of many of their recent woes. Still, mounting injuries only make things more difficult. The latest additions to the injured list were center … [Read more...] about Injuries, Sloppy Play Hurting Tampa Bay Rays During Recent Skid