LOS ANGELES (AP) — Zsela leans into the ebb and flow of uncertainty and invites listeners to do the same throughout her debut album “Big For You.”

The album, written over four years, follows Zsela’s 2020 EP “Ache of Victory,” which she describes as “an imprint of time.”

“I’m connected to it since it’ll always be a part of my story, but I’m excited to tell new ones with this album,” Zsela said. “I was working a lot on myself and on this music. It took time. And I feel really fortunate that I got this time to get the songs to where I wanted them to be, and I feel really excited about where they landed,” she said.

For Zsela, working on “Big For You” was a test of trusting her instincts and pushing beyond her comfort zone both sonically and vocally.

“I got really into experimenting with my voice in ways that would dictate my writing. I had this character that I sang with that came from a day that I just wasn’t feeling my voice. So, I was like, let me try something different. Like really different,” Zsela said about a character within the album. When asked where the character appears, she simply says, “I think it’s more fun to leave that for the listener to find.”

Zsela has a rich, alluring voice. Her warm tone intertwines with upbeat, dreamscape melodies and instrumentals, especially heard on tracks like “Fire Excape” and “Not Your Angel.”

“I feel like I established a confidence in just the practice itself of experimenting and not being so precious and opening up to people and ideas and really trying to practice listening to myself and where I want to go and outside of, like the noise of the world,” she says.

But while embarking on the metamorphosis, Zsela says she had a strong desire to pursue “lightness, fun and levity” throughout the process.

“I really tried to bring that into the room every time I was with myself and working on, like, figuring out what I wanted to say,” she said. “It’s just about like opening up and letting go and experimenting.”

“Big For You” was a chance to see how far she could go, cementing her creative confidence and creating an enchanting and energetic album full of musical tension and release.

“My friend described it as a sweaty album, like, it feels like you’re tense and hot,” she says.

“Big For You” translates to ‘I love you’ for Zsela, and the album is about love and all of its complexities.

“The big is the space that we fill up and take inside of love. Like being ‘full for you’ and ‘full of you’ and this complexity in the magnitude of that space we take and we fill up,” said the artist.

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The Brooklyn-native is taking listeners on an adventure beginning with the fantasy-filled “Lily of the Nile” and landing with “Play,” a song that she says “ends with this question of love.”

“It kind of has been this way of leaving it (the album) open-ended and hopefully making you want to start it again to see what the answer is or if there is one.”

She has once again teamed up with longtime Frank Ocean and FKA Twigs-collaborator Daniel Aged to produce, alongside Gabe Wax.

“I’ve kept my world of collaborators pretty intimate. And it’s not to say that I like don’t want to invite more, but I think that intimacy has really like built a lot of trust and that has really been important to creating it and being able to experiment and find your way back home.”

Zsela has played numerous shows with artists like Caroline Polacheck and Arooj Aftab. But this summer she will embark on her first headlining tour and looks forward to meeting listeners who resonate with her artistry.

“I am excited to see who is in those rooms,” she said. “I’m excited to play these songs live. The whole time in making this album, I’ve just been thinking about playing them live.”

“Big For You” is set for release Friday. Zsela hopes listeners will soak in the melodies, lyrics and arrangements while driving with the top down.

NEW YORK (AP) — It would have been the largest-ever private gift to a historically Black college or university: $237 million — far beyond the recipient’s endowment. The money was promised by a 30-year-old who had recounted his rise from a childhood in foster care to becoming, as he put it, Texas’ “youngest African American industrial hemp producer.”

And so, the first weekend of May, Florida A&M University celebrated Gregory Gerami’s extraordinary contribution with all the necessary pomp. He spoke at commencement. Regalia-clad administrators posed with a jumbo check. Gerami even assured the audience that “the money is in the bank.”

It wasn’t, and it may never be.

Following public backlash over its apparent failure to properly vet Gerami and the donation, FAMU said the gift is now on pause — dashing expectations of increased financial stability for the 137-year-old institution and its 9,000 students. Gerami maintains everything will ultimately work out, but other small universities he approached with proposals for major donations never got any money.

An eye-popping gift from an obscure company

Gerami contacted Florida A&M’s development office about a donation last fall, according to Shawnta Friday-Stroud, then-vice president for university advancement. University officials, including President Larry Robinson and Athletic Director Tiffani-Dawn Sykes, began meeting with him virtually shortly thereafter.

In January, Atlanta’s Spelman College publicized a $100 million gift — then considered the single largest donation to any HBCU. FAMU officials say Gerami wanted to surpass that figure. They ultimately agreed it would come through 14 million shares in his fledgling industrial hemp company.

However, the value of the company — and those shares — remains unclear.

Gerami founded Batterson Farms Corp in 2021 with aspirations of becoming a leading hemp plastics producer. While Texas Department of Agriculture records confirm the company is licensed to grow hemp, little else suggests that’s happening.

The company’s website is sparse. Affiliate links to purchase HempWood products were broken and the shopping cart payment function failed when an Associated Press reporter visited the site in late May and early June. A confusing message to investors also warned of late fees for failing to complete monthly payments on time.

Kimberly Sue Abbott, a founding board member who told the AP that she was incorrectly listed as co-CEO, cast doubt on Gerami’s self-reported value of the shares and said Batterson Farms “is not farming any hemp anywhere that I’m aware of.”

She and Gerami met around 2013 during her time on the Birmingham City Council in Alabama. She felt he needed guidance on how to “do something good with his money.” He has since invited her to partake in various ventures — none of which lasted, she said.

“He never holds to a schedule. The information that he has is always flawed somehow. Technicalities are always an issue,” she said.

Greg Wilson, HempWood’s founder, confirmed that Gerami is a customer but said he doesn’t buy much. High interest rates have dampened both home sales and interest in remodeling with products like his, Wilson said, making it a bad time for wood-alternative businesses.

Gerami described Abbott’s characterizations as “inaccurate” and outdated. Without answering whether or not Batterson Farms is growing hemp, he said his company acts as an intermediary between farmers and consumers. He refused to provide specifics about the company’s contracts, revenue and staffing.

He also claimed that a third-party developer created the company’s website, which he said was never intended to be a place where people could directly buy flooring.

NDAs, ‘misrepresentations’ and a lack of due diligence?

Florida A&M officials have shared little about their knowledge of Gerami or their vetting process.

Friday-Stroud told FAMU Foundation board members last month that an “expansive screening” into Gerami’s background produced the same information that ended up “on social media,” apparently referencing online upset over his previous reported donation attempts and his company’s obscurity.

Still, she said, they moved forward after looping in Robinson. Friday-Stroud signed a nondisclosure agreement on behalf of the foundation board on April 26 at Gerami’s request, according to a copy obtained by AP.

They also announced the donation while awaiting a still outstanding independent appraisal of the private stock’s worth, which Gerami said he assessed based on existing but undisclosed sales contracts.

Officials have acknowledged that the appraisal could return with a much lower valuation.

Stock donations and NDAs are not abnormal for university advancement offices. However, according to some higher education fundraisers, such donations usually come from wealthy shareholders of reputable public companies and NDAs should include the entire foundation board.

“You want to make certain those resources are available, always, before you make the announcement,” said W. Anthony Neal, a longtime HBCU fundraiser who dealt with Gerami in the past. “Because you don’t want to come back with egg on your face.”

Companies typically get what’s known as a 409A valuation from an independent third party before gifting shares, said Bob Musumeci, an Indiana University business professor with a background in corporate finance.

Equity ownership, employee numbers, financial projects and other details all factor into the assessment. Outside investments from things like a family trust can also boost a company’s worth beyond what sales numbers — and public data, if available — might suggest.

Gerami didn’t break any laws by flouting that norm, Musumeci said, but the fact that the gift wasn’t properly assessed before being publicized is questionable.

“I would certainly be cautiously pessimistic about it. But I can’t say whether it is or it isn’t,” he said of the valuation’s accuracy.

Both FAMU and Gerami have said the transfer of the stock certificates between their respective accounts took place in April.

A spokesperson for Carta, the equity management company they say completed the exchange, would only confirm that the platform notified Gerami on May 14 that his contract was terminated over “misrepresentations” he’d made. They declined to comment on FAMU’s assertion that it had an account with Carta and Gerami’s claim that the company sent documentation confirming the transfer.

Small schools with small endowments

Florida A&M is not the first school to receive a pitch from Gerami.

Neal, the HBCU fundraiser, was overseeing a $3.4 million fundraising campaign in 2023 for the 150th anniversary of Wiley University in Marshall, Texas, when Gerami reached out. They discussed funding for new campus facilities in the $1 million to $2 million range, Neal said, and he began the “normal vetting process” as the senior vice president of institutional advancement at the time.

But not a lot of information surfaced. After at least seven conversations, Neal sought a one-on-one meeting to verify Gerami’s legitimacy in person. Communications subsequently dropped off.

“Sometimes donors just pull out,” Neal said. “Doesn’t mean anything bad.”

However, three years prior, Coastal Carolina University also withdrew from a $95 million contribution made by an anonymous donor because he had “not fulfilled an early expectation of the arrangement,” according to a press release.

While CCU declined to name the anonymous donor in an email to AP, Gerami was identified as the benefactor last spring by The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Gerami told AP that he “considered” as many as 15 colleges and universities in recent years as part of a strategy to establish research partnerships that he said would make his company eligible for grants. Though Gerami did not disclose the names of those schools, those documented are all small institutions with scant endowments. He said he eyed institutions that needed funding and had the capacity for hydroponics, a method of growing plants without soil.

A transformative gift gone sideways

The fallout at FAMU is palpable.

The school ended its engagement with Gerami. Friday-Stroud resigned. University trustees — surprised they were left in the dark throughout the six-month process — approved a third-party investigation that state officials have joined.

Speaking May 15 before the trustees, Robinson described the announcement of Gerami’s gift as “premature at best.”

“I saw in this unprecedented gift the potential to serve our students and our athletic programs in ways unimaginable at that time,” Robinson said. “I wanted it to be real and ignored the warning signs along the way.”

Days after announcing the donation, Robinson withdrew a $15 million request to a local economic development board to enhance FAMU’s football stadium, according to records obtained by AP.

While he did not give a reason and the university declined to comment, the gift agreement shows a one-time $24 million allocation of Gerami’s donation for athletics facilities.

Millions annually were also supposed to fund scholarships, the nursing school and a student business incubator over the next decade.

The public embarrassment has worried some HBCU supporters, who hope the outsize negative attention won’t dampen an otherwise resurgent fundraising atmosphere.

“As somebody that wants HBCUs to always succeed, this is really heartbreaking because there was so much excitement,” said Marybeth Gasman, an education researcher at Rutgers University and three-time HBCU board member. “Just real, real excitement for just a transformative gift of this magnitude.”

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There was a time when HBCUs might have had to gamble on an unknown miracle donor, but Gasman said that’s less common now. Long overlooked by foundations and underfunded by some states, the schools have courted and gained newfound corporate interest in recent years.

Still, public funding disparities persist. Historically Black land-grant universities in 16 states missed out on $12.6 billion over the past three decades — including $1.9 billion that should have gone to FAMU — according to a 2023 Biden administration analysis.

For his part, Gerami believes the questions over his donation are unnecessary “whack-a-mole.” He admitted the sum of his donation was his own estimate, but said he expects an independent valuation will confirm the shares’ worth within the month. He said he also believes FAMU will accept the gift once its independent probe is complete.

“Until a third-party valuation is done, this is all speculation,” Gerami said.

“We want to tread very carefully because we do not want to play games that lead to speculation without actual, factual information,” he added.

From Juneteenth parades to the summer concert stages, the time has arrived to celebrate Black culture al fresco. With Target, it’s easier than ever to find products from Black-owned businesses to help you take on all the warm weather activities in style.

Curated on Target’s Black Beyond Measure site, the retailer has made a space to spotlight Black-owned or -founded businesses, allowing you to uplift communities you believe in just in time for the high season of being out and about: live music, rooftop film series, block parties, cookouts, and every other imaginable reason to congregate in the sun.

Ready to rock out? We’ve hand-selected for The Root readers 10 beauty and style essentials from Black-owned or founded businesses that will set you up for the best festival season yet.

SUMMER HAIR

The Doux Silent Hair Treatment 30-Day Humidity Shield

This is your new hair hero. This heat-activated thermal mist is infused with keratin and works wonders on frizz, keeping tresses sleek and smooth for up to four shampoos. Packaged in a handy 2 fluid ounce spray bottle, it’s the perfect to-go companion on long days of humidity, heat, and the surprise sun shower, keeping your crown on point no matter the weather.

30

Bill Belichick has ended his 24-season tenure with the New England Patriots. The departure marks the end of an era for the legendary coach who led the team to six Super Bowl victories.

Belichick, 72, has also made headlines for his personal life. According to sources close to TMZ, he has been romantically involved with 24-year-old Jordon Hudson, a former competitive cheerleader. The news follows his breakup with long-time partner Linda Holliday and his previous 29-year marriage to Debby Belichick.

TMZ reports that Belichick and Hudson first met in 2021 on a flight from the Boston area to Florida. Their initial connection was sparked by a conversation about a philosophy project Hudson, a student-athlete, was working on. Despite their 48-year age gap, the two exchanged numbers and began seeing each other. What started as a friendship reportedly evolved into a romantic relationship after Belichick became single again.

Belichick was recently spotted attending one of Hudson’s cheerleading competitions in Washington D.C., and she was seen at Tom Brady’s Patriots Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony this week.

The coach’s reputation as a ladies’ man has been highlighted before, notably when home security footage of him leaving a woman’s house went viral last season. This incident, humorously dubbed the “Beli’chick’ incident,” was referenced during the “Tom Brady Roast” comedy special on Netflix.

“Everybody asks me which ring is my favorite, I used to say ‘the next one,’” Brady joked. “But now that I am retired, my favorite ring is the camera that caught Coach Belichick slinking out of that poor girl’s house a few months ago. Hey, you still got it. Respect, baby,” Brady quipped about his former coach.

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Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.

Lenny Kravitz is Black and Jewish and that dichotomy has meant so much in his life. In our interview for “Masters of the Game,” he spoke about how he was often teased as a kid for not being fully one side or the other. ”I grew up with kids, and I’m sure you did, too, who didn’t know how to deal with that, because they thought they had to fit into one or the other,” he said. “And we don’t have to fit into one of the other.” 

Kravitz says his family counseled him to rise above that. He said he was taught, “to embrace all that you are and to honor all that you are and to know that when you do have different elements that’s a gift to be able to draw from different cultures, different things, different aspects about you. It gives you more to work with, and more understanding that truly we are all one. We are all the same. We all come from the same source. So I think having that mix is wonderful.”

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But Kravitz had a really powerful example of being proud of who you are in his own home. His mother, the actress Roxie Roker, was part of the first interracial couple on TV when she was in the cast of “The Jeffersons,” one of the biggest TV sitcoms of the late ’70s. “The Jeffersons” focused on George Jefferson and his wife Louise, or Weezy, who were upper-middle-class Black folks at a time when there weren’t many of them in the country and none on TV. Roker’s character Helen Willis lived down the hall from the Jeffersons and appeared in almost every episode. Helen’s husband was white. Her character helped normalize interracial relationships in media and helped Kravitz feel better about himself.

Kravitz proudly told me the story of how Roker got the job — the show’s creator, Norman Lear, asked her if she would be comfortable playing a character who has a white husband. Kravitz said that Lear said, “Now listen, I just want to talk with you about this, because I have to make sure that you’re comfortable. Because you’re going to, you know, hug and kiss this man. I don’t know how you’re gonna feel about kissing a white man.” She pulled out a picture of her husband. He was a white man. Lear said, “I’ll see you on Monday.”

Don’t miss Lenny Kravitz on “Masters of the Game,” streaming now on theGrio.

Toure is a host and writer at TheGrio. He hosts the TheGrio TV show “Masters of the Game,” and he created the award-winning podcast “Being Black: The ’80s” and its upcoming sequel “Being Black: The ’70s.” He is also the creator of “Star Stories” and the author of eight books, including “Nothing Compares 2 U an oral history of Prince.” He also hosts a podcast called “Toure Show.” He is also a husband and a father of two.

Jodie Turner-Smith is speaking her truth when it comes to her relationship with ex-hubby Joshua Jackson and his new girlfriend Lupita Nyong’o.

Sharing her thoughts in a new interview with The Cut, Turner-Smith shared that the moment she and Jackson went public with their relationship at the premiere of her film Queen & Slim back in 2019, things went to a whole new level—and not in a good way. A rising actress who’d just landed her first lead in a film, she was elated when her then boo asked to take a picture together on that carpet. However, that moment ended up changing their dynamic as she felt like she’d become “Mrs. Joshua Jackson” at a time when she was trying to create a name for herself—and while she was secretly a few months pregnant.

“It all came from a really innocent place,” she said. “I didn’t understand how sinister that could end up being for me. It was taking away from a moment that I needed to have on my own. It opened up a very painful conversation to the world about who I was with and how right or wrong it was to be with that person. And when you’re pregnant, it’s like the most vulnerable time of your life.”

She went on to say how some of the “most painful” parts of their relationship derived from commentary on why she chose to be with him.

“The most painful was the commentary about why I had chosen him for a partner, that I chose him because I hated myself, because I wanted a light-skinned baby: All these things that are not an accurate reflection of why a person falls in love or at least why this person did.

When you’re in the public eye, a part of you belongs to the public. It stops being yours and becomes theirs too. I didn’t have an accurate scope of understanding what it would mean to share my relationship with the public. It’s something I will never do again. Ever. That is one major lesson that I took away from this, which is just that people don’t need to know everything.”

Jackson and Turner-Smith would file for divorce at the top of October 2023, though court documents reveal they’d been separated since mid-September. The reason for their split is due to irreconcilable differences. She also filed for joint custody of their 3-year-old daughter, Juno. Spousal support was reportedly not being offered up for either party and there was no prenuptial agreement in place.

And while it seems Turner-Smith will be keeping things under wraps when it comes to her next relationship—it looks like her ex Jackson may be doing the same. As previously reported by The Root, Jackson and his new girlfriend Lupita Nyong’o sparked rumors that they’d been coupled up in late 2023 after being spotted together looking rather cozy on several occasions.

Though neither Jackson or Nyong’o have come out and officially confirmed their romance, pictures of the two spotted out in Mexico back in March for her birthday show them engaging in some PDA.

When asked how Turner-Smith felt about her ex’s new relationship, The Acolyte star said: “Good for them. We need happiness in order to peacefully co-parent. I’m trying to get us to the Gwyneth and Chris Martin level. I truly hope they’re happy and that it benefits us as a family.”

13

The popular Netflix series Bridgerton has not only captured hearts around the world but it’s also given the UK economy a significant boost. Shondaland, the production company behind Bridgerton, announced today that the show has injected over £275 million (around $350 million USD) into the British economy over the past five years.

This economic windfall coincides with the release of Part 2 of Bridgerton’s third season. Shondaland CEO Shonda Rhimes even opened trading at the London Stock Exchange to celebrate this milestone.

“Bridgerton has resonated with audiences of all ages,” Rhimes said. “It’s sparked conversations, set trends, and even influenced baby names and weddings. But more than that, it’s had a tremendous impact on the UK economy, supporting thousands of businesses and jobs.”

The Regency-era drama’s influence extends beyond just the financial. Visit West reported a surge in tourism to filming locations like Bath and Bristol, generating over £5 million for the local economy. The show has also impacted pop culture, with Kiddies Kingdom reporting a significant rise in baby names inspired by the characters.

Bridgerton’s soundtrack has also seen a boost, with Vitamin String Quartet experiencing a 350% increase in streams following the show’s debut.

Industry leaders echoed the positive sentiment. Shonda Rhimes and Netflix were praised for their contribution to the UK’s creative industries, which generate jobs, innovation, and community growth.

“The Bridgerton Universe exemplifies exceptional storytelling and showcases the immense talent we have here in the UK,” said Theresa Wise, CEO of the Royal Television Society. “This show’s global impact is remarkable, but its contribution to the local economy through job creation and a quarter-billion-pound boost is equally impressive.”

Catch part 2 of Bridgerton’s third season streaming now on Netflix, alongside all previous seasons.

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