Ozimek said the country’s switch to remote work this year helped the freelance workforce, which has “always been disproportionately remote.” Freelancers also have the benefit of being able to work for several different clients, meaning they aren’t reliant on one company to stay afloat.

“While freelancing on net has increased only slightly this year, the dynamics of 2020 suggest the share of the labor force engaging in freelancing in the future may be higher,” Ozimek wrote in a blog post.

The Upwork data suggests that pandemic might usher in a new era of gig work. Joe Mullings, an executive recruiter who has worked with Google and Siemens, said the pandemic may usher in an “interim economy” where employees need skilled workers but won’t have the resources to bring them back full-time, leading to more white-collar workers entering the gig economy.

Full article here: https://www.businessinsider.com/upwork-pandemic-gig-economy-white-collar-high-skilled-summer-freelancers2020-9

DURHAM – Clifton Gordon, better known as Felipe Luciano, has lost a lot of people in his life. Some have died. Some are in prison.

The rapper/songwriter keeps them alive through his music. For example, the album cover of “Legends Never Die” is plastered with pictures of people who were influential in his life, including his deceased father, grandmother, a close friend who was murdered, and his cousin, Montrell, 25, who was shot about a month after being released from prison. There are also numerous photos of friends who are incarcerated. “It’s a lot of people who ultimately lost their ability to live free or lost their lives. I wanted them to live on through me. It was to say to them, ‘we still love you and we remember you out here, and we’ll never let your name die,’ ” Gordon said.

Gordon, 30, grew up poor in Shelby. When he was 11, his family was uprooted from his North Carolina home and moved to Los Angeles, where he was thrust into a life of homelessness and gang violence. He eventually became a member of LA’s notorious Bloods.

In 2007, while visiting family in Shelby, Gordon, 18 at the time, hooked up with some old friends and got into trouble that landed him in prison for 5-1/2 years for assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon and robbery with a dangerous weapon. Gordon left prison determined to turn his life around and to help others do the same.

Turning to music to escape the harsh realities of street life, he uses it to express and heal himself. His grandmother taught him how to play the piano when he was 8 years old, and he started writing poetry and music at 12. Gordon, who now lives in Miami and creates music as Luciano, has been a professional musician for four years.

Full article here: http://www.triangletribune.com/news/2020/09/23/arts-and-lifestyle/nc-rapper-gives-back-to-community-through-his-music/

From Grammy Award winning producer Zaytoven, comes the latest mastering of sound and mix from singer, rapper, songwriter and producer, GhostLuvMe. The lengthy, 27-track effort is a blend of many genres, including Hip-Hop, Rap and Pop. “Viva” follows up his previous album “Reverend.”

Laced with sharp lyrics, bold cadence and in-your-face swag, the versatile artist is equipped to quickly climb the ranks of Hip-Hop and Pop, and plans to do just that. Viva is explosive with a wave of new anthems that tread through the thick smoke of intimacy. Paqboi Grazi, who produced a number of songs on the album, shared:

“Ghostluvme creatively and ingeniously plays on words to tell a very unique story. One that he has left up to the listener to interpret.”

Stream below and on all other available DSPs.

Full article here: http://hiphopsrevival.com/singles/listen-to-ghostluvmes-viva/