Unreleased music by the late rapper XXXTentacion is set to be sold as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
An NFT is a unique digital token that functions as a digital certificate of authentication, and can be used to prove ownership of a specific piece of music, art, or merchandise.
The key selling point of an NFT is that it can’t be copied. You can read a fuller explanation of what exactly an NFT is, and why they’re suddenly so popular, here.
In partnership with New York crypto-collectable company YellowHeart, XXXTentacion’s estate is releasing five NFTs featuring material that has not been officially released before.
The collection will contain previously unseen concert footage, as well as five songs from XXXTentacion’s back catalogue, which were originally shared unofficially on SoundCloud.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, the late star’s manager Solomon “Sounds” Sobande said: “X was all about going straight to his consumers and fans. He would’ve went in depth to do something new, cool, and customised.
“I’m sure he would’ve made music just for this. For him, the record label stuff, distribution stuff, and all that stuff was extra. He just wanted to get the music out, touch his fans, and have a relationship with his core audience. There’s so much red tape you have to cut and go around when you’re trying to do an album, and you wouldn’t necessarily have to do that if you were doing an NFT.”
The artist, real name Jahseh Onfroy, was shot and killed in Pompano Beach, Florida, in 2018 at the age of 20. Onfrey was facing 15 felony charges when he died and was accused of multiple instances of domestic abuse.
