It’s the 25th anniversary of legendary hip-hop album, ‘Reasonable Doubt’. Jay-Z’s impact on music and culture is undeniable, and ‘Reasonable Doubt’ is arguably near the top of the list when it comes to most popular albums in the eyes of Jigga fans. In a recent announcement on Twitter from Sotheby’s and Roc Nation, digital art piece ‘Heir to the Throne’ has gone live as Sotheby’s latest NFT.
Jay-Z: ‘Heir to the Throne’
According to Sotheby’s tweet, the one-of-one ‘Heir to the Throne’ “comments on and recontextualizes the album cover’s iconic portrait of the legendary artist and entrepreneur”. The NFT was designed by the in-demand, Brooklyn-based digital artist Derrick Adams. The piece will be both Jay’s and Derrick’s first public NFT. Sotheby’s is also making the artwork available to view publicly on Decentraland and in-person at their York Ave galleries. The NFT is selling as a lone piece in a single-lot auction.
The piece is described as carrying a “singular aesthetic style of bright colors, geometric forms, multi-layered textures, and flat surface dimensions”. The art looks to showcase a “cinematic visual experience that channels not just the spirit and impact of the music, but also the aspirational impulses of a young musician at the dawn of his career. The work is inspired by the two men’s shared engagement with life in the urban streets, including the dreams and challenges associated with it.” Visually, the NFT brings “animated glowing red embers and a stream of smoke that rises from the end of Jay’s iconic cigar”, which shifts to the number 25.
Bidding will run for one week and a portion of proceeds will go towards Hova’s Shawn Carter Foundation. Bidding started today at $1K USD, and the current bid at the time of writing this article stands at $7,000K USD. Of course, like all of Sotheby’s recent NFT listings, crypto is an accepted form of payment.
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Jay-Z’s Jump Into Crypto?
The NFT news comes not long after public disputes from Roc-A-Fella and artist Dame Dash, as we highlighted in last week’s ‘NFTs In A Nutshell‘. Dame reportedly was looking to sell a portion of the ‘Reasonable Doubt’ album as an NFT; however, his response was that he was only looking to auction off his stake in Roc-A-Fella Records. The label has sued Dame Dash and a judge has already put a temporary stop to his NFT sale.
Jay’s also quietly changed his profile picture on Twitter to a CryptoPunks avatar. Could the legendary artist be the latest crypto advocate? As the NFT press release aptly notes, this is the first time Jay has ever officially authorized an event commemorating the ‘Reasonable Doubt’ album in history.
ETH is becoming a hot topic around Sotheby's NFT bids. | Source: ETH-USD on TradingView.com
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Featured image from Pixabay, Charts from TradingView.com