Swae Lee: Carefree and Prospering

Some of his most popular songs over the past three years include “No Type,”  “Black Beatles,” and “Unforgettable.” Khalif Malik Ibn Shaman Brown, otherwise known as Swae Lee, has been working in the music business since he was about fourteen, and pretty soon he will become a household name. The Inglewood, California native is twenty-three years old and he began making music with his brother, Aaquil Ibinshaman Brown aka Slim Jxmmi, as well as a family friend Bobo Swae, forming the group called Dem Outta St8 Boyz.

Later, the group’s DJ, DJ Swae, put them in touch with P-Nazty, a producer for Mike Will Made It’s record label, EarDrummers. Shortly after Swae turned eighteen, he, his brother, and DJ Swae moved to Atlanta, where Swae began observing and experimenting with the more professional side of the music business. Unfortunately, after a while, they ran out of money and had to move back home, causing Dem Outta St8 Boyz to disperse.

This year sparked the beginning of Swae Lee establishing himself separately from the group, being featured on singles like “Drinks On Us” with Future and The Weeknd, “Burn Slow” with Wiz Khalifa, and “Nightcrawler” with Travis Scott and Chief Keef. In 2016, he was featured on tracks like “Yacht Master” by 2 Chainz and “Ball Out The Lot” by Bobo Swae. It was in this year that Swae got his first co-producer credit with “Pussy Print” by Gucci Mane featuring Kanye West. He also achieved a major feat, having written the hook for Beyonce’s “Formation.” “I make a lot of songs, so I’m just thinking that this is another song. A couple months later, Mike tells me that Beyoncé wants it. I couldn’t imagine!” Swae reveals in a Fader interview.

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Trevor Noah: Laughing with Conviction

At only 34 years old, comedian, actor, writer and producer Trevor Noah has changed the face of comedy. A native of Johannesburg, South Africa and born to a black Xhosa mother and a German-Swiss white father during 1984, the height of the apartheid, his childhood was no laughing matter. Ironically, that’s exactly what he jokes about. Noah’s biracial identity combined with growing up in an illegal family allows him to cross racial, cultural, political and social lines with real life experience.

“I inherited my sense of humor from my mom,” he told Time Magazine, “the ability to laugh in the face of danger, to mock it.” Nevertheless, his mockery, though funny, leaves his fans with lingering thoughts and questions about why issues like racial division and social equality even exist. Intertwining his comedy with social justice commentary, Noah’s humor keeps the world laughing while exposing their convictions as well.  Whether he’s joking about his own upbringing, colonization, siri or speaking in German, Noah uses humor to talk about some of the world’s most destructive wrongs.

Despite growing up in an environment that valued censorship more than humor, Noah’s observant nature and sarcastic comments helped build the foundation for his career in comedy. “I was in first grade, [and] I remember making a joke about the principal at the time and the manner in which he administered corporal punishment,” he told The San Diego Union Tribune.“There was something funny about the way he did it. I said something and the rest of the class laughed very hard,” he concluded, admitting the situation made him feel like a comic genius. But it wasn’t until his mid to late twenties that his comedy career really took off after his friends dared him to share some of his jokes on stage. In fact, it wasn’t until he met English comedian Eddie Izzard in a comedy club that Noah really began to hone his craft.

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Sara Cwynar: Reuse & Recycle

How does one define contemporary art? Everybody’s perception is different. Some would define contemporary art as i sculpting, performance, photography, installation or even videography. It’s all about how a person looks at it, however thing is for sure, art is a form of self expression.

Canadian artist Sara Cwynar creates artwork through photography and installation. She captures images with a camera and couples them with actual objects such as photographs, fruits, cups, flowers or even books, only to reproduce the items as another full image.

“My process begins with a massive personal archive of found objects, and involves reprinting and reworking the images, taking them out of collective spaces and into ones [spaces] open for personal intervention,” said Cwynar in an interview with independent publisher Lavalette.

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Michael Hollis: Higher Planes

Picture you're boarding your next flight and you immediately notice that there's something vastly different from the others that you've taken. The staff is very welcoming which is customary, but all of the seats are more spacious. You have a seat, strap in, and glance at the menu for the day's trip and notice that you're selecting between lamb chops or filet mignon. The good stuff. Now imagine this airline being black owned and operated. This was the vision of Michael Hollis, an extremely successful businessman who set out to create a black owned luxury airline. The late Michael Hollis of Atlanta Air was one of the first African Americans to realize how great of an opportunity it would be to pioneer a string of black owned airlines.

Hollis didn't get into the airline industry as a former pilot, nor did he have any experience in the aviation business. In fact, Hollis at the time was a lawyer and a very well-known and well-respected man. He became widely recognized at an early age due to his prominence in several youth based political groups. At only 15-years-old, he was named head of the Atlanta Youth Congress, and was later appointed to a community-relations commission that helped address race. Sam Massell, president of the Buckhead Coalition and a former Atlanta mayor told The Atlanta Journal Constitution in a 2012 interview. “He was a boy wonder and helped us understand issues just surfacing in that arena.”

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Tori Soudan: Changing the Face of Shoe Design

Most famous shoe designers are older white men, many of whom mass produce their products. Baltimore shoe designer Tori Soudan is changing the game, she brings shoe designs to life with her own special touch. She believes that shoes are emotional, and not something to be made on an assembly line.

Soudan’s start in fashion began at the age of nine when her mother began teaching her how to make Easter dresses, then as she grew older as a teenager, her mother showed her how to make prom dresses for her friends. While attending Spelman College in 1994, the shoe designer participated in a study abroad program and traveled to Italy. While overseas she developed an interest in shoe design, after witnessing a demonstration by a master shoemaker on the outskirts of Venice.

After graduating from college, Soudan went on to study at the Parson’s Institute of Design in New York, which led to an internship with Tommy Hilfiger. Following these achievements, she earned an MBA in finance from Northeastern University in Boston, so she would have the knowledge to start her own business.

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