Author: CultureBanx Team

As inflation remains ridiculously high, Atlanta Federal Reserve Chief Raphael Bostic remains economically optimistic. He said there is a “really good chance” the U.S. job market won’t take a severe hit as a result of the Fed’s continued hawkish stance on raising rates. Out of the 12 Federal Regional banks, Bostic is the only Black person on the Federal Reserve’s policy setting committee, meaning there’s only one African American with a direct say on U.S. monetary policy and where the economy is headed. 

Triller and Verzuz founders/music producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz have settled their lawsuit, after the music heavyweights sued the service last month for $28 million, Variety reported. To help propel the company’s live events business, Triller acquired Verzuz last year. At the time of the lawsuit, Triller said that Swizz Beatz and Timbaland had received more than $50 million in cash and stock to date related to the acquisition of Verzuz and that there was only one $10-million payment in question.

Business news for hip-hop culture

Steve “The Commissioner” Stoute’s music startup UnitedMasters, music distribution and data analytics company has successfully recruited top execs from Uber (UBER -2.81%), Twitter (TWTR -0.43%) and Adobe (ADBE -1.09%). The company continues to distinguish ​​its music artist first platform that has 1.3 million independent users on it, from many of its competitors in the DIY distribution domain. These new hires could go a long way in uncovering new opportunities for revenue growth across the music industry by leveraging analytics to holistically monetize fans.

Hip hop loves to talk about their limited sneakers and “vegan” kicks could be the next big thing, creating market envy for brands and fans alike. Major bands like Nike (NKE -0.27%) and Adidas (ADDYY -0.40%) are dipping their toes into the plant-based, or vegan athletic shoe game as a way to spur sales while being kind to the environment. Supply and demand is the name of the game for sneaker aficionados in a global athletic footwear market that’s expected to reach $114.8 billion by 2025, but are consumers actually interested in shoes that are more biodegradable?

Tonal, the strength training home fitness company with several professional athlete superstars on its cap table, is looking to raise $100 million in financing in a deal that would value the company at $1.9 billion, according to Bloomberg. The star-studded group of investors including Serena Williams, LeBron James, Steph Curry and Mike Tyson have spurred existing investors private equity firm L Catterton and along with investment firm Dragoneer Investment Group.

Black and Latinx homeowners are finally getting a lift from one of the nation’s largest banks in the newly revived real estate market. Bank of America’s new ‘Community Affordable Loan Solution’ will be available in certain cities for Black and Hispanic/Latino neighborhoods. Housing wealth has increased from $15.9 trillion in 2010 to $24.1 trillion over a 10-year period. It’s important to eliminate the housing wealth gap since homeownership is typically the top asset through which wealth can be derived, according to the Brookings Institute.

President Biden’s administration is clearing out the smoke when it comes to the sale of menthol flavored cigarettes. This nicotine product accounts for more than one-third of all cigarettes sold in the U.S. each year. Menthol cigarettes have been historically heavily marketed toward Black Americans, and the FDA specifically noted that the move to ban them would save the lives of 92,000 to 238,000 African Americans.

The global need to address access to capital inequities is greater than ever and it lies with putting entrepreneurs and investors of color in the forefront. This is where Christal Jackson’s Mosaic Genius Exchange, a membership-only platform created to connect underserved founders with access to capital, is poised to disrupt the traditionally vanilla-laced investor sector. When venture capital dollars that are expected to reach $584.4 billion by 2027 start to diversify, so will the capital commitments to founders of color who are shifting the business paradigm and building economically solvent companies.

The money phone is soon to be a relic of the past as more millennials look to their smartphones as the primary means of making financial transactions. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) mobile payments have been dominating the U.S. mobile payment market with transaction value expected to reach $983.9 billion in 2022, 25.3% higher than in 2021. With Pew Trusts finding that 14% of Black people made a mobile payment, what are banks and financial technology companies going to have to do to respond to the needs of this coveted group of consumers?

Three years after the collapse of MoviePass, the company’s original co-founder Stacy Spikes has revived and remixed the company. Long gone are the days of MoviePass’ unlimited movies, instead prices will vary depending on the user’s home market. People on the company’s waitlist can choose among 3 pricing tiers: $10, $20, or $30 per month, according to Insider. With subscription movie-going here to stay, is now the right time for Spikes to resurrect MoviePass in a sector in a sector that includes about 4,600 establishments with combined annual revenue of about $18 billion?

As the esports industry rises in value, hip hop artists and entrepreneurs are seeing the investment opportunities the sector provides. Esports is believed to be the next wave of competitive entertainment and everyone is taking notice, since it’s expected to surpass $1.87 billion in revenue in by 2025, according to

The Biden administration is finally forgiving $10,000 in student loans per borrower making less than $125,000 which is a huge win for students of color. They typically rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, meaning they are unable to focus on other financial goals like buying a home, paying off credit card debt, and saving for retirement. Eliminating this debt will start to narrow the racial wealth gap for young families, with 86.6% of Black students taking out federal loans to attend four-year colleges.

We’re moving away from living in a time when wearing a mask and lipstick just didn’t mix, with new data from global market tracking firm NPD Group finding sales of lipstick and other lip makeup grew 48% in first-quarter over previous year, exceeding $222 million. Typically, the logic goes, when times get tough, women seek little, affordable luxuries such as a new lipstick, an inexpensive pick-me-up, rather than pricey consumer goods.