Future, Rick Ross & More Attend Pharrell’s South Beach Miami Hotel Launch

Back in March, Pharrell and his business partner David Grutman announced their intention to open up a brand new hotel in South Beach, Miami. Dubbed Goodtime Hotel, the project was three years in the making, delayed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The Goodtime will light up this community,” the Neptunes producer promised of the hotel at the time of the announcement. “People are going to be inspired by what we’re doing here. It will be good energy, good vibrations, good space and, of course, a good time.” To help kick off the official launch of the hotel, some of Hollywood’s biggest names flew down to Miami to celebrate with the entrepreneurs. 

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One photo from the festivities shared on Grutman’s Instagram page includes a power shot of numerous Hollywood A-listers like David and Victoria Beckham, Kim Kardashian, Pharrell and Brazillian model Isabela Grutman in attendance at Friday’s party (April 18).  

Culled from https://www.hotnewhiphop.com

Electric Vehicle Startup Announces Phoenix-area Factory, Expects to Employ Up to 500 Workers

ElectraMeccanica said the manufacturing facility and engineering center in Mesa, Arizona, would be able to produce up to 20,000 of its Solo vehicle per year. The company expects the site to house up to 500 jobs once fully operational.

The selection of Mesa concludes a site review process that stretched for more than a year and whittled seven initial candidates down to the metro areas of Phoenix and Nashville, Tennessee, late last year. After months of additional reviews and negotiations, ElectraMeccanica officials said the Mesa location would provide the talent pool and high-tech ecosystem to help the company thrive.

“This decision is monumental for our business and will be transformative for our host city and state,” CEO Paul Rivera said in a statement. “When fully operational, we anticipate creating hundreds of new jobs for the local economy.”

The Solo aims to appeal to urban commuters who would not need the extended ranges of conventional, more expensive electric vehicles. The 10-foot vehicle has a range of just 100 miles and a top speed of just 80 mph, but its initial price comes in at $16,000.

Company officials said the Solo could help ease traffic congestion in the Phoenix area and indicated plans for a ride-sharing pilot project would be “forthcoming.” Officials also said utilities and commercial fleet operations have expressed interest in the vehicle.

In addition to light-vehicle assembly operations, the Mesa site will include multiple labs and testing facilities for vehicle chassis, battery packs, and electronics. The company is reportedly eligible for a $1 million state grant and more than $7 million in state tax credits based on its construction and hiring goals.

“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome ElectraMeccanica to Arizona as the latest electric vehicle innovator to choose our state,” Arizona Commerce Authority President and CEO Sandra Watson said in the announcement.

Thermo Fisher Scientific to Invest $600 Million in Bioprocessing Production, Create 1,500 New Jobs

One of the top providers of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, software, and services — announced March 10 that it is making a major investment to expand its bioprocessing production capabilities.

The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company plans to invest $600 million to more than double its current production capacity by 2022 in a move that will support biopharma customers. It’s expected to create more than 1,500 new jobs across the company’s 11 manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, and Asia. 

Thermo Fisher Scientific noted the customers the investment supports are ramping up their own immediate production activity related to COVID-19, along with long-term efforts to develop new vaccines and biologics to treat other conditions.

The company said specific investments will include single-use technologies expansions, purification expansions, and cell culture media and process liquid expansions.

In a press release announcing the investment, Thermo Fisher Scientific executive vice president Michel Lagarde said single-use technologies, cell culture media, and purification resins are among the critical materials highest in demand amid the growing bioprocessing market. Besides expanding capacity, the company’s investment will reduce regional redundancy.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has annual revenue of approximately $330 billion and has more than 80,000 employees.

Story and Image Credit: Thermo Fisher Scientific

New Law Classifies Delivery Robots as “Pedestrians”

The state of Pennsylvania is now classifying select robots as humans — at least when it comes to its traffic laws.

Car and Driver reports that the Keystone State technically defines delivery robots as “pedestrians” under a newly implemented measure. The law, which went into effect earlier this year, stipulates that autonomous delivery robots can maneuver on sidewalks, pathways, and roadways in Pennsylvania. They can carry up to 550 pounds of cargo at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour on roadways but must cap their speed at 12 miles per hour in human — presumably — pedestrian areas.

As lawmakers worldwide grapple with how to regulate new autonomous driving and flying technologies, Pennsylvania reportedly became the 12th state in the U.S. to grant delivery robots access to both roads and pedestrian paths.

Although robots provide obvious benefits for both businesses and logistics companies — not to mention keeping carbon-emitting delivery vehicles off the road — urban planners have warned that deploying them without a broad overhaul of streets and sidewalks mapped out decades or even centuries ago would negate those benefits and compromise safety.

The tech haven of San Francisco, Car and Driver notes, banned them from most city streets four years ago, citing potential safety concerns.

Image Credit: Thomas Industry Update

Drill Artist Ghost Vnx Unveil New Single “Cunch Boy” TODAY

By Abu Bakarr Kargbo

London – based Hiphop/ Drill artist Ghost Vnx is leaning towards a different sound in 2021.

After making wave with his production skill by gaining over a million streams on his beat-stars account and also releasing his instrumental album (Beat Invasion) early 2020; (which went on to grab the #1 spot worldwide in the first week of it’s release on the audiomack instrumental chart), he has managed to make a smooth shift towards rapping which nabbed the attention of Trace urban UK and other media outlets after his ‘Hoods hottest’ and Black Box freestyle accumulated over a 100,000 views within a week.

Now, he is gearing up to release his debut EP, fronted by a new single “Cunch Boy”. On “Cunch Boy ,” Ghost Vnx deeply reflects on his innermost dark thoughts growing up. “Cunch” a slang word for “county” is widely used with drug dealings and other criminal activities.

It mirrors on the struggle one faces in gang activities which compares to his life as a young African boy growing up in London. Having lost his dad at a vulnerable age,

Ghost speaks about the pains, anxiety, and disappointments he had to deal with in order to survive.

He further on mentions his father’s dying prayers for him which has been a prime source for his motivation today. “It broke my heart When i lost my dad His prayers for me Just wanna see me shine” This captivating single “Cunch Boy” by Ghost Vnx is out Friday 19th March. 

Osman Kargbo otherwise known by his stage name Ghost Vnx was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, grew up in London United Kingdom.

Ghost started making music since he was 14yrs old  started off producing music for some well known musician from Sierra Leone likes of  (Itribe, Mr best, LAJ, Dabessco Marley, MIC, Bone Na throat etc.).

He started making wave in the Uk industry with his production skills by gaining more than 1 million streams on his BeatStars account, he also released his instrumental album last year name (Beat Invasion ) which went viral on audiomack the first week out and took the number 1 instrumental album worldwide on audiomack chart )

According to ghost vnx he thought he can do more than just production he started spitting bars and rapping and his friends used to force him to get into the studio booth to rap or do a music 

Ghost vnx started making headlines on his rapping last year which he did 2 freestyle hoods hottest and blackbox freestyle which he manage to accumulate over 100k views within a week for an upcoming artist and started gaining the attention of trace urban Uk, Amazon music and complex Uk from then till now he has been having a smooth run and he is about to release his new upcoming single name Cunch Boy which is expected to go off when it’s landed..

Nick Cannon Is For The People With “Ghetto Blues”

The track is taken from Cannon’s latest release ‘The Miseducation of the Negro You Love to Hate.’

Nick Cannon doesn’t always get credit for his music career, but his recent single “Ghetto Blues” has been widely praised for its sincerity and positive message alike.

Back in January, Nick Cannon dropped a seven-track EP titled The Miseducation of the Negro You Love to Hate, which might be best known for the track “Used To Look Up To You,” a diss directed at long-time foe Eminem. Today, the multi-talent unveils a new visual from that project for “Ghetto Blues,” an introspective cut that sees Cannon rapping about being surrounded by wolves in sheep’s clothing:

Cannon has come through to deliver some new visuals for the powerful track, which highlights the staggering number of homeless currently living in America — not to mention the vast number of unemployed people.

In the early moments of the video, Nick takes to the streets with a guitar in hand, attempting to capture the spirit of the downtrodden. In contrast, also plays a version of himself, completely oblivious to the plight of his fellow man. 

When both parties cross paths, Cannon’s message becomes clear as they exchange a profound stare. Closing out with a quote — “I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet — it’s evident that “Ghetto Blues” aims to promote empathy and understanding. 

Case in point, Nick made sure to include a means of getting in touch with the Los Angeles mission, inviting viewers to text “Ghetto Blues” to 24365. Should you be looking for music with a message, check out the visuals for yourself right now. 

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Story credit: https://www.hotnewhiphop.com;

Revolt

MONDELĒZ International commits to reduction in Virgin plastic use to combat plastic pollution

Mondelēz International (Nasdaq: MDLZ) has announced an increased commitment to reduce its use of virgin plastics in its packaging, as part of its ongoing efforts to eliminate, reduce, replace and recycle plastic packaging across its portfolio.

The company also said it supported the introduction of a U.S. Federal recycling scheme that takes into account the various types of plastic packaging used across the industry today.

While it already has a significantly below-sector-average use of plastics in its portfolio by weight, Mondelēz International is demonstrating its resolve to continue to reduce plastic packaging. By 2025, the company aims for an at least 25% reduction in virgin plastic use in its rigid plastic packaging or a 5% reduction in virgin plastic use in its overall plastic packaging portfolio, assuming constant portfolio mix.

The virgin plastic use reduction target will be achieved through a combination of measures including elimination of plastic material, increased use of recycled content and the adoption of reuse models for the company’s portfolio where it makes sense to do so.

“Our support for a more sustainable future for plastics is clear,” said Dirk Van de Put, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, for Mondelēz International. “We’re already one of the most efficient users of plastic packaging in the consumer goods space and we’ve made significant strides to reduce plastic packaging use, substitute plastics for other materials and design for recyclability.”

“Given the strong progress we’ve made in packaging, and our focus on leading a sustainable future for snacking, we’re committing to reductions in virgin plastics use and investments in innovation to remove packaging or switch to more easily recyclable materials.”

These commitments build on the company’s existing 2025 goals to use 5% recycled content by weight across its plastic packaging and to design all packaging for recyclability, a goal the company is on track to achieve with 94% of packaging already designed to be recycled.

The company currently invests over $30 million a year in technology, resources and recycling infrastructure and anticipates an acceleration in this investment over time. In total, between 2019 and 2025, Mondelēz International anticipates spending approximately $300 million in creating a sustainable future for plastics.

Supporting Nationwide Recycling Scheme in U.S.

Mondelēz International’s portfolio of snacks uses lightweight plastic packaging, or so-called flexible films, to protect food, which reduces the company’s plastic packaging footprint by weight and brings some clear environmental benefits such as helping reduce transportation emissions and prolonging food shelf-life. This is meaningful as food waste can have a significantly greater environmental impact than plastics.

While packaging can be increasingly designed for recyclability, recycling infrastructure improvements, such as those proposed under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, are needed globally, particularly for flexible films. The company today is lending its support for a reasonable, Federal EPR scheme in the United States that caters to flexible films, as well as other plastics.

“Increasing recyclability of materials is a great start, but we need actual recycling rates of various materials to increase,” said Christine Montenegro McGrath, Vice President and Chief of Impact. “Compared to rigid plastics like PET, flexible plastic films, like the flow wraps we use on our snacks, are still difficult to collect, sort and reprocess economically, because the infrastructure doesn’t exist yet for this to be done at scale. We are committed to playing our part to improve this, including partnering with stakeholders across sectors to drive action to combat plastics pollution.”

Mondelēz International is an active participant in the Consumer Goods Forum Plastic Coalition of Action; the Business Call for a Global UN Treaty on Plastics Pollution; the U.S. Plastics Pact; the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment; the New Plastics Economy Initiative; the European CEFLEX initiative; the UK Plastics Pact and the UK Flexible Plastic Fund (formerly known as EPPIC); and the Australia/New Zealand Plastics Pact, among others.

Mondelēz International reports transparently on the progress it is making against its Environment, Social Sustainability and Governance commitments, strategies and goals in the Snacking Made Right Report, published annually in early May. For more information, visit www.mondelezinternational.com.

About Mondelēz International

Mondelēz International, Inc. (Nasdaq: MDLZ) empowers people to snack right in over 150 countries around the world. With 2020 net revenues of approximately $27 billion, MDLZ is leading the future of snacking with iconic global and local brands such as OREO, belVita and LU biscuits; Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone chocolate; Sour Patch Kids candy and Trident gum. Mondelēz International is a proud member of the Standard and Poor’s 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones Sustainability Index.