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Source: UHHM / UHHM
In an exclusive interview, we got the chance to speak with Rocky Bucano, the director of the Universal Hip-Hop Museum about the institution’s plans this year for Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary.
This year, Hip-Hop has officially been in existence for 50 years, and there’s already been a few numerous events that are celebrating and amplifying the culture. At the center of these celebrations stands the Universal Hip Hop Museum, an institution that has been years in the making in the culture’s birthplace of the Bronx, New York. It has been a long journey that will culminate in the completion of the museum’s permanent home at Bronx Point, projected for the summer of 2024.
A respected music industry veteran with strong ties to Hip-Hop dating back to his founding of Strong City Records with DJ Jazzy Jay to working with LaFace Records before venturing into television and community initiatives, UHHM’s Executive Director Rocky Bucano has been hard at work collaborating with many individuals, artists, and companies to make the UHHM a reality. We recently had a chance to speak with him about the plans for the museum as Hip-Hop celebrates this landmark year and beyond.
Hip-Hop Wired: Hip-Hop is celebrating 50 years of existence, and many are paying rightful tribute and homage to the culture. For you, as someone who’s been such an integral part of this culture, how does it feel witnessing all of this taking place with the celebrations and the continued journey of UHHM, how does that make you feel?
Rocky Bucano: I’m deeply blessed and honored to be one of the few people who have seen Hip-Hop from before it was Hip-Hop to where Hip Hop is today. Being the executive director of the University Hip-Hop Museum, it becomes almost an obligation, because I’ve seen the entire journey of Hip-Hop, right? To make sure that we have one of the best museums in the world to celebrate and preserve the global history of the culture. I’m so excited and blessed to be in this position. And I look forward to the next 50 years, even after the museum is open. You know, Hip-Hop has done so much for so many people, including myself. So I’m just so excited to be in this position and to see this museum coming to the finish line.
HHW: With the current exhibition, The [R]Evolution of Hip Hop “Golden Era” 1986-1990 open now – which I feel everyone has to visit at least once – what further activations and events do you and UHHM have planned this year?
Bucano: So we are the official partner of Mayor Adams and his administration to produce and curate a variety of different programs and events to celebrate the 50th anniversary. We have a women’s empowerment program coming up later this month, which will be at the Billie Holiday Theater (in Brooklyn). We’re doing health and wellness programs, we’re doing social justice outreach programs, and small business workshops. But the big one we’re working on is a celebratory concert to celebrate 50 years of Hip-Hop. Right now, the plan is to do it in Central Park, but it might be Yankee Stadium, so stay tuned for that.
And then we will be opening up a traveling museum that will start here in New York City. Later this year, so hopefully around August 10 of this year, we’ll be putting that up and that will stay open until the actual museum opens up at the Bronx Point. The traveling museum will debut in Manhattan, so we’re working on a location now.
HHW: That sounds amazing. And that ties into the final question that I have for you. In terms of further projects that have been completed, with the highly interactive components in the exhibits at your current space are we going to see further virtual collaborations like you’ve done in the past with Microsoft, like with Metaverse and Facebook under Meta as well?
Bucano: Great question. So you know, we have a Metaverse, a virtual museum that was accessed accessible through alt space. We were working with Microsoft, but they decided to sunset their alt-space division. So now we’re moving our Metaverse virtual museum over to Spatial, and we’re working with the team there on that. We’ll probably have some virtual projects and programs ready to go later this spring and early summer. Pretty excited about that. And we’re exploring how to use AI and all of the available tech experiences including ChatGPT. We’re right there trying to use the most advanced technology. We want to make sure that we’re curating and celebrating Hip-Hop history with new technology.
For more information on upcoming events at the Universal Hip-Hop Museum, visit their website.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Joe Buglewicz / Getty / Sony
The ongoing battle between Sony and Microsoft over this Activision Blizzard acquisition continues to get weird.
Sony has numerous concerns about Microsoft’s still stalled acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and now thanks to a PDF, we know every one of them.
In the documents sent to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Sony says it fears that Microsoft could raise the price of Call of Duty, make it exclusive to its Xbox Game Pass service, and sabotage the game so that it runs poorly on PlayStation consoles.
To be more specific, Sony hints at Microsoft releasing a Call of Duty game on PlayStation full of bugs and errors.
Sony’s claims in its documents:
Microsoft might release a PlayStation version of Call of Duty where bugs and errors emerge only on the game’s final level or after later updates. Even if such degradations could be swiftly detected, any remedy would likely come too late, by which time the gaming community would have lost confidence in PlayStation as a go-to venue to play Call of Duty. Indeed, as Modern Warfare II attests, Call of Duty is most often purchased in just the first few weeks of release. If it became known that the game’s performance on PlayStation was worse than on Xbox, Call of Duty gamers could decide to switch to Xbox, for fear of playing their favourite game at a second-class or less competitive venue.
It remains unclear if Sony means that Microsoft would intentionally wreck the game or do the whole “plays best on Xbox” thing because it will own the franchise if the acquisition goes through.
Still, Sony has fears Microsoft could sabotage COD on PlayStation in multiple ways by “degrading the quality and performance of Call of Duty on PlayStation compared to Xbox”; “degrading Call of Duty to ignore PlayStation-specific features (eg. better controller haptics)”; or “restricting, degrading, or not investing in the multiplayer experience on PlayStation.”
None of This Makes Any Sense For Microsoft Financially
While these are legit concerns, financially and optically, it makes no sense for Microsoft to do such a thing even if they wanted to.
Sony is also very concerned about the Xbox Game Pass exclusivity for Call of Duty, fearing Microsoft would prevent the company from putting the game on its subscription service.
Ironically in documents submitted by Microsoft, they claim the exact opposite, with Microsoft claiming “any CoD Game in a Microsoft multi-game subscription is eligible for inclusion in Sony’s multi-game subscription service, at the same time and for the same duration.”
Sony is scoffing at that deal because it does not care about the licensing terms or pricing, adding the terms “would commercially destroy Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) multigame subscription business model.”
MS Has Made Two Big Offers To Ease Regulator’s Concerns
Microsoft did extend a 10-year offer to Sony to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation, but the Japanese company has yet to sign the deal. Microsoft secured a 10-year agreement with Nintendo hours before meeting with the EU regulators and reached a similar deal with Nvidia in what many saw as a way to put more pressure on Sony.
Sony remains firm in its stance, writing in its documents, “Microsoft has not shown any real commitment to reaching a negotiated outcome. they had dragged their feet, engaged only when they sensed the regulatory outlook was darkening and favored negotiating in the media over engaging with SIE.”
Still, Microsoft’s decision to strike deals with Nintendo and Nvidia seems to have worked, as the EU will reportedly approve the $68.7 billion acquisition deal.
That leaves the United States as the last remaining hurdle.
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Photo: Joe Buglewicz / Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: JASON REDMOND / Getty / Microsoft
ChatGPT, the OpenAi-developed chatbot that has some folks in the education sector spooked is not going away anytime soon. Two of tech’s biggest companies, Google and Microsoft, are also jumping into the game.
Today in a huge surprise, Microsoft announced the arrival of its ChatGPT-powered version of its less-than-popular search engine Bing during a surprise event at the company’s Redmond headquarters, and it’s available as a limited preview on desktop.
Visiting Bing.com, you will be presented with some example searches that you can try out. The Bing search will show traditional results on the left and a chat window on the right with AI-generated answers.
Since it’s in preview mode, you will not be able to ask follow-up questions or get clarification of the results. If you’re interested, you can join a waitlist by going here.
If you sign in with your Microsoft account, download the Bing app, and set Microsoft to default on your PC, you will get priority, the tech giant announced. An email will be sent to you notifying you when you can access the new chat feature.
Microsoft also announced a new version of its web browser Edge that will feature OpenAI integration, allowing the browser to summarize PDFs, generate code, and compose posts on social media.
Google Is Coming With Bard
Microsoft’s announcement comes one day after Google revealed it is working on a ChatGPT rival called Bard. Unlike Microsoft’s, Google’s “experimental conversational AI service” will be only tested by a limited group, The Verge reports.
“Bard can be an outlet for creativity, and a launchpad for curiosity, helping you to explain new discoveries from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to a 9-year-old, or learn more about the best strikers in football right now, and then get drills to build your skills,” Google CEO, Sundar Pichai said in a blog post.
It’s quickly looking like ChatGPT and other OpenAI chatbots will soon become the norm.
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Photo: ASON REDMOND / Getty
Microsoft is the latest technology giant to lay off scores of employees as the entire sector continues to restructure itself in the name of profitability over growth.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that the company will lay off approximately 10,000 employees, beginning Wednesday. The layoffs, which will be completed by the end of Q3, will represent a bit less than five percent of the company’s workforce.
Nadella said that affected employees will receive “above-market severance pay, continuing healthcare coverage for six months, continued vesting of stock awards for six months, career transition services and 60 days’ notice prior to termination, regardless of whether such notice is legally required.”
Microsoft is a video game giant, owning the gaming platform Xbox and studios like Bungie and games like Minecraft. It is also in the midst of a proposed $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard, which is facing regulatory opposition.
Microsoft is also seeking to become a major player in advertising and is Netflix’s global ad sales and technology partner.
In his memo, Nadella outlined the rationale for the cuts, hitting similar themes to other CEOs over the last few months.
“As we saw customers accelerate their digital spend during the pandemic, we’re now seeing them optimize their digital spend to do more with less,” he wrote. “We’re also seeing organizations in every industry and geography exercise caution as some parts of the world are in a recession and other parts are anticipating one. At the same time, the next major wave of computing is being born with advances in AI, as we’re turning the world’s most advanced models into a new computing platform.”
Microsoft is just the latest tech giant to cut back. Amazon said earlier this month it would cut 18,000 employees, while Facebook and Instagram owner Meta announced plans to cut 11,000 employees last year. Snap, Twitter and Netflix also made significant cuts last year.
But Nadella also sought to rally the troops as the company moves forward.
“When I think about this moment in time, the start of 2023, it’s showtime—for our industry and for Microsoft. As a company, our success must be aligned to the world’s success,” he wrote. “That means every one of us and every team across the company must raise the bar and perform better than the competition to deliver meaningful innovation that customers, communities, and countries can truly benefit from. If we deliver on this, we will emerge stronger and thrive long into the future; it’s as simple as that.”
Read Nadella’s memo on THR.com