Four years ago, Yung Hassi was an unpopular high schooler with no promising future. Whenever he went to school, the other kids made fun of him and called him names. Whenever he got a job, his boss would end up firing him after a short amount of time. It just didn’t seem like Hassi could do anything right.

So, like most teenagers that want to escape from their troubles, Hassi immersed himself in the world of social media. He was a big fan of the humorous internet memes as they relate to celebrities in the entertainment industry. This gave him the idea to create social media pages which revolve around different memes. He picked Twitter and Instagram as the two main social media networks to create his pages on.

In 2016, just one year after he started doing this, Hassi amassed nearly 5 million followers in total on both Twitter and Instagram. When he realized the potential that he had to make money from all these followers, he started running ads on his meme pages just to see what would happen. Sure enough, he generated more than six figures during his first year. Every year after that, his income kept growing and growing.

After accumulating more than 15 million followers, Hassi started to capture the attention of major artists like Logan Paul, Lil Yachty, Snoop Dogg, and Ray J. Hassi began working with them as a promoter of their latest songs and works. This is what earned him bigtime money that escalated him to millionaire status. It is hard to believe that only 4 years ago, Hassi was a broke teenager with no job. That is the power of social media.

Hassi no longer depends on meme pages alone to promote his clients’ advertisements. He has used his popularity to start his own personal page on Instagram too. This page already has over 100,000 followers in counting. As a result, Hassi is officially an Instagram influencer because of his large fanbase. If he recommends a product or service to his followers, they are going to listen.

Imagine the power that somebody like Hassi has now. When a client pays him to recommend their product, that recommendation could potentially be seen by 100,000 people. But even if only 20% of those people pay attention to the recommendation, that’s 20,000 people who may decide to purchase the product being suggested. It is no wonder why celebrities are paying him five figures just to make one post which recommends their songs and albums.

Hassi continues to work hard every day and push himself to the limit. He knows that’s what it takes to grow followers on social media and to keep his existing followers happy. After all, if he doesn’t keep posting relevant content that his followers want to see, then they’ll unsubscribe or unfollow his pages. So, he has a continued responsibility to produce good content that his followers want to see. Not all of his content is product recommendations because that’ll seem too spammy to them. 

One upcoming director is no stranger to making things happen. He moved to Los Angeles to pursue filmmaking, wrote screenplays picked up by one of the biggest networks in the industry, and most of all, explored how he can use his voice to make a change in the world. That is Tevin Everett.

Tevin Everett spent eight years in the US Navy before finally moving to Los Angeles and going on a journey of becoming a filmmaker. Even with an incredible start in the industry as a screenwriter, Tevin knew there is so much he needed to learn.

“When I first started screenwriting, I could see how writers’ works would constantly get watered down or told they weren’t good enough. I believed I had a few stories to tell and I didn’t want to let anyone else tell me how to tell it. So I figured, why not take a shot at it myself?”

The industry is tough, but despite it all, Tevin is a force to be reckoned with. He worked hard and explored the unknowns with strength, resilience, and a desire to make it big someday. “My ability to get the job done is what I brought with me from the military. No task is too big and everything can be figured out,” he affirms.

After he slowly made himself known as a screenwriter, Tevin knew it was time to take a step forward to explore more on what he could do. 

So in January last year, Tevin made his directorial debut with his short film, the Don’t Call List. Part of his short film collection for Amazon Prime.  It was about a man who struggled to deal with his commitment issues on Valentine’s Day—a quirky romantic comedy film that showed his versatility as a filmmaker. Prior to Don’t Call List, Tevin could never imagine the day he could finally direct his own film, but after doing so, he only had respect for the people who supported him to make it possible. On Instagram, his humility and gratitude can be seen as he proclaims that he is nothing without those who believed in his talent. 

That film was only the beginning for Tevin and his vision. Recently, Tevin worked on the project Diversity Hires, a web series he wrote, directed, and produced. Diversity Hires is a timely film about America’s hiring processes with regard to racial discrimination. This was his first step toward the direction of producing more socially relevant films and shows. He also finished the project Short Term, the second installment in his collection for Prime releasing in February.

Furthermore, Tevin started A Tevin Everett Jawn production company. Tevin wants for his company to become an outlet for kids and adults who feel that they have a unique story to tell. After all, it is through this drive that he has become who he is now. Wherever the industry takes Tevin, one thing’s for sure: he’s going to own his voice and share his vision. As he wrote in his Instagram bio, “Just sharing my vision with the world, whatever that looks like.”

Learn more about Tevin Everett by visiting his Instagram.

Create Culture Records (also known as C2 Records) is getting the show on the virtual road in 2021! On January 2, the C2 Team completed their final review of applicants for the Music Madness contest and announced the top 64 selections. In light of the previous year, C2 Records hit the ground running as a label deeply rooted in the principle that music is an unparalleled unifier of all people.

Phil Oakley, the founder of C2 Records, conceived the idea of this label while visiting Graceland. It was there, in Memphis, that he decided to create a label that would primarily serve to unite people from all backgrounds and genres of music. Given the challenges that artists face in today’s industry, a virtual music contest to discover artists was decidedly the best approach to address the limitations and hurdles faced by artists as a result of the pandemic. The Music Madness contest is open to all genres of music. As a result of the inclusive nature of the competition, C2 Records received hundreds of applications from across the United States. Congratulations to the following contestants who were named to the top 64 and who will begin competing on January 14, 2021. Here is a list including some of the selected artists:

 
The Music Madness contest relies on social media as a primary channel of communication and to increase exposure for up-and-coming artists. Create Culture Records is an independent music label created to discover and nurture untapped musical talent. C2 Records offers a groundbreaking approach to promotional opportunities and completely re-imagines contractual benefits and ownership of rights by artists. Our standard is to challenge the long-standing industry standards for every artist. C2 will be announcing other members of the team, including but not limited to vocal coaches, executive producers, songwriters, and others to significantly advance the presence of artists in the industry. 

To further support participants of the Music Madness contest, C2 Records has partnered with Los Angeles based talent management, the AVM Group, who will provide contestants with exposure and opportunities on the live-streaming app LIVIT. The artists selected to participate will be awarded optional streaming contracts valued at $800.00 or more. With over 40 million registered users worldwide, LIVIT will provide artists even greater opportunity to connect with their audience and monetize their talent. LIVIT’s focus on growing and nurturing talent while giving them a platform to benefit financially perfectly aligns with C2 Records.     

Additionally, C2 Records is excited to announce the signing of Keelan Jones to their label. Keelan is a graduate of Columbia College School of Music and has embraced C2’s vision of creating an all-inclusive label and by releasing an album entitled, “The Light.” The inspiration for this song was derived from difficult events Keelan was facing in the past year and how staying the course helped him prevail through these difficulties. 

One of the key reasons Keelan chose to sign with C2 Records was the label’s approach to artist management and music production. C2 Records breaks away from traditional methods used by most labels. By allowing their artists a broader sense of freedom in creating their music, as well as providing early compensation on royalties, C2 provides a rich environment for artists on the label to grow and create. 

It is by no coincidence that C2 chose to release this song as one of its first songs, given the challenges the world is currently facing today, with the hopes that others will find inspiration to “continue the fight” and not give up. After sharing his song with the leadership team at C2, Keelan commented, “Behind every phone, there is a living being who has been through something real and who has had real trials in life…so every post and every e-mail has a message. Our form of media holds a real meaning, and I hope my song can touch people in a positive way.” C2 Records’ approach to artist management and music production breaks away from the traditional methods used by most labels. By allowing their artists a broader sense of freedom in their music, as well as providing early compensation on royalties, C2 provides a rich environment for artists on the label to grow and create. 

C2 puts the artist first in many regards without placing the label’s financial needs ahead of the goal to make the artist a success. The goal is to demonstrate that the team can succeed faster if everyone drives toward the same vision and goals, as put on display by both the competition and signing of artists to the label.