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The first non-fungible token (NFT) collection celebrating pioneers of hip hop music is scheduled for global launch.
The series, entitled Masterminds of Hip Hop, will roll out exclusively on leading NFT platform TOKAU. While available for preview as of today, the collection goes on sale from August 31st. Reports indicate that Def Jam Records founder Russell Simmons and hip hop legend Snoop Dogg have curated the collection.
Masterminds of Hip Hop will feature never-before-seen or -heard recordings and artwork from a plethora of artists who helped create and shape the hip hop music industry. Artists including Chuck D of Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane, MC Lyte, Nikki D, and Doug E. Fresh, to name a few.
Russell Simmons said the collection “aims to give credit back to the founding fathers of the cultural movement.”
“I often think of the early days of pre-recorded hip hop when it was only a performance art,” he continued. “There were rappers and DJs who pioneered the space and made it so popular that the recording of rap artists was eminent.
“None of them has received the accolades that I believe they deserve and this is my chance to use a new vehicle to revisit and repay these amazing artists while they are still living.”
The collection will consist of two phases: Pre-Recorded and Early Recording. As such, a total of 40 unique NFTs will make up the Masterminds of Hip Hop series.
NFTs take on music world
This may be the first NFT collection to celebrate the pioneers of hip hop, but it is hardly the first time the music business has embraced NFTs. Like the worlds of sport and literature, music jumped on the NFT train as the market boomed at the start of the year.
Since then, artists from all ends of the musical spectrum, from symphony orchestras to heavy metal stars, have worked on getting their own piece of the NFT pie. Earlier this month, Sony Music and rap legend Eminem participated in the latest round of funding for NFT marketplace MakersPlace. The platform raised a total of $30 million in this most recent round.
In addition, a recording of Claude Debussy’s masterpiece Clair de Lunebecame the first ever music-based NFT to orbit Earth. Launching to and from the International Space Station, the digital file, which was also minted as an NFT, orbited the planet for around 90 minutes.