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

Photo provided by Nue Agency.

The conversation continues to be more and more about bots this year. Interesting to see how musicians and brands a like are utilizing chatbots.

Music producer turned tech CEO Ryan Leslie is doing some amazing work in the space with his SuperPhone and in particular in the texting space.

New York Times published an interesting story today on companies utilizing chatbots on Facebook as well as other platforms.

There was a great DJ Khaled bot on Slack. No question this is early days in chatbot technology and computer learning and it’s only getting more interesting.

Here are this week’s Beats & Bytes and the five things you need to know about in hip-hop and tech.

Backseat Freestyle: Russell Simmons & T-Pain Present Spotify's 'Traffic Jams' in New York City

Traffic Jams is a video series by All Def Digital and Spotify that pairs one rapper and one producer — who have never worked together before — and drops them in the backseat of a SUV in rush-hour traffic. The mission: create a brand new song on-camera before arriving at a venue and then perform that song live.

Big Sean Awarded Key to City of Detroit

Big Sean was awarded the key to his native Detroit at a ceremony Saturday afternoon, with the rapper honored for his contributions through the Sean Anderson Foundation. "The mayor said he's given it to three people... Stevie Wonder, Berry Gordy, and me. I'm the youngest person to receive this," Big Sean said.

Drake’s ‘More Life’ Spends a Second Week at No. 1, Boosted by 253 Million Streams

Last week Drakeset a new streaming record on the music charts, and even with a big drop in Week 2, he is still surpassing the old record — his own.

MTV Launches 'My Super Sweet 16' Casting Call on Musical.ly

MTV is reviving mid-2000s hit My Super Sweet 16 with the help of a modern day social network. The cable net has partnered with Musical.ly, an app for creating and sharing short, looping videos set to popular music, to cast an upcoming episode of the forthcoming series.

It’s Not Their Pop Idol, but a Bot. Fans Cheer Anyway.

For celebrities who already use Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat to lend a personal touch to their interactions with fans, the next frontier of social media is a deliberately impersonal one: chatbots, a low-level form of artificial intelligence that can be harnessed to send news updates, push promotional content and even test new material.

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.