420 is over, and it’s not one we’ll soon forget. The usual celebrations were replaced by a monumental event: the conviction of Derek Chauvin in the George Floyd murder trial. It was truly a great day in America; one step in the long march toward justice for all.Today we’re wrapping up the auction for B-Real and Mister Cartoon’s first-ever NFT drop! The drop closes at 4:20pm PST.You can still cop an NFT with your credit card or ETH, live on Blockparty.B-Real aka Dr. Greenthumb, one of the lead rappers of the multi-platinum, West Coast hip hop group Cypress Hill, and legendary artist Mister Cartoon dropped a collection of NFTs on 4/20 with Blockparty. The collection is based on original artwork from Mister Cartoon, and set to B-Real’s new single “Triple OG” ft. Freeway and produced by GRAMMY-winning producer Scott Storch. The song will be featured on B-Real's forthcoming solo album, due out this summer.The NFT drop contains:
A series of limited edition NFTs featuring Mister Cartoon’s original artwork, with 3D animations by Glassface, Versions include: Gold, Glass, Tattoo Ink, Blackbook, Liquid, and Insane.
A full animated video by Henry G for B-Real’s new single, “Triple OG”, featuring Freeway, and produced by Scott Storch. This video will be released exclusively a NFTs, with only 10 total being created for this drop.
A hero auction featuring a special 1 of 1 piece, animated by Glassface, that can be redeemed for a private Smoke Session with B-Real, and backstage passes to the Dr. Greenthumb Festival in Summer 2021.
The collection was produced by Ark Labs and Blockparty. More details on the NFT drop will be available at www.blockparty.co.About B-RealLouis Mario Freese (born June 2, 1970),[3] known by his stage name B-Real, is an American rapper. He is one of two lead rappers in the hip hop group Cypress Hill, a part of the supergroup Serial Killers and was one of the frontmen of rap rock group Prophets of Rage (2016–2019). B-Real has released three mixtapes as a solo artist: Gunslinger, Gunslinger Vol. II and Gunslinger Vol. III.[15] He released his first solo album, entitled Smoke N Mirrors and has teamed up with Snoop Dogg in a single called "Vato" for Snoop Dogg's album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment. In 2018, B-Real is also featured on the Hollywood Undead song "Black Cadillac" for the band's fifth album Five.About Mister CartoonBorn and raised in Los Angeles, Mister Cartoon was immersed in art from an early age. He began his career as a graffiti artist before branching into murals, album covers, logos, and now most famously known for his tattoos. His richly detailed, hand-rendered designs pull much of their inspiration from the Los Angeles of Cartoon’s youth. At one time, the black and grey, fine line style was synonymous with LA street life. Cartoon’s work has helped bridge the gap between those hardscrabble beginnings and the style’s current popularity. Stars such as Eminem, Travis Barker, Slash, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, along with athletes like CC Sabathia wear Cartoon’s art on their skin. Having already gained a worldwide following from his tattooing, Cartoon has attracted a diverse and devoted fan base for his work in other media as well. The result has been highly acclaimed gallery appearances and art shows from London, Paris, Tokyo, and beyond. Service to the community has been an essential part of Cartoon’s career. He takes place in monthly outreach programs where he shares his knowledge with young people and devotes time to many other community-based initiatives.About BlockpartyBlockparty is a revolutionary digital asset marketplace that hosts the most sought after goods and collectables accredited with NFT technology. Blockparty is catering to the Crypto community, as well as opening up the NFT metaverse to the masses by simplifying the payment process, making lower gas fees and showcasing items that are truly desired.About Ark LabsArk Labs is a creative studio & agency, as well as the in-house creative and premiere onboarding team for NFT platform Blockparty.About GlassfaceGlassface is a US based experimental visual artist, multimedia generalist, director of music videos & commercials, and founder of Faceworld Studios.
BEATS
A$AP Rocky Mints New "Sandman" Song in First NFT CollectionThis past January, A$AP Rocky performed a new song titled “Sandman” on top of the rooftop of Ali 2023 Deli Grocery in Harlem as part of the “YAMS DAY 2021” virtual festivities. Produced by Kelvin Krash and Clams Casino, the slow-moving track recalls Rocky’s earlier songs that propelled him to hip-hop stardom. (Hype Beast)
Arcade Fire Redefine the Term “Quarantine Record” with “Memories in the Age of Anxiety”It wasn’t too long into 2020 that the term “quarantine record” cropped up to describe albums that were mostly concerned with loneliness, depression, and a sense of being closed off from the world—most of which were written long before “COVID” received its own prominent category on most news websites. (Flood Magazine)
Brain Chips and Biometrics: The Future of How We’ll Consume MusicYou wake up. Biometric indicators determine that your mood is ‘Sad’, so the new Blue Ivy Carter album starts to play to help boost your serotonin levels. Music is streamed directly to your brain through your NeuralinkChip™ and it is with you all day, helping to manage negative emotions and automatically changing cadence to match your activity. You go to sleep. You have barely had to make a conscious decision about the music you have listened to all day. (Vice)
SXSW Is Now 50% Owned By Rolling Stone And Billboard Parent (And MBW Investor) P-MRCAustin’s South By Southwest (SXSW) has long held a stellar reputation for delivering in this regard. And today (April 19) we learn of some big news for SXSW – and the world of B2B/B2C conferences in general. P-MRC, the owner of Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Billboard and Deadline (and an investor in Music Business Worldwide) has announced that it has made a strategic investment in SXSW – the annual music/film/tech conference and festival based out of Texas. (Music Business Worldwide)
Rammstein Selling $1,000 Hoodies and More — Is Luxury Merch a Thing Now?German industrial metal band Rammstein has partnered with Balenciaga for some luxury merch. The unisex apparel comes with a custom-curated playlist and is luxury-priced. The hoodie cost $1,000 before it sold out, and there’s a fanny pack for $850. The luxury merch features an image of all the band’s members and the Rammstein logo. There’s also a raincoat available for an eye-watering $2,250. (Digital Music News)
McDonald's Just Announced A BTS Meal Is Coming And ARMY Had Some Seriously Hilarious JokesAccording to a press release, the meal will consist of 10 McNuggets, a regular fries, and a regular Coke, plus sweet chili and cajun sauces inspired by recipes from McDonald's in South Korea. The meal will be available in around 50 markets worldwide — more than ever before for one of the chain's special celebrity collabs — starting on May 26. (Buzzfeed)
Sync Music Is Bouncing Back In 2021 — But What are the Emerging Trends?Once the bastard stepchild of the music industry, sync music is now a surging and highly lucrative area of the business. Part of that expansion comes from exploding demand for music from heavyweight content creators like Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime Video. But advertising has been spreading across different screens for more than a decade, while UGC content remains a universe of its own. (Digital Music News)
Why Soundcloud Has The Music Business Right Where It Wants ItWe ask it of nearly all our interviewees. But Michael Weissman, CEO of SoundCloud, tosses back an answer we’ve never heard before.“I wouldn’t change a thing.” It’s a response baked in optimism, both for the future of the music industry and his company’s role within it. And the more you understand about SoundCloud’s model, the more it makes sense. (Music Business Worldwide)
Reese’s Puffs Launches ‘Lil Yachts’ For Lil Yachty’s Favorite CerealReese’s Puffs already has Lil Yachty on cereal boxes, and now it's dropping 20 remote-controlled Lil Yachts that will take eating the rapper’s favorite cereal to a new level.The yacht features a “Milkcuzzi” that will swirl milk and Reese’s Puffs together, a waterproof Bluetooth speaker, wireless remote, a custom purple chrome Eat ‘Em Up spoon and comes with a box of Lil Yachty’s Reese’s Puffs. (Ad Age)
Helping Martin Scorsese and Wes Anderson Find Their GrooveAs Deutsch and Poster see it, licensing for advertising and other media has in many ways replaced a role that radio used to play. “The idea is to push an artist or a song toward discovery, or rediscovery,” Poster said.“You have sixty thousand new tracks uploaded on Spotify every day,” Deutsch said. “If you’re a new artist, how do you get heard?” “Branded opportunities,” they say, as one once might have said “plastics.” (The New Yorker)
BYTES
VaynerX Presents: Marketing for the Now is our content series designed to give business leaders, marketers, influencers and culture shapers a 'view in' on what they need to be thinking about and how to take action right NOW. Our April episode of Marketing For the Now is dedicated to answering the question, “What is the future of music, audio and sonic in 2021?”
SOCIAL! the social distance dance club, commissioned by the Armory for its Social Distance Hall, is a new interactive and experiential movement piece conceived by choreographer Steven Hoggett, Tony Award-winning set designer Christine Jones—both of whom are currently Armory Artists-in-Residence—and multimedia artist and musician David Byrne (Talking Heads, David Byrne’s American Utopia on stage and film, and Reasons to be Cheerful).
A new, free app called S!ng lets pretty much anybody do this in a few seconds by minting an NFT (nonfungible token) of a work on the Ethereum blockchain. An NFT is a type of cryptographic token that signifies true ownership of a digital asset, such as a piece of digital artwork.
Welcome 2 America by Prince has been announced for release in July 2021. It is the first full previously-unreleased studio album of Prince material to be released posthumously, and the tenth posthumous album release overall. Recorded in 2010, the album was tentatively planned for release in 2011, likely as a follow-up to 20Ten and in conjunction with the Welcome 2 America Tour, which ran from December 2010 to May 2011.
This week's newsletter was carefully curated by the Nue Agency staff and our editor Rachel Meisner. If you think we missed something this week or have any suggestions/comments for next week's newsletter, let us know!