Grammy Award-winning artiste, Buju Banton has stepped into a space that has been a topic of the creative community in recent years, the Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) space. He has become one of the first Jamaicans who can be found in OpenSea as he’s minted an NFT.

In this space, Non-Fungible Tokens represent digital assets that are one of a kind and cannot be replaced by another, for example, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet which sold as an NFT for US$2.9 million. NFTs are bought and sold online with cryptocurrency, the buyer becomes the sole owner of the token which can be a digital representation of art, photos, music, a Twitter handle, domain name, a contract, or even a tweet.

Taking a ride on the wave that is NFT or the bitcoin of the art world, Buju Banton officially entered the NFT room last week. According to Buju, with this move: “The intention is to provide fans with a rare 1 of 1 digital Buju Banton asset/collectible, which can grow in value, creating an economic opportunity for NFT holders. We have to keep up with the technological advancements of our times or get left behind…embrace the space, pure love”.

With that being said, Mr. Myrie’s created a partnership with CrimsonTide Ltd., and together, they made a collection of original NFT art pieces. Hosted on OpenSea’s platform which is the world’s first and largest NFT marketplace, the pieces will be digitalized and autographed canvas of Buju Banton. His collection will include programmable features, the artwork of popular portraits of the artiste, and special content for holders of NFTs to enjoy.  Now don’t be confused, sure the digital copies of the art can be copied and sold as NFTs, however, the real prize is in owning a token. An easy way to think of it is like this: “Think of it as something like a copy of a popular book autographed by the author; there are lots of copies of the book and more can easily be made, but the NFT version is one of kind.”

A Buju Banton NFT on OpenSea

There are other regional artistes apart from Buju Banton that are involved in the digital currency world.  CryptoRastas, created by Digitaldubs, is a reggae NFT collection where they strictly collaborate with reggae artistes. They pride themselves on being “the first NFT collection for reggae culture”. As per their website, they’ve got the NFTs of Lee “Scratch” Perry, Cedric “Congos” Myton, Kabaka Pyramid, Augustus Pablo, Addis Pablo, Bushman, Dada Yute, Micah Shemiah, Bay-C of T.O.K (who was the first reggae and dancehall artiste to sell an NFT) and Etana. They’ve assured that coming soon will be those of Sister Nancy, Sly & Robbie, Sugar Minott, Macka B, Ranking Joe, Jesse Royal, Jah9, and many more as their goal is 200 collaborations.

Over in Barbados, T-Shirt singer Shontelle Layne is also immersed in the world of NFTs. In her words, “When I noticed the element of passive income and a way I could empower fans it was a no-brainer. I got straight to researching every possible thing about NFTs. I really wanted to be a part of the community and learn how everything works”. Shontelle back in April then went on to release 11 NFTs to mark the 11th anniversary of her song “Impossible”. Her NFTs were made up of a music video cameo, a dubplate that featured a shout-out to the top buyers, artwork that was customized, and other exclusive treats. Upon auctioning her NFTs, Shontelle walked away with US$15,000 compliments a buyer in Dubai.

All in all, Caribbean creatives have embraced this new reality that is a digital way of earning money. With one look at gig culture being suspended due to the current pandemic, it is no surprise the route the region’s creatives have taken. According to Jay-C of T.O.K: “This is a game-changer for creatives, it allows you to connect directly to supporters without the middle man. I could release NFTs and have special benefits”. Even Trinidadian fashion designer, Anya Ayoung-Chee, the Season 9 Project Runway winner launched her NFT back in September called WYLD TING which acted as a campaign for her brand of festival wear called WYLD FLWR. Alongside a community of artists, photographers, musicians and tech experts she worked on her NFT. Also to be noted, the first Caribbean fashion NFT was launched and the team that made it happen were Trinidadian artist Rodell Warner, Jamaican reggae and R&B artiste Naomi Cowan, Safia Ali, Marlon James, Gemini, Khaffi Beckles, Tanya-Marie Williams and Andrew McIntosh.

 

References:

https://tt.loopnews.com/content/buju-banton-enters-nft-space

https://tt.loopnews.com/content/weekend-read-caribbean-creatives-embracing-benefits-nfts

https://urbanislandz.com/2021/11/25/buju-banton-drops-his-first-nft-art-on-the-opensea/

https://www.dancehallmag.com/2021/11/25/news/buju-banton-enters-nft-space-with-pure-love.html

https://www.cryptorastas.com/

https://dappradar.com/ethereum/collectibles/cryptorastas

 

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