Investing In Yourself – Using Pillars to Build Your Core | |
Setting Budgets + Saving for Black Swans | |
How to Open My First Brokerage Account | |
Diversify your Life (Mind, Body, Soul, + Investments) Use the "SEARCH" bar to see if I've written about a topic you are interested in. | Get Updates to Your Email When I Create A New Post: Use the "Subscription" feature to receive free updates to your device. |
AfroBeats - Artists Compared to Stocks
I cannot tell you how proud I am of the growth of African music. I have grown up all my life listening to African music and it's amazing to see the dancefloor erupt when some of our biggest African artists and songs come on at a party. Just like when Dre and Snoop, Nas, Jay, Biggie, Mary J Blige, Mariah Carey, or Whitney Houston are played -- the room is electric. Now the world gets to experience what we've been dancing and shaking to all of our lives. The global explosion of African music across the world has been amazing and I'm telling you it's here to stay. I listen to songs in different languages, slangs, and styles and one thing is universal our music makes you want to dance. And yes, I simply call it African music -- what is this AfroBeats ting?
Well, I wanted to revisit my series that helps you learn how to invest by comparing everyday things to stocks. I always say you have to start by determining what type of investor you are as that usually dictates the types of stocks you like to trade. If you had $100,000 dollars to invest, how would you invest in your favorite African artists:
Momentum Artists: Tyla | Rema | Lojay
I like to say that momentum stocks or artists are investments in something that's buzzing. Like the initial launch of Tesla, the only people that were checking for electric vehicles were EV die-hard fans. No one, I mean no one else was interested in electric cars or let alone wanting to pre-order the damn thing. Then you saw a Tesla on the road OR you heard these hits songs in the last year, and you knew they were undeniably hit songs:
Artist: Tyla ~ Hit Song: Water [Country: South Africa]
Artist: Rema ~ Hit Song: Calm Down [Country: Nigeria]
Artist: Lojay ~ Hit Song: MonaLisa [Country: Nigeria]
Tyla and Water were arguably the biggest songs in the world in the last year. It seemed like we couldn't get enough of Tyla, Ampiano and the buzziness of "Water". She followed up with a remix with none other than Travis Scott and then came for music nerds like me when she teamed up with 2 of my favorites: Skillibeng and Gunna on "Jump".
Rema - I was bumping "Calm Down" for a minute and the song is infectious. While playing at a backyard party, I had a guest say what is this song -- I like it. The song was so big it has 2 versions, the original which is my favorite and the remix with Selena Gomez. The funny thing is I think some fans think it's Selena's song because of the way the remix was pushed out. Don't believe me, do a search for calm down and strangely you see Selena Gomez as if it's her damn song. Collectively the 2 versions on YouTube Video are easily over 1.5 billion video views.
Lojay & Sarz - Baby corner, corner waka-waka! Yes, for those of you that don't know Creole as we call it or Pidgin in other African regions -- Lojay and Sarz are telling their baby girl to walk over the corner the rest is a sultry mix of indulging in her coca or chocolate body. The song is so big, I share it and people say I've heard and like that song but don't know what they are saying. The song was sooo big that Chris Brown jumped on the remix and the buzz is still going.
Momentum Stocks
Core Scientific (CORZ) - Per their own website "Core Scientific is one of the largest bitcoin miners and hosting solutions providers for bitcoin mining in North America." I read the company recently came out of bankruptcy in January 2024. I started sniffing around when a partner of CORZ, CoreWeave made two attempts to purchase the company. They have to have some knowledge of the operations as they signed a big AI deal in June of 2024 for CORZ hosting services, I believe. While that deal was announced, they then went for the hook up and said we'd love to buy you out. Player move but looks like they are low-balling the offer. It was similar to an African engagement I recently witnessed -- one man representing the bride-to-be's family said, "The envelope looks a little bit light...please go back". I just learned the directors of CORZ are buying the stock and that is promising for a small company with rising momentum. Are they a one hit wonder or can they survive.
Spotify (SPOT) - I believe I've written about Spotify recently and boy are they on a surge. I was too early and this artist or should I say stock is now finally stringing together a 2nd and 3rd hit song. I believe in 2021 I bought around the $260 range and saw it rise and then drop shortly after that all the way into the 70s in late 2022. I liked the first song -- as they essentially a part of a cartel. I actually get most of my music from YouTube Video and only recently Music, but the big dog is Spotify and Tidal is a small fry. Sorry real music artists, streaming is here to stay -- I just wonder if Spotify can increase the price, stave off a mutiny from artists and reign supreme. I'm now in the Green and trading actively against Spotify because the option premiums are very attractive like that coca body.
Roblox (RBLX) - Is the like the new stock on the block that I nailed just right but got nervous about when the next hit song was coming out. I listened to a good friend tell me ALL the kids play on a platform called Roblox. I have no clue what this platform is but I looked into the stock and it had a rough time after creating a buzz. Sound familiar touring artists. Like a greedy music label, I saw talent when the stock stumbled to the $25 range. I owned it for much of the last months or so. It ran up on a hit song to the 40s I got nervous a 2nd hit song wasn't coming right away and sold as they came down into the 30s. Well that was a mistake because the second song is doing nicely and the stock is back at the $43 range. I am watching this one soooo closely as I want to get back in. Maybe I'll wait to see if they have a good TMZ like scandal which knocks the stock down, pick some shares up, and then wait for the 2nd album to cause the stock to move higher again.
Disclosures: I own Core Scientific and Spotify; I owned Roblox within the last year and got out too early. Also, I'm not typically a momentum stock trader. Note from my writings -- I like Roblox after they stumbled, Core Scientific only after a label came calling, and Spotify for the lane it is in. Like Shaboozey, an African boy (Nigerian) who had to genius idea of taking a classic one hit wonder song "Tipsy" (Artist: J-Kwon) and putting a country twist on it is an artist in his own lane. The world is craving for a unique sound and not many artists can fill that void yet. He's got a lot of money to make before other artists start attempting to fuse hip-hop and country.
Next Up Growth Stocks
