Serial entrepreneur and former recording artist Victor D. Lombard, also called DIVINE, introduced this week the launch of a brand new firm, in partnership with RAKIM, certainly one of hip-hop’s most influential emcees.
The corporate is called Notes, a fintech particularly for unbiased city musicians and creators. It supplies the information and instruments to assist artists handle their careers — equivalent to offering assets to assist them apply for loans or entry credit score scores. It supplies monetary literacy and music enterprise schooling by providing multimedia programs, step-by-step guides on monetary administration and monetize music. It additionally has a function that lets artists write lyrics and join with their friends on the app.
Notes has a “digital passport” function that lets customers observe credit score scores, entry loans, and funds instruments. The corporate companions with lenders and collectors and earns a fee on referral charges when customers apply for loans via the platform.
The app, at the moment in beta, has AI instruments, together with an AI voice assistant in RAKIM’s voice. It’s hoping to launch totally on the finish of February.
Chatting with TechCrunch, DIVINE stated he was impressed to launch this firm alongside RAKIM due to his firsthand expertise coping with the indie city music scene and the hardship that comes when attempting to fund a profession. It’s well-documented, via motion pictures, profiles, and music itself, that breaking into the music business is hard and expensive. For each big-named artist that hits the charts, there are hundreds merely struggling to get by.
“The music business, because it stands, is structured to make the most of artists via exploitative contracts and restricted monetary assets, forcing them into predatory offers simply to outlive,” he stated. Having spent the previous 10 years building fintech firms, he additionally stated he’s come to view know-how as an important equalizer, a solution to redistribute management again to artists and creators. DIVINE beforehand based fintech BLAK, which centered on serving underbanked communities, and constructed Solvent, a neobank additionally for underserved communities.
So he considered Notes, to permit musicians to teach themselves, fund their very own tasks, and construct careers on their very own phrases. He stated now is an effective time for this product as a result of indie artists and creators have gotten extra highly effective and influential, but nonetheless lack a number of monetary help.
DIVINE then pitched the corporate to RAKIM’s group as a solution to accomplice, and “it turned an much more highly effective pressure for change,” DIVINE stated.
RAKIM was a part of the hip-hop group Eric B. & RAKIM, which made waves through the golden age of hip-hop through the 80s. Their album “Paid in Full” was listed as one of many Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone in 2020 because it was one of many first albums to make use of funk samples and influenced the stream and lyricism of rappers to come back.
DIVINE says he’s recognized RAKIM for 20 years and all the time admired him for “staying true to his artists and ideas.”
“After I began ideating Notes, I knew it needed to be greater than only a fintech platform, it needed to be a motion rooted within the values of empowerment and cultural authenticity,” DIVINE continued. “That’s why it made good sense to carry RAKIM on board.”
The partnership sees RAKIM come on as a co-founder and as an advisory board member. RAKIM’s son, Tahmell Griffin, additionally holds an govt place on the firm.
Proper now, the corporate is self-funded, however DIVINE stated the corporate is in search of a pre-seed spherical. Notes presents freemium and premium subscription memberships. It seeks to make cash from its subscription fashions and referral charges. He says this firm is the end result of his music and technological journey.
“I would like Notes to shift the narrative from artists being exploited by file labels to artists proudly owning their monetary future and profession success,” DIVINE stated. “If an artist can use Notes to get funding for his or her subsequent album, discover ways to run their music profession as a enterprise, and leverage neighborhood collaboration for progress, then we’ve succeeded.”