Wiz Khalifa Aims For Big Money

Rapper Wiz Khalifa may have made the Forbes Hip Hop Cash Kings List last year with $11 million in earnings, but the Pittsburgh native says that's small potatoes compared to where he's aiming to be by the end of 2012. Wiz told the magazine that he wants to add some digits to that number this year.

“Oh yeah, man, I’m going to make $100 million this year,” he said. “No doubt, $100 million. The new mixtape [will] get everybody ready and get their wallets open.”

Wiz is estimated to pull down about $70,000 from gigs. He's prepping his mixtape, and his sophomore album O.N.I.F.C.

The Demonization Of LeBron James. PAY Attention!!!!!!! Says Maverick Carter

see photosForbes Images

Click for full photo gallery: Lebron James

“If LeBron were an IPO, I’d buy it … At 21, I wasn’t remotely as mature as LeBron.” — Warren Buffett

Now that the NBA season is over, I have taken a moment to reflect. The lasting memory is not of the glorious success of the Mavs. It is of LeBron James and the season-long media/fan obsession with seeing him and the Heat fail. As one weary sportscaster put it, “We discuss LeBron as if he was our media Facebook status.”

It occurred to me that if all I knew about someone is that he announced a job move and staged it so that $2 million in cash would be donated to the Boys and Girls Club of America, my first reaction would probably be, “Now there’s a person with media savvy who is also a good person at heart.”  Add the fact that the donated cash was virtually all the advertising revenue from that single event and I would feel reassured it was not just a ploy for disguised greed.  If I further discovered that another $1 million in computers and Nike equipment was spread among eight Boys and Girls clubs – most notably Akron, and Cleveland, I would feel even better about the donor who gave back something significant – not just empty words and a wave – to the cities he was raised and was employed.

But if I knew nothing more, I would probably scratch my head about why the network that aired the announcement only made a minor footnote of the $3 million chartable aspect of the event.  And I would scratch my head again if the donor is primarily blamed for the event, when the worst part about it was the publicity, controlled by the network. If I took a moment to reflect, I would say, “Wait a minute. ESPN controlled the sickening number of promotional ploys leading up to the decision. Only ESPN could create the hype because only ESPN controls the airspace.” Then I would say, “For all I know ‘The Decision’ was ESPN’s title.”  Clearly, ESPN made the decision to announce the upcoming decision over and over again, day and night as if it was the second coming of Jesus Christ, instead of the second team for King James. Yet, the demon as crowned by the media was James, not the media itself.  This was the beginning of the demonization of LeBron James.

So let’s add a few other facts. The City of Cleveland and the donor’s prior employer had the benefit of his services for seven years.  During that time the employer’s product (a team) went from mediocre-at-best with a half empty arena to a team on the verge of being the best in the world with a frenzied sold-out arena.  The owner made millions. The local economy grew by millions per year. Yet the employee who is leaving didn’t say anything bad about the City before he left. In fact, he said he loved them and he understood their frustration. His kind words came despite knowing they were burning his uniform in effigy and creating as much venom as their imagination could muster.

In response to the employee’s resignation, the employer’s principal owner called him a “coward”, who was “selfish” and one who committed an act of “betrayal” for exercising his lawful right to pick a new employer. Objectively, on those facts, I hope we would all conclude that if the employee gave up millions of dollars in pursuit of a championship, that kind of selfishness is not so bad.  The reprehensible selfishness would have been demanding all the money he could get even if it hurt the teams salary cap – financial stability.

Page 2 Page 3

Source

Lil Wayne Makes Forbes' "Under 30" List

Rapper Lil Wayne managed to make Forbes’ list of “Best-Paid Celebrities Under 30,” despite spending the majority of 2010 behind bars on a weapons charge. The magazine's list looked at the money younger celebrities made between May 2010 and May 2011 and featured celebs from music, movies and sports.

Lil Wayne was estimated to have made about $15 million in the past year.

Katy Perry, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, LeBron James, and Beyoncé Knowles were also among the celebrities that made the list. Lady Gaga tops the list. The pop superstar made $90 million primarily due to album sales, her "Monster Ball" Tour, and endorsements.

Forbes Has Six Questions For Comedian Kevin Hart

By TAMARA WARREN

Kevin Hart spices up the 2011 Ford Explorer with a few laughs in a new Ford ad campaign.  The campaign is focused on reaching the urban market and includes TV, print, radio and digital segments. I sent Hart a few questions to find out how he feels about the Explorer, cars and driving. Turns out he’s a ‘66 Ford Mustang man, at heart, ala James Dean. Here’s what he has to say:
What is currently in your garage?


I currently have a Range Rover…SUPER CHARGED. I’m small so I have to compensate in other areas and I’m not scared to admit it.

When did you become interested in cars?


I have always liked cars ever since my older brother, Robert , gave me a 1980 Pontiac Trans-AM.  I felt like Smoky and the Bandit.

Was there someone in your family who was particularly interested in cars?


Well my dad was a skilled handy man and he would work on peoples cars from time to time.  He seems to get a kick out of telling people how screwed their cars were and how much work it was going to take to fix them.


How would you describe your driving style?


I like to call my driving style “AGGRESSIVE QUICKIE’.  There short quick spells of aggressive driving.  It is also can describe my style of sex also.

Do you have a history with Ford?

I have always been a fan of the Mustangs.  I would always dream of having a 1966 Mustang convertible and driving it with a leather jacket on like James Dean.


What have you noticed about the Explorer that stands out to you?


Man, where do I start.  I love the redesign, inside and out! It’s so stylish. Frankly, I feel like a super model when I drive it. The technology is incredible. From the mobile hot spot to the terrain management.

If Hart makes you laugh until it hurts, catch him live on the “Laugh At My Pain” tour. Check his website for dates and tickets. Follow him on Twitter for a daily dose of funny. He also makes his own t-shirts, also for sale on his site. 



Source

Oprah Winfrey Top Forbes Magazine List again

Not only did Oprah top this year’s Forbes list of the top earning women in entertainment, but she could have paid the next four women on the list – Beyonce, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga and Madonna – their earnings for the past year and had change left over.

Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, 56, again topped Forbes magazine’s list of top-earning women, bringing in 315 million dollars between June 2009 and June 2010, according to the list released Thursday.
But among the top earners this year were also women under 30: singer Beyonce Knowles, 29, with 87 million dollars; Britney Spears, 28, with 64 million dollars; and Lady Gaga, 24, with 62 million dollars.
In fourth place was pop queen Madonna, 52, with 58 million dollars, followed by actress Sandra Bullock, 46, with 56 million dollars; and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, 52, with 55 million dollars.
Singer Miley Cyrus, 17, not even old enough to vote or order a beer, swept in 48 million dollars; country singer Taylor Swift, 20, followed with 45 million dollars; and TV judge Judy Sheindlin, 68, also with 45 million dollars.