Chaka Khan Shines at her 40th Anniversary and 60th Birthday Concert

I had the opportunity to attend the celebration of Chaka Khan’s 60^th birthday party and her 40th anniversary concert on Sunday July 28, 2013. The concert was free to the public and held at Millennium Park in Chicago, Illinois. Chaka Khan, born Yvette Marie Stevens is a 10-time Grammy Award winning singer songwriter, actor, author, philanthropist, entrepreneur and activist. Chaka Khan is known as the ”Queen of Funk Soul” and has hit songs such as, ‘Tell me Something Good’ and ‘Ain’t Nobody’.

Funkadesi, a band from Chicago, whose music has blends of reggae, funk, and Afro-Caribbean grooves, was the opening act for Chaka Khan. Chaka Kahn was celebrating her 60^th birthday and being in the music industry for 40 years. I have never seen Chaka Kahn perform before, but I recommend everyone to at least go see this phenomenal woman in concert.

On the same day as her free concert at Millenium Park, Chaka Khan was honored with her own street called ‘Chaka Khan Way’. The street is on Blackstone Avenue in Hyde Park. 

Chaka will be in concert this Saturday August 9^th at the Pavilion at Wolf Lake in Hammond, Indiana. Performing alongside Chaka Khan is the Mary Jane Girls and R&B/Funk band Switch. If you are unable to attend Chaka's concert on August 9^th, she will also be in concert at the V103’s 25-year anniversary celebration at the Arie Crown Theater on October 5th. Also performing with Chaka Khan will be Robin Thicke, Charlie Wilson and R&B group Bell Biv Devoe.

Chicago native Chaka Khan has proven that hard work, dedication, and loyalty to your fans, one can achieve goals beyond measure. Chaka Khan makes the music business look so easy when others have failed at this career. Chaka Khan is a truly gifted and talented woman. She has inspired many artists over her four decades in the music business. Chaka Khan is a woman who should be recognized as one of the greatest singers of all time.

Negotiation with Mike Watson

Mike Watson is the Founder of an entertainment company called Music Lives Beyond and the owner of the Music Lives Beyond Entertainment Center in Chicago, Illinois. He has been in the entertainment industry for over ten years with focus in promotions, marketing, management, photography and videography. He is known for deal making and negotiation on an everyday basis, primarily since he owns an entertainment center that people rent out for open mics, parties, video-shoots and photo-shoots. I recently had the opportunity to interview Mr. Watson because I am renting out his facility for my performing arts academy in September. We have been going back and forth negotiating the rental price for 16 weeks, so I felt he would be the perfect candidate for this blog interview assignment I had to do for my class project.

Mr. Watson proved that he could definitely separate the people from the problem in a recent conversation we had. I wanted to give him the deposit for the performing arts program on August 24th, but Mr. Watson wanted the deposit to be in by August 7th. The reason I wanted it on a later date is to satisfy my customers since they were preparing themselves for registration for their kids to return to school, having to buy school supplies and also school clothes. I explained this to Mr. Watson and even though he understood, he still had to separate the problem and continue to run his business the way he need too. After negotiation with him over the deposit date, we came to a mutual benefit where we can do the deposit on August 17th and a lower rate of $250 instead of $400 originally agreed upon. 

When talking to Mr. Watson I explained to him that I needed to be in his facility everyday from 9a-3pm, and he agreed to rent the place to me for $100 a day. I recently changed my mind and asked for only 4 hours instead during the times of 10a-2pm. I asked him would that lower my rate and he said no. I didn't understand why when I am not in the facility anymore for six hours. He explained that he was charging other clients $50-$100 an hour and only charged me a flat rate of $100 a day no matter how long I needed the space. Mr. Watson positional bargaining tactics were firm and even though he did not budge on the rate he gave me a deal on the deposit.

After talking to Mr. Watson, I realized that in this business you have to separate the problem from the people, stand firm on your bargaining tactics, and find a common mutual benefit for both parties involved. Mr. Watson says that in this industry you have to separate the friendship and family from the business. He wants to accommodate his clients the best way he can so he is always up for negotiation but he maintains his ground and never allow anyone to take advantage of him. Mr. Watson is a great negotiator and is very fair in deal making. 

KANYE WEST AND KIM KARDASHIAN WELCOME A BABY GIRL

Congratulations are in order for the most talked about couple besides Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Kanye West and his baby mama Kim Kardashian. Early yesterday morning on June 15th, Kim gave birth to a healthy baby girl 5 weeks earlier than her due date at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The public is awaiting the name of the baby girl, which has yet to be released. Some fans think they will name the baby after Kanye's mother, Donda. Other fans think the baby name will start with a "K". 

As I was browsing thru the social networks today, mainly Facebook, I came across a post a friend of mine made regarding Taylor Swift. Everyone remembers the rant Kanye did on stage about Beyoncé having the best video of all times on the MTV Music Video Awards. Well I don't know how true this post is below, but it definitely has me laughing my butt off.

There were also reports going around that Kanye West was not going to be in the delivery room when Kim gave birth because he was a very squeamish person. Reports say that he canceled an album release party to be by his woman side and even took part in helping the delivery of his baby girl. People magazine reports Kim gave a C-section while TMZ says it was a natural childbirth. 

This is the first child for both Kim, 32 and Kanye 36. What a way to celebrate Father's Day for Kanye and Kim. We wish them the best and can't wait to hear the name they have chosen and see pictures. I wonder if Kanye will make a song with his daughter like Jay Z did with Blue Ivy. You never know with Kanye what he has up his sleeves, only time will tell.

Congratulations once again Kanye and Kim!!

Kanye West and Kim Khardasian Reveal the Sex of their Baby

Reports have confirmed that Kanye West and his lovely baby mama to be are expecting their first child together and the sex of the baby has been determined as a precious baby girl. Reports are also saying the baby girl's name will be Kimye. I don't know how to feel about this couple. I mean you got the mother, Kim Khardasian, who became even more famous off of her infamous sex tape with Mr. I Hit It First, Ray J. Then you have Mr. Beyoncé had the best video of all time, none other than Kanye West as the father. This couple looks odd to me but if it floats your boat than I am sailing along with you.

Kim recently gave everyone a sneak peek of what the baby's gender was going to be on their reality show, Keeping Up with the Khardasians. Kim revealed to E! Online that, and I quote:

“I’m so excited we’re having a girl,” the pregnant star, who is due in July, said. “Who doesn’t want a girl? They’re the best and I know that’s really what Kanye has always wanted. He wanted a little girl."

On the season premiere of KUWTK she finally finds out that her and Kanye are in deed having a baby girl as her fans watch on. While in the doctor's office, Kim, along with mom Kris Jenner and sisters Kourtney Kardashian and Khloé Kardashian Odom all waited to find out what she was having. They were all excited for a baby girl. Kim mentioned also that Kanye was hoping for a girl as well. The couple’s baby shower took place this past weekend in Beverly Hills and included celebrities such as, Kelly Osborne, Tracy Anderson the fitness Guru and Nicole Richie. 

We wish the couple the best and can’t wait to see the pictures in July.

Grammy U & The Recording Academy

The Recording Academy is known for honoring the music community and the achievements in the recording arts. The Recording Academy is an organization full of musicians, engineers and producers that helps the new movers and shakers of the music industry. The most popular awards show it is known for is the Grammy awards. The academy has twelve chapters thru-out the U.S. and they are:

• Atlanta
• Chicago 
• Florida
• Los Angeles
• Pacific Northwest
• New York
• Nashville
• Memphis
• Philadelphia
• San Francisco
• Texas
• Washington D.C.

The Recording Academy offers college students a chance to be apart of a program called Grammy U. The program prepares college students for a career in the music industry by giving them a platform to network with other college students and professionals in the recording industry. If you would like to be a member of the academy there are many benefits that come with it, such as:

• Access to Grammy365
• Book gigs, network with other professionals in other countries and find jobs
• Share your work and get advice and feedback

Not only do you gain benefits by being apart of the academy, you also have different membership types you can apply for such as:

• Become a Voting Member (If you were nominated for a Grammy, endorsement by other voting members, recordings released online and physical distribution)
• Become an Associate Member (Writers, Publishers, Attorneys, Music Educators, Artist Managers and more who are directly involved in the music business.)
• Become a Student Member (College students between ages 17 to 25 who wants to work in the recording industry after graduation.)

This is a great opportunity for students who attend an arts school such as Columbia College or Full Sail University. It is always great to be able to expand your network and work with professionals in the industry you want to go in after graduation. 

If you live in Chicago you can contact grammyuchicago@grammy.com for more info on joining their chapter. To find out more about all the other chapters please visit here.

How to Succeed? Get More Sleep!

Have you heard the famous quote "I will sleep when I die"? Well, this is a motto I have been following for years. Being an entrepreneur in the entertainment business, I always felt that if you sleep all the time you would never be up on all the current news. I sit in front of my computer sometimes 12-14 hours a day researching celebrity news, gossip, blogs and industry casting calls. Being current in the entertainment industry will definitely help you succeed. Or will it?

Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post. I recently watched a video on Ted.com by Arianna Huffington titled, "How to Succeed? Get More Sleep". She talks about how sleep is an important part of our life and how it can help us succeed more if we get enough of it. Arianna starts her speech out by telling her audience how two years ago she realized how much sleep was very important after fainting from exhaustion and hitting her head on the desk. The reason this stood out to me is because the similar thing happened to me.

In January 2012, I was taking a shower when I started feeling light-headed. I had been up for almost four days straight working on business with approximately six hours total of sleep. I had a big project coming up and I could care less about sleep. All I remember is waking up on the bathroom floor with blood everywhere. I had fainted and hit the edge of the bathroom sink and split my head open. I had enough energy to yell to my 12-year-old daughter to call 911. The next thing I know I woke up in the hospital with five staples in my head with a diagnosis of exhaustion and dehydration. Not only do I not eat healthy I rarely get enough sleep, so I truly understand why Arianna focuses on sleep more than anything else.

I love how Arianna focuses on women and how we can sleep our way to the top, and I don't mean the other way if you catch my drift. Let's look at this scenario for a second. If you drove a car all day 24 hours straight with no rest, what are some of the things that could happen? The car might overheat, the alternator may go out or even the battery may go dead. The reason for saying this is even a car needs it's rest, just like a human body so it can reenergize itself. So like Arianna Huffington says in her speech and I quote, "I urge you to shut your eyes and discover the great ideas that lies inside us, to shut your engines and discover the power of sleep".  By doing this, we can think more clearly and be able to focus at the task at hand with a clear head.