Grimes and Kings of Leon, two musicians who entered the NFT market.
Photo-illustration: by Vulture; Photos by Getty Images
As much as I wanted the word NFT to remain out of my vocabulary forever, a deluge of artists had other plans. The NFTs have taken the music world by storm in recent weeks – alongside the world of fine art collection, the world of fashion and all the other for-profit industries you would expect – with everyone, from the usual suspects, like Grimes, to defeated rockers like Kings of Leon, selling art and music as non-fungible tokens. Because of them, I had to learn that the word fungible means interchangeable (and has nothing to do with mushrooms), so a non-fungible token is basically an exclusive item. Except when Kings of Leon released their new album When you see yourself as an NFT on March 5, I could also stream it directly on Spotify, which I found quite fungible. So I had to do until most research on NFTs (read two more explanatory articles) and then I learned that an NFT is just an original digital file of something, and the only way to know that it is an original has something to do with blockchain – something that I also refuse to learn .
Some people in the music industry and friends of technology think that these tokens will “democratize the market” and “revolutionize content” and give them a chance to use meaningless buzzwords. I think everyone is just trying to make money fast by selling sophisticated GIFs. But I’m not above making fun of them for that, so here’s a list of some of the biggest NFT music projects so far, ranked by how much I really care.
16. Tory Lanez, three new songs
These tracks it should have remained unpublished, rather than going to its legal accounts.
15. Kings of Leon, When you see yourself
Are you more embarrassed than announcing your new album as the first NFT album because you know people wouldn’t pay attention to it any other way? I will also forever blame Kings of Leon as the band that forced me to learn about NFTs.
14. Aphex Twin art
One of the only things I can understand about blockchain is that it uses large amounts of energy and, like many of the things that rich people like, is promoting climate change. So, it’s just silly to see Aphex Twin promise to “spend a portion of the money planting trees and donating to permaculture projects or setting them up ourselves” after selling an art piece as an NFT. Maybe if you donated the money without the environmental degradation part, it would do well.
13. Mike Shinoda, Ian Dior and UPSAHL, “Happy Endings”
Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda coined his first of ten exclusive NFT clips of “Happy Endings”, his single with rapper Ian Dior and singer UPSAHL, on February 17, releasing the first song as an NFT in the process – and thinking that it could trick us into paying thousands of dollars to hear a song two days before its release on February 19th.
12. Lil Pump NFT Collection
“My goal is to be the richest and most ignorant rapper,” Lil Pump once stated on this website. Your NFTs – including digital gems and Lil Pump collectible cards – help both causes!
11. 3lau, Ultraviolet reissue
By re-launching his 2018 album as an NFT, 3lau successfully presented the case of actually reopening post-pandemic EDM festivals – to give producers something to do besides silly tech-bro games.
10. Deadmau5 NFT Collection
Like, remember Deadmau5? The man has been launching NFTs since December. And we think we we’re bored.
9. Ositos by Ozuna
All of the NFTs on Ozuna’s first release were new versions of their logo, including some made from digital Tic Tacs. Once you get a real-life Ozuna logo made of Tic Tacs, let’s talk.
8. Shawn Mendes Genies Collection
Genies, the company that Shawn Mendes worked with for its launch on the NFT, makes digital avatars extremely disconcerting for celebrities. Fortunately for all of us, Shawn Mendes did not subject his face to this process! Instead, he launched a collection of digital “wearables”, like different pieces of jewelry and a unique digital guitar. Bored, to be sure, but it could have been worse.
7. Grimes, “War Nymph Collection”
I have to pay attention when Grimes does something as notably about the brand as launching digital art NFTs, and donating recipes for carbon removal. Talk about making climate change fun!
6 IAMSOUND x Zora NFT art exhibition featuring Toro y Moi, Yaeji, Mura Masa and more
Just because I hope Yaeji’s digital fish has found a good home.
5. Elon Musk’s song about NFTs
I could spend my entire life without listening to a song made by Elon Musk, especially not a song about NFTs. But Musk skyrocketed that list when he tweeted that he wouldn’t really sell his music on NFTs as an NFT because “it doesn’t seem quite right to sell that”. Now I just have to know why he changed his mind – although I pray it isn’t because he’s saving the track for an album.
4. Painting by Ja Rule’s Fyre Festival
Of all the musicians who entered the NFT market, it was Ja Rule who broke my brain the most. The rapper-grifter is part of the launch of the NFT Flipkick platform, which “will sell physical and digital NFTs,” according to the launch. Excuse me: physicist NFTs? Aren’t they just pieces of art ?! Flipkick will “cryptographically authenticate physical works of art like sculptures and paintings”, the release continues, which I think means that the cryptographic world has just reinvented signed pieces of art. Either way, Ja Rule is launching the platform by auctioning a 2017 painting of the Tripp Derrick Barnes Fyre Festival logo. “Ja Rule can sign it on request,” added the statement. Physically or “cryptographically”, though ??
3. Clarian, Whale shark
When did Kings of Leon promote your new album as the first album released as an NFT? A stratagem of relevance. When did electronic producer Clarian overcome them? I will allow it. (Even though Clarian appears to be a great NFT evangelist.)
2. Belave, does the bird fly over your head?
And when Grimes collaborator Devon Welsh not only released an album with his band Belave before Kings of Leon (and Clarion, it seems), but specifically make a statement saying, “We did this before Kings of Leon”? Unfortunately, I must commend you.
1. MF DOOM masks
Okay, you got me – selling digital versions of MF DOOM’s iconic mask is not the worst idea. And it is difficult to bring down the project when part of the profits goes to the estate and family of the late rapper.