By Richard Johnson
- NFT sales up 55% since 2020 from $250M to $389M
- The roughly $6B hip hop industry is entering the crypto arena
Dripped in extravagance, there is one thing music artists, entertainers, athletes and the like have always been able to do, and that is capitalize on all things trending. From the auctioning off of Soulja Boy tweets, Eminem sponsored getaways, to Snoop Dogg collectibles, the roughly $6 billion hip hop industry is entering the crypto arena selling nonfungible tokens (or NFTs for short).
Why This Matters: Quick background on NFTs: the non-fungible token is one-of-a-kind and is being used as a digital collectible. Digital currency like Bitcoin or Litecoin is fungible, so if it’s traded for another, the end result is exactly the same thing. Not with NFTs though; once traded, an NFT is unique to its buyer. For example, during this year’s NBA All Star Weekend Quavo, Lil Baby, 2 Chainz and Jack Harlow teamed up with Bleacher Report to release an NFT collection. The collection featured “four custom-designed basketballs that mix music, culture and sport with innovation.” They each received their own individual gold NFTs that sold for more than $591,000 with 2 Chainz’s No. 1 of 10 selling at the highest for 38 Ethereum or $68,030.
These cryptocurrency assets allow for artists themselves to sell individualized and unique items to their most cherished followers; giving them access like never before. With NFT sales up 55% since 2020 (from $250 million to $389 million), the NFT market fancies a kinda digital gold rush for creators in the hip hop industry. And as the pandemic restriction eases up, consumer spending is sure to rise, further enabling the industry to dominate the NFT market.
Situational Awareness: Money begets money and as much as there is money to be made in these streets, for every dollar earned under the table there is another dollar left on the table (so long as we are not there to begin with). Things are changing rapidly with the pandemic plaguing hip hop artist’s ability to really engage with their fans–from concerts to special appearances–these savvy creators discovered another way to remain active with their followers.
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