July 10, 2025 • 17 mins
Dr. Vanessa Tyler talks to producer and tech founder Isaac Hayes III about Fanbase, the first Black-owned social media platform. Fanbase positions itself as an alternative to traditional social media platforms as it focuses on diversity, social engagement and content monetization for Black creators.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
For following breaking news on Capitol Hill. The House just
voted on the future of TikTok. In the world of
social media, five billion people globally use various platforms, including TikTok,
so when it makes news, it impacts everyone. But are
we really making it work for us?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Would begin as a gutsy inspirational idea is growing into
a disruptor in social media and the creator economy.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
That's the founder and CEO of fan Base, Isaac Hayes,
the third. Most of you likely have seen his pitch
on social media.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
We're not just building a platform, We're shaping community.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
He makes the case for black people to get some
skin in the game as social media rules the planet.
In Blackland and now, as a brown person, you just
feel so invisible where we're from.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Brothers and sisters, are welcome you to this joyful day
and we celebrate freedom where we are.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Oh, I know someone's heard something.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
And where we're going.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
We the people means all the people.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
The Black Information Network presents Blackland with your host Vanessa Tyler.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
It is time for a mind shift in how we
value social media. It's making plenty of money for the companies,
but what about us? That's been the gospel. Isaac Hayes
the Third has been preaching since at least twenty eighteen,
when he launched his social media app fan Base. Isaac, welcome, Hello,
How are you very good? Many people are right there
(01:36):
with you. Others may not even know. There is a
black owned social media platform and it's growing bigger and
stronger every day. Talk about fan Base and where it
is now.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
So fan Base is a next generation, easy to use,
free to down of social app that gives everyone the
ability to reach all their following, not have their concentspres
and simultaneously make money through subscriptions and love, which is
our version of tipping. We have over one point four
(02:08):
million users around iOS and Android, and we are an
equity crowdfunded startup, which means we've raised capital from the
general public and so far we raised over twenty two
million dollars for the startup and are closing out our
last seventeen million dollar round that's currently a twelve million,
four hundred and sixty thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
You have made news because of what you did raising
the millions. Talk about how you did that.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So equity crowdfunding is just a provision and a law
created by Barack Obama and Joe Biden called the Jobs
Act that gives the ability for anybody to raise capital
for their startup from the general public and not accredited
investors or private individuals, which was actually the law until
twenty twelve. And so I took advantage of that that
(02:58):
regulation and chose a platform called start Engine to raise
capital for the for the business. And so we were
able to successfully do three rounds previously of ten million
dollars and then this seventeen million dollar round we launched.
And it gives us the ability to actually empower people
with ownership in platforms that they actually use, in products
that they can actually add value to by using. It's
(03:20):
hard to add value to startups that maybe not directly
aligned with something that you do every day, like use
social media. But with fan base, people are on social
every day. So who better than to give an opportunity
and equity and the people that actually use the platform
every day.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Who are the users on fan base.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
So our audience is primarily African American between the ages
of twenty four and thirty five years old, but we're
skewing younger. I built this platform so that everybody on
the planet could have the opportunity to avoid content suppression,
shadow banning, censorship, and then give everybody an opportunity to monetize.
(03:58):
And so that's where we are right now.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
When you look at the power of social media TikTok, Facebook, Instagram,
you believe its popularity is fueled by the culture. Yet
you say black content creators are being taken advantage of
a predatory relationship. Explain that a little more.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Well, you got to think about what drives views, the engagement,
what people consider to be cool, and I think the
arbiture of cool is always African American people. And so
when people are looking for cool things to be a
part of, or cool things to see, or cool things
to listen to, or cool things to dance to, it
comes primarily from African American culture and youth culture. And
(04:40):
so when that content is then pumped through social media platforms,
they create billions of views that add to the advertising component,
and then therefore those views also help other creators who
are not Black. Land brand deals off the creativity of
young Black individuals that really don't get the original credit
from being the the originator of these trends.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Okay, so let's get to it. Exactly how do creators
make money? How to get paid? When we come back.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Mark Morial here, president and CEO of the National Urban League.
And on Thursday, July seventeenth, I'll be live in Cleveland
at a national conference with Tony Coles, president of the
Black Information Network. It's called Black America Speaks, and it's
exactly what it sounds like. We'll tackle pressing issues economic
and equality, health disparities, voter suppression, and this manling of
(05:32):
our democratic institutions. You must be a part of this conversation.
Join us in Cleveland. To register, go to NUF conference
dot org.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Welcome back to our conversation with Isaac Hayes the third
and making money on fan base? Now, how is the
person who's the content creator able to monetize? Would they
get their own advertising? And just trying to grasp that concept.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
So every person on fan base has the ability to
have subscribers, you mean anyone. So the same content that
you post on social media, yes, post all that content,
share your short form videos, your stories, your lives, your
audio chats, your photos and videos. But if you decide to,
you can also create additional content that you can put
(06:18):
behind paywalls, right, and so you yourself become your own subscription network.
You become a platform where you can monetize your fitness regimen,
your music life, your personal life, all the things that
people consume content, just like a television network or just
like Netflix and Hulu, but it's directly to yourself. And
so that's how you make money on the platform, he says.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Subscribers buy these love icons when they like or want
to see more content from a particular content provider, they
show them some love.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
For every love that you give someone on fan Base,
you give them half a penny, right, And so how
you like content on social media, you can do that
on fan Base as well. Liking something is just like
liking something on Instagram. The icon on fan Base is
a thumbs up. On Instagram, its are hard. Now on
fan Base, we have love. That love icon is a tip,
and that love icon equates to half a penny per
(07:11):
a love given on any type of content on a live,
on a story, in the DMS, in the chat room,
on a comment. So the ability for anybody to receive
love on fan Base is available for all users that
use the platform.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Wow, now, how does that those love tokens change into money?
Actually that you can put in your pocket because you have.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
A revenue profile on fambase, you have a wallet that
you can go in there and see how much money
you've made for all the content that has been loved
over the course of a month or the subscribers you have,
and at the beginning of every month, anything that you've
made over five dollars gets deposited into the bank account
of your choice by either adding a debit card or
a bank account, and it transfers directly in.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I understand that the subscribers, viewers like and give a
love token, but then where does the money come at
the end of the month, Like if you have more
than five dollars, who pays for that?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Just like an in that purchase? So I'm trying, I
guess the best way to explain it is you can
go inside fan base and purchase love and packs one hundred,
one thousand, twenty five thousand. Once you have that, you
have that bank, right, and anytime you click on anybody's
post to love their posts, you give them revenue, so
you purchase it first in that purchase through the store,
(08:26):
So the same day with you do like a lot
of games on social media, so there's gamification basically involved
in what we do. So a lot of video games
on apps have these tokens that you buy. They might
be called something else, they might be called coins or
diamonds or whatever, but on fan base they're called loves
or hearts. And so you make that same type of
purchase and then and you tip that individual and give
(08:49):
them love on their content, and that equates to real money.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Got it now. Of course, social media is more than
just a selfie. It carries political power. President Trump often
thanks TikTok for his win.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Will take a look at TikTok. You know, I have
a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I
want youth by thirty four points. And there are those
that say that TikTok has something to do with it.
So I have a little bit of a warm spot
in my heart. I'll be honest.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
And we all know he has his own social media platform,
truth Social.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
We know the impact that social media has on politics
because people aren't really looking at their television for their
news anymore. They're looking at their phones. And so the
ability to receive information and talk to the community and
reach out to supporters and voters through social media is
something that we encourage every user to do on the platform,
(09:44):
from any political party. We want people to be able
to have that voice to reach voters everywhere.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Do you see fan bases saving democracy? You know, we're
very concerned with good reason about democracy today.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I think we should be an as long as platforms
like fan Base remain neutral and not biased. And I
think for the large part, the majority of the TikTok's instagrams,
ex's true socials of the world are actually compromised platforms
that are biased towards the one political party over another.
(10:20):
I don't think that provides an opportunity for people to
really feel comfortable and have an an honest conversation about
the issues, and so we seek to be a place
that remains neutral in that in that environment, so that
people can always have political discourse. And that's what you're
going to need to be able to solve issues, and
so that's what we'll serve as So. I don't know
(10:41):
if you're familiar with xpaces or clubhouse, but we have
our version of audio chat on fan Base as well,
so you can have rooms with hundreds or even thousands
of people having conversations alive in real time around the
planet about issues and so things that are important to
the community that people want to have conversation about or
bring it into our available in audio chat on fan base.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Have you seen a rise in subscribers as a result
of the TikTok ownership controversy.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
We're just preparing for what may come of that, because
I think, no matter what happens, TikTok will not be
the same platform that it was after some sort of
acquisition or sell, and so there will be other players
in the marketplace to scoop up some of those users
who want a more traditional or old school version of
what TikTok is with a really solid algorithm, fun content trends,
(11:31):
dance videos, challenges, and be able to express themselves without
being censored.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Of course, our listeners ears perked up by your name.
Your father was the legendary Isaac Hayes.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Listen, snow White.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I mean you gonna tangle sooner or later. Why don't
you stop playing with yourself? Will it?
Speaker 1 (11:52):
You ain't gonna do sh shafts his name, Shaft's his game.
The late Isaac Hayes composer, producer, writer, creator of a
huge body of work. In addition to the score for
the movie Shaft. Isaac Hayes. The third is the CEO
of Isaac Hayes Enterprises, and the battle he's fighting over
(12:12):
his father's body of work is what pushed him to
making sure blacks own a piece of the social media
pie and benefit from their IP, their intellectual property.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I think my relationship with my father and understanding what
he went through in the music business and then myself
seeing similar challenges was the inspiration. It's all about ownership.
It's all about creativity and ownership of IP, which is
something that a lot of creatives do not have and
do not get the exploitation of a black artist and
black creatives that put a lot of work and creativity
(12:47):
into industries like the music business and social media that
don't see an economic return, and so by allowing people
to invest in own part of fan base the general public,
and monetize on the front end of the platform, it
really serves as a as an emancipator for people that
want to free themselves from systems of working for people
and being tied down and having creative ownership of their IP.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Any new music we can hear from your father, I
understand there's a quite an extentive library you have.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yeah, we have a large library of Isaac Hay's music.
But there's a lot of things that are happening in
the background with regard to my father, with his name,
image and likeness, things that we're working on. You will
see those things develop. I'm excited about a lot of them.
There's some of the things that a conversation that I
had yesterday is bringing a smile to my face as
we talk right now about bringing Isaac case back in
(13:39):
ways that people have not seen in a very, very
long time. So you'll see those things develop as they do.
But there's absolutely a lot going on in the background
of what we're doing. We have an amazing partnership with
Primary Wave. They are home to the icons of Whitney, Houston,
Prince James Brown, and we have a partnership with them
as well. So they are partners in our state and
(14:00):
help us continue to keep my father's legacy alive.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Ironically, he's still in a battle with the Trump campaign
over the use of the song hold on Oncoming, sung
by Sam and Dave but co written by Isaac Hayes Junior,
use without permission or proper compensation. So there is a
common theme, which is like stopping black people from giving
away their talent.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Absolutely percent, whether it's music or whether it's trends and challenges.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
What's your advice to our community and how should we
use the power and influence of social media At this.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Point, I think we need to be mindful of our
impact that we bring to these platforms and understand the
psychology that's being played against us. The fact that we
are disrespected and we are locked out of these platforms
sometimes trick us into wanting to fight harder to be
a part of these systems that still will never acknowledge us, right,
and so therefore we have to acknowledge and use platforms
(14:58):
like fan base and say this is the difference as
opposed to fighting to be somewhere where we're not wanted.
We're going to go somewhere where we are appreciated and
every one else will follow. No matter where black culture goes,
people will follow. And I think that's what black culture
and the black community needs to understand that our voice,
our impact, our influence is ever present and most dominant
no matter where it is, and so why not take
(15:19):
it to platforms that you know at least you have
an opportunity to own and know that they have your
best interest in mind, as opposed to these other platforms
that at the drop of a dime they will get
rid of you, they will cancel you. They were in diversity,
equity and inclusion, they will do all these things. And
so if we do not take those intent steps to
patronize and use black owned media and black owned social
(15:41):
media platforms, we're only doing ourselves a disservice and kind
of running in place for our own opportunities for equity.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
What should our listeners do for those who are not
a part of fan Base already.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Well, the first thing I would say is download fan
Base on iOS and Android. Make a profile. You can
actually migrate your insta gram or TikTok profile up to
one thousand posts over to the platform that allows you
to not start from zero. You actually have content that
will exist on fan Base that is pulled over. It
will still stay on Instagram and TikTok, but it'll copy
(16:13):
that and paste it over to fan Base once you
use the app. If you believe in the vision in
what we're doing, then I say, immediately after that, go
to start Engine, dot com, slash fan Base and invest
and get equity in the company. We have over twenty
three thousand investors who have invested in fan Base for
the minimum of three hundred and ninety nine dollars, right,
(16:35):
and that's allowed us to again raise over twenty two
million dollars. But again, we're providing ownership and equity to
people that actually use social media. These platforms scale to
trillions of dollars, but on the cap table, the ownership
table of these platforms are people that do not look
like us. Right. They build these large infrastructure systems of media,
but then they're powered by youth in black culture. So
(16:57):
if you like what you see on fan Base, you
like the experience that you have, the next thing I
do is say go invest and have equity in the
company because we're continuing to grow. My mission is to
continue to scale this company to a multi billion dollar company,
a social media platform that is owned by someone that
acknowledges every player in the game.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Isaac Kay's the third thank you for reminding us of
the value of our creative power.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I'm Vanessa Tyler. Join me next time on Blackland. There's
a new episode every week.
For following breaking news on Capitol Hill. The House just
voted on the future of TikTok. In the world of
social media, five billion people globally use various platforms, including TikTok,
so when it makes news, it impacts everyone. But are
we really making it work for us?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Would begin as a gutsy inspirational idea is growing into
a disruptor in social media and the creator economy.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
That's the founder and CEO of fan Base, Isaac Hayes,
the third. Most of you likely have seen his pitch
on social media.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
We're not just building a platform, We're shaping community.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
He makes the case for black people to get some
skin in the game as social media rules the planet.
In Blackland and now, as a brown person, you just
feel so invisible where we're from.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Brothers and sisters, are welcome you to this joyful day
and we celebrate freedom where we are.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Oh, I know someone's heard something.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
And where we're going.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
We the people means all the people.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
The Black Information Network presents Blackland with your host Vanessa Tyler.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
It is time for a mind shift in how we
value social media. It's making plenty of money for the companies,
but what about us? That's been the gospel. Isaac Hayes
the Third has been preaching since at least twenty eighteen,
when he launched his social media app fan Base. Isaac, welcome, Hello,
How are you very good? Many people are right there
(01:36):
with you. Others may not even know. There is a
black owned social media platform and it's growing bigger and
stronger every day. Talk about fan Base and where it
is now.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
So fan Base is a next generation, easy to use,
free to down of social app that gives everyone the
ability to reach all their following, not have their concentspres
and simultaneously make money through subscriptions and love, which is
our version of tipping. We have over one point four
(02:08):
million users around iOS and Android, and we are an
equity crowdfunded startup, which means we've raised capital from the
general public and so far we raised over twenty two
million dollars for the startup and are closing out our
last seventeen million dollar round that's currently a twelve million,
four hundred and sixty thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
You have made news because of what you did raising
the millions. Talk about how you did that.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So equity crowdfunding is just a provision and a law
created by Barack Obama and Joe Biden called the Jobs
Act that gives the ability for anybody to raise capital
for their startup from the general public and not accredited
investors or private individuals, which was actually the law until
twenty twelve. And so I took advantage of that that
(02:58):
regulation and chose a platform called start Engine to raise
capital for the for the business. And so we were
able to successfully do three rounds previously of ten million
dollars and then this seventeen million dollar round we launched.
And it gives us the ability to actually empower people
with ownership in platforms that they actually use, in products
that they can actually add value to by using. It's
(03:20):
hard to add value to startups that maybe not directly
aligned with something that you do every day, like use
social media. But with fan base, people are on social
every day. So who better than to give an opportunity
and equity and the people that actually use the platform
every day.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Who are the users on fan base.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
So our audience is primarily African American between the ages
of twenty four and thirty five years old, but we're
skewing younger. I built this platform so that everybody on
the planet could have the opportunity to avoid content suppression,
shadow banning, censorship, and then give everybody an opportunity to monetize.
(03:58):
And so that's where we are right now.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
When you look at the power of social media TikTok, Facebook, Instagram,
you believe its popularity is fueled by the culture. Yet
you say black content creators are being taken advantage of
a predatory relationship. Explain that a little more.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Well, you got to think about what drives views, the engagement,
what people consider to be cool, and I think the
arbiture of cool is always African American people. And so
when people are looking for cool things to be a
part of, or cool things to see, or cool things
to listen to, or cool things to dance to, it
comes primarily from African American culture and youth culture. And
(04:40):
so when that content is then pumped through social media platforms,
they create billions of views that add to the advertising component,
and then therefore those views also help other creators who
are not Black. Land brand deals off the creativity of
young Black individuals that really don't get the original credit
from being the the originator of these trends.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Okay, so let's get to it. Exactly how do creators
make money? How to get paid? When we come back.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Mark Morial here, president and CEO of the National Urban League.
And on Thursday, July seventeenth, I'll be live in Cleveland
at a national conference with Tony Coles, president of the
Black Information Network. It's called Black America Speaks, and it's
exactly what it sounds like. We'll tackle pressing issues economic
and equality, health disparities, voter suppression, and this manling of
(05:32):
our democratic institutions. You must be a part of this conversation.
Join us in Cleveland. To register, go to NUF conference
dot org.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Welcome back to our conversation with Isaac Hayes the third
and making money on fan base? Now, how is the
person who's the content creator able to monetize? Would they
get their own advertising? And just trying to grasp that concept.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
So every person on fan base has the ability to
have subscribers, you mean anyone. So the same content that
you post on social media, yes, post all that content,
share your short form videos, your stories, your lives, your
audio chats, your photos and videos. But if you decide to,
you can also create additional content that you can put
(06:18):
behind paywalls, right, and so you yourself become your own subscription network.
You become a platform where you can monetize your fitness regimen,
your music life, your personal life, all the things that
people consume content, just like a television network or just
like Netflix and Hulu, but it's directly to yourself. And
so that's how you make money on the platform, he says.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Subscribers buy these love icons when they like or want
to see more content from a particular content provider, they
show them some love.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
For every love that you give someone on fan Base,
you give them half a penny, right, And so how
you like content on social media, you can do that
on fan Base as well. Liking something is just like
liking something on Instagram. The icon on fan Base is
a thumbs up. On Instagram, its are hard. Now on
fan Base, we have love. That love icon is a tip,
and that love icon equates to half a penny per
(07:11):
a love given on any type of content on a live,
on a story, in the DMS, in the chat room,
on a comment. So the ability for anybody to receive
love on fan Base is available for all users that
use the platform.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Wow, now, how does that those love tokens change into money?
Actually that you can put in your pocket because you have.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
A revenue profile on fambase, you have a wallet that
you can go in there and see how much money
you've made for all the content that has been loved
over the course of a month or the subscribers you have,
and at the beginning of every month, anything that you've
made over five dollars gets deposited into the bank account
of your choice by either adding a debit card or
a bank account, and it transfers directly in.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I understand that the subscribers, viewers like and give a
love token, but then where does the money come at
the end of the month, Like if you have more
than five dollars, who pays for that?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Just like an in that purchase? So I'm trying, I
guess the best way to explain it is you can
go inside fan base and purchase love and packs one hundred,
one thousand, twenty five thousand. Once you have that, you
have that bank, right, and anytime you click on anybody's
post to love their posts, you give them revenue, so
you purchase it first in that purchase through the store,
(08:26):
So the same day with you do like a lot
of games on social media, so there's gamification basically involved
in what we do. So a lot of video games
on apps have these tokens that you buy. They might
be called something else, they might be called coins or
diamonds or whatever, but on fan base they're called loves
or hearts. And so you make that same type of
purchase and then and you tip that individual and give
(08:49):
them love on their content, and that equates to real money.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Got it now. Of course, social media is more than
just a selfie. It carries political power. President Trump often
thanks TikTok for his win.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Will take a look at TikTok. You know, I have
a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I
want youth by thirty four points. And there are those
that say that TikTok has something to do with it.
So I have a little bit of a warm spot
in my heart. I'll be honest.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
And we all know he has his own social media platform,
truth Social.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
We know the impact that social media has on politics
because people aren't really looking at their television for their
news anymore. They're looking at their phones. And so the
ability to receive information and talk to the community and
reach out to supporters and voters through social media is
something that we encourage every user to do on the platform,
(09:44):
from any political party. We want people to be able
to have that voice to reach voters everywhere.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Do you see fan bases saving democracy? You know, we're
very concerned with good reason about democracy today.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I think we should be an as long as platforms
like fan Base remain neutral and not biased. And I
think for the large part, the majority of the TikTok's instagrams,
ex's true socials of the world are actually compromised platforms
that are biased towards the one political party over another.
(10:20):
I don't think that provides an opportunity for people to
really feel comfortable and have an an honest conversation about
the issues, and so we seek to be a place
that remains neutral in that in that environment, so that
people can always have political discourse. And that's what you're
going to need to be able to solve issues, and
so that's what we'll serve as So. I don't know
(10:41):
if you're familiar with xpaces or clubhouse, but we have
our version of audio chat on fan Base as well,
so you can have rooms with hundreds or even thousands
of people having conversations alive in real time around the
planet about issues and so things that are important to
the community that people want to have conversation about or
bring it into our available in audio chat on fan base.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Have you seen a rise in subscribers as a result
of the TikTok ownership controversy.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
We're just preparing for what may come of that, because
I think, no matter what happens, TikTok will not be
the same platform that it was after some sort of
acquisition or sell, and so there will be other players
in the marketplace to scoop up some of those users
who want a more traditional or old school version of
what TikTok is with a really solid algorithm, fun content trends,
(11:31):
dance videos, challenges, and be able to express themselves without
being censored.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Of course, our listeners ears perked up by your name.
Your father was the legendary Isaac Hayes.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Listen, snow White.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I mean you gonna tangle sooner or later. Why don't
you stop playing with yourself? Will it?
Speaker 1 (11:52):
You ain't gonna do sh shafts his name, Shaft's his game.
The late Isaac Hayes composer, producer, writer, creator of a
huge body of work. In addition to the score for
the movie Shaft. Isaac Hayes. The third is the CEO
of Isaac Hayes Enterprises, and the battle he's fighting over
(12:12):
his father's body of work is what pushed him to
making sure blacks own a piece of the social media
pie and benefit from their IP, their intellectual property.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I think my relationship with my father and understanding what
he went through in the music business and then myself
seeing similar challenges was the inspiration. It's all about ownership.
It's all about creativity and ownership of IP, which is
something that a lot of creatives do not have and
do not get the exploitation of a black artist and
black creatives that put a lot of work and creativity
(12:47):
into industries like the music business and social media that
don't see an economic return, and so by allowing people
to invest in own part of fan base the general public,
and monetize on the front end of the platform, it
really serves as a as an emancipator for people that
want to free themselves from systems of working for people
and being tied down and having creative ownership of their IP.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Any new music we can hear from your father, I
understand there's a quite an extentive library you have.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yeah, we have a large library of Isaac Hay's music.
But there's a lot of things that are happening in
the background with regard to my father, with his name,
image and likeness, things that we're working on. You will
see those things develop. I'm excited about a lot of them.
There's some of the things that a conversation that I
had yesterday is bringing a smile to my face as
we talk right now about bringing Isaac case back in
(13:39):
ways that people have not seen in a very, very
long time. So you'll see those things develop as they do.
But there's absolutely a lot going on in the background
of what we're doing. We have an amazing partnership with
Primary Wave. They are home to the icons of Whitney, Houston,
Prince James Brown, and we have a partnership with them
as well. So they are partners in our state and
(14:00):
help us continue to keep my father's legacy alive.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Ironically, he's still in a battle with the Trump campaign
over the use of the song hold on Oncoming, sung
by Sam and Dave but co written by Isaac Hayes Junior,
use without permission or proper compensation. So there is a
common theme, which is like stopping black people from giving
away their talent.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Absolutely percent, whether it's music or whether it's trends and challenges.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
What's your advice to our community and how should we
use the power and influence of social media At this.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Point, I think we need to be mindful of our
impact that we bring to these platforms and understand the
psychology that's being played against us. The fact that we
are disrespected and we are locked out of these platforms
sometimes trick us into wanting to fight harder to be
a part of these systems that still will never acknowledge us, right,
and so therefore we have to acknowledge and use platforms
(14:58):
like fan base and say this is the difference as
opposed to fighting to be somewhere where we're not wanted.
We're going to go somewhere where we are appreciated and
every one else will follow. No matter where black culture goes,
people will follow. And I think that's what black culture
and the black community needs to understand that our voice,
our impact, our influence is ever present and most dominant
no matter where it is, and so why not take
(15:19):
it to platforms that you know at least you have
an opportunity to own and know that they have your
best interest in mind, as opposed to these other platforms
that at the drop of a dime they will get
rid of you, they will cancel you. They were in diversity,
equity and inclusion, they will do all these things. And
so if we do not take those intent steps to
patronize and use black owned media and black owned social
(15:41):
media platforms, we're only doing ourselves a disservice and kind
of running in place for our own opportunities for equity.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
What should our listeners do for those who are not
a part of fan Base already.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Well, the first thing I would say is download fan
Base on iOS and Android. Make a profile. You can
actually migrate your insta gram or TikTok profile up to
one thousand posts over to the platform that allows you
to not start from zero. You actually have content that
will exist on fan Base that is pulled over. It
will still stay on Instagram and TikTok, but it'll copy
(16:13):
that and paste it over to fan Base once you
use the app. If you believe in the vision in
what we're doing, then I say, immediately after that, go
to start Engine, dot com, slash fan Base and invest
and get equity in the company. We have over twenty
three thousand investors who have invested in fan Base for
the minimum of three hundred and ninety nine dollars, right,
(16:35):
and that's allowed us to again raise over twenty two
million dollars. But again, we're providing ownership and equity to
people that actually use social media. These platforms scale to
trillions of dollars, but on the cap table, the ownership
table of these platforms are people that do not look
like us. Right. They build these large infrastructure systems of media,
but then they're powered by youth in black culture. So
(16:57):
if you like what you see on fan Base, you
like the experience that you have, the next thing I
do is say go invest and have equity in the
company because we're continuing to grow. My mission is to
continue to scale this company to a multi billion dollar company,
a social media platform that is owned by someone that
acknowledges every player in the game.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Isaac Kay's the third thank you for reminding us of
the value of our creative power.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I'm Vanessa Tyler. Join me next time on Blackland. There's
a new episode every week.
Host
Vanessa Tyler
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.