Beats ‘n Bytes: Here’s 5 Things You Need To Know in Hip-Hop + Tech

Greetings Techsters!

It’s Social Media Week here in New York City and the digital scene is buzzing all about it. I’ll be hanging out there most of the week so if you are in the building, come find me and say hello.

Just like the weather here in the city, times are heating up right now and SXSW is just around the corner. Always excited about the latest innovations that will happen over the course of that week.

In the meantime, the internet was on fire this weekend with the beat battle between Just Blaze + Swizz Beatz and the Remy Ma diss-track directed at Nicki Minaj. Wow.

Here are our Beats ‘n Bytes round up of five things you need to know about hip-hop and tech this week. Let me know what you think or if I’m missing anything.

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Jay Z is planning a VC fund. Here’s how his investments are doing.

Jay Z is getting serious about investing in startups with plans to create his own venture capital firm with long-time partner and Roc Nation co-founder Jay Brown. They plan to focus on seed investments in young startups.

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Spotify to Host Podcast about Hip Hop Exec Chris Lighty

The music streaming service announced Thursday three new podcasts that all look at a different facet of the music industry, from TV’s top music moments to the career of hip-hop executive Chris Lighty, who died in 2012.

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Snapchat has started selling its Spectacles camera glasses online

Starting Monday, Snapchat will also sell its camera-equipped sunglasses on its website. Anyone in the US can order a pair of the $130 glasses, which record 10-second video clips and connect to the Snapchat app.

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Frank Ocean Debuts Radio Show on Apple Music Featuring an Interview with None Other Than Jay Z

Frank Ocean returns to the spotlight after his announcement of “Blonde Radio” – his first Beats 1 Radio Show. The first episode features Ocean interviewing Apple Music’s enemy Jay Z about music accessibility and how streaming has made music consumption more inclusive.

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The Nokia 3310 is Officially Back

Nokia is planning on tapping into our nostalgia by resurrecting the classic 3310 phone. The phone possesses basic web browsing capabilities, a 2.0 megapixel camera and an updated version of the addicting game Snake.

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Jesse Kirshbaum has been in the trenches of the music business, specializing in securing talent for concerts, tours and endorsement deals for his various clients and brand partners internationally. He founded Nue Agency (a creative agency, recently named to Inc Mag’s 500 list as the 3rd fastest growing Media Company in America) to sit at the center of culture, brands and technology. He is the host of Hot 97’s new web series Hot In Tech, an authority in Music Tech culture, news and events. Jesse is also the executive producer for both the hit digital series #CRWN and The Annual FlashFWD Awards, which honors premiere stars in Music Tech. @JesseKay on Twitter & Instagram.