January 5th 2021 

Clubhouse has been the talk of the town across social media lately. The space has become more active with excited new users and veterans of the app have been flourishing with their personal clubs and events. 

Unfortunately, for one user, she has gone from pushing an amazing movement for Independent Artists to have a club to share their music to now leading a revolution for black influencers to feel safe to be able to be creative and vocal on social media. 

R&B Artist, Punky, has trended on Twitter based on her events that has hundreds of artists hyped for her weekly showcases and pop up rooms from all over the world. 

@punkythesinger

Punky had a Clubhouse club called "PUNKY GANG" where not only unsigned hopefuls waited for a chance for their music to be heard in various showcases and events, even celebrities were seen stepping into her space to vibe with fellow users. Her Emo Cry Room & ClubhouseRadio  were certified hits on this platform still in beta. 

Twitter was always buzzing with the hashtag #ClubhouseRadio as artists and supporters tweeted about  the rising R&B stars highlights and feedback from their experience that they had in her rooms. 

Waitin to play some unreleased music to some of these good ppl on #ClubhouseRadio

— MitchHNF (@MitchHNF) December 19, 2020

I don’t usually post clubhouse screenshots but the super talented Lakeith Stanfield and @JheneAiko , one of my biggest musical inspirations on this damn planet came into my Emo Cry Room and we had a damn blast 🪦⚰️🔪😂 pic.twitter.com/jUqJMOvr0Y

— Punky 💋 ➐ (@PUNKYTHESINGER) December 18, 2020

#CLUBHOUSERADIO I GOT SOME HEAT FOR YOUUUU!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

— DEPHANITION (@Kid_Deph) December 19, 2020

Did a beat battle on #clubhouseradio it was 🔥

— || Producer || (@KidExcluzive) December 14, 2020

I just want to shout out #ClubhouseRadio for providing dope opportunities to artists. #blessings 🙏🏾

— ZEY_MUSIQ ® (@Zey_Musiq) December 18, 2020

#clubhouseradio

— Ay-Rock (@AyrockMusic) December 19, 2020

I want to give a shout out to MarKeith from Roland for allowing Punky Gang to be one of the first clubs EVER on @joinClubhouse with a sponsor! I’m so grateful for the opportunity and we did amazing job last night ! Thanks to my host @nyleecyrus @DJZeeti ‼️🎹🎹#ClubhouseRadio ❤️

— Punky 💋 ➐ (@PUNKYTHESINGER) December 12, 2020

This friday #ClubhouseRadio is BACK @ 6:30 EST AND we’re giving away 1 (one) FREE Pair of the very EXCLUSIVE ✨Roland x Puma sneakers Sponsored by MarKeith from Roland! 

Only 1,000 pair were made so come with your BEST song! (No purchase necessary to enter) @DJZeeti @nyleecyrus pic.twitter.com/HSu6GEqjHL

— Punky 💋 ➐ (@PUNKYTHESINGER) December 11, 2020

Just to name few tweets that highlight the amazing responses she has gotten for her efforts to help the up and coming in the Clubhouse Community.

However, on December 30th, that all came to a halt when Punky's account was deactivated and she was removed from the app with no reason or warning which present's as a red flag to users who are just getting into the app. 

I reviewed their terms and conditions carefully and their guidelines which CLEARLY state: 

From their RULES:

Clubhouse deleted my account @joinClubhouse ???

— Punky 💋 ➐ (@PUNKYTHESINGER) December 30, 2020

Don’t fall asleep Clubhouse..#FREEPUNKY🙏🏽😌♥️ https://t.co/stswL07GQQ

— Free🖤 (@_KvngFree_) December 30, 2020

@joinClubhouse has failed, in this particular case, to give a sense of community, which is the purpose of the whole app?? No communication, no community #FREEPUNKY https://t.co/rQ0KVrVYgZ

— NyleeCyrus (@nyleecyrus) December 31, 2020

We’ve been waiting 24 hours for a response from clubhouse and have gotten nowhere. Thank you all for your help and for letting me know you see me. This isn’t over. Continue to use #Freepunky until our voices are extremely loud! Don’t give up 🙏🏽

— Punky 💋 ➐ (@PUNKYTHESINGER) December 31, 2020

Not only is this frustrating, this is very much frightening to black creatives who join brand new applications. 

We remember what happened with Vine. Back in June 2014, Kayla Newman also known as "Peaches Monroee" posted a video on Vine, the 6 second video sharing app, coined the now popular term "Eyebrows on Fleek". 

From major brands to even Iggy Azalea using the term, at the time, the 18 year old didn't see a cent even though companies and celebrities were profiting off the phrase.

Peaches Monroee Seeks Trademark For Viral Phrase 'On Fleek' | HuffPost

This is a major problem. This has been happening for YEARS to black creatives. We are allowed to use the app, just don't create movements that matter or create black wealth. We are allowed to have the popularity but just not the financial benefits that other creators do. 

A black teen can make up a funny dance and it can go viral, but a white teen can mimic that same dance move or imitate some form of black cadence and they are offered a seat on The Ellen Show and endorsements. 

If we are vocal about it, we are ANGRY and EMOTIONAL. If we ACT on it we are simply told that we should "create an app for black people." Well, why do WE have to create our OWN apps when there are apps for all to grow on? 

Aka "Don't do anything that makes our non-POC users feel uncomfortable."

Artists like Punky are a breath of fresh air to independent artists. She is one of us. One of them. Because she is relatable, honest and fun, people worldwide have participated in alerting Clubhouse on their error that goes unnoticed. 

They finally got back to her after almost a week with their findings stating that she was basically "a troll" on the app. Interesting. 

@joinClubhouse has NO fair and due process for their one-strike policy. Members are banished while celebrities are free to do as they please, simply because @joinClubhouse allows this #FREEPUNKY #removetheonewtrikepolicy https://t.co/Xs3gETDxyS

— NyleeCyrus (@nyleecyrus) January 5, 2021

Why are celebrities allowed to raid rooms, and keep their account on @joinClubhouse while other community members are getting banished for less? #befair #FREEPUNKY #removetheonestrikepolicy

— NyleeCyrus (@nyleecyrus) January 5, 2021

Raiding rooms on Clubhouse wasn't considered malicious and against the terms and conditions when celebrities were doing it. Well, I can't say WERE, because they still ARE raiding rooms and doing things against the terms and conditions. 

Celebrities have more leeway Clubhouse mainly because their presence is what is bringing people to the app. We were told to use our REAL NAMES yet they were able to use their stage names. We were told that you cannot have more than one account and you can visibly see that these celebrities have more than one account. 

There are tons of inappropriate rooms, scams and alleged illegal activity going on and those users are not touched, banned or removed. Some actually broke the SAME "rules" and had their accounts reinstated with no issues or problems. 

What now?

We fight back. This has been going on for far too long. We can no longer stand for being the welcoming committee for apps that were not designed for us. We cannot be USED to help you curate what will make non POC comfortable. We cannot be praised for putting in work, building our brands and then you copy us and kick us off the app. We cannot be placed in positions to CODE SWITCH just to make your users happy. 

When can we be UNAPOLOGETICALLY BLACK AND PROUD in our skin without our content, our voices, our ideas, our look, our movements, our vision, our businesses, our music, our photos, our technology constantly manipulated with an algorithm geared towards just ATTRACTING PEOPLE TO YOUR APPS?

We are tired of complaining. We are tired of BEGGING to be equal in the real world AND a virtual world. 

So, Mario releases #rnbnext, a hosted R&B tape where there is literally little to no press besides Stardom101 magazine.

I recently read the article and was not surprised to also see an article from Trillest Entertainment who has promoted these dead tapes in the past. RNBNEXT features several up and coming artists that is released on audiomack. 

With clearly inflated numbers, these artists have no idea how much deceit is filled with this tape down to the fact that not even Mario himself is promoting it. 

Yes, you read that right. Not even HE is promoting it!

So now these artists are forced to use apps like Stationhead to promote it. But wait a minute. In order to use Stationhead, you would need an Apple Music or Spotify subscription to access the features of the app, so that would mean that now these artists have to work overtime to promote their own music and actually hustle to promote music that is most likely on DSPS everywhere. 

Some more red flags...

I then googled “Clarity Production Services” to see if I could get any past work from this company named on this mixtape and I was faced with nothing but dead ends.

Let’s talk about the website www.rnbnext.com

This is a rush job. This is a landing page basically with an embedded Audiomack link created by “Webflow” 

They didn’t even bother to update their method of contact because it directs back to then original handles of a default page. Sketchy if you ask me. What happens if a fan of the mixtape wants to reach out in regards to getting in contact with these artists? 

Bottom line: Just look on Mario’s page, no mention, no mention on his website. Just because you package SHIT with a bow doesn’t make it any less of SHIT. Mario just finessed these artists.

Just like his last tape hosted by Dablock365 

I guess Mario needs the strap.

The Video