Hip Hop and Crypto: A Fusion of Counterculture and Tech Revolution

Since its inception in the 1970s, hip hop culture has embraced technological innovation, from sampling vinyl records to utilizing the internet for distribution. Today, the convergence of hip hop and Web3, powered by blockchain technology, offers artists new avenues for self-ownership, creative expression, and financial empowerment. While cryptocurrencies and NFTs have attracted skepticism and controversy, proponents argue that they align with hip hop's roots of independence, rebellion, and community building. By embracing Web3, the hip hop community can potentially increase access to financial opportunities, promote artistic autonomy, and foster connections between artists and their fans.

Hip Hop and Crypto: A Convergence of Counterculture and Technological Innovation

Half a century has elapsed since Kool Herc's legendary DJ set at his sister's party in the Bronx sparked the birth of hip hop. The world has undergone a profound transformation in that time. In the past, labels and radio stations served as gatekeepers for artists seeking to make a name for themselves; today, anyone with talent and a smartphone can record music, cultivate a fanbase, and establish a sustainable career from the comfort of their own home.

Given the immense success rap music has achieved on a global scale, one may question whether hip hop truly requires the integration of blockchain and cryptocurrency. Is it merely another avenue for profit, or is there a deeper connection that draws so many rappers into Web3?

Rappers' Embrace of Crypto

Rapper Logic publicly disclosed in November 2020 that he had invested $6 million in Bitcoin, perhaps the largest known cryptocurrency purchase by a hip-hop artist. In June 2022, the Grammy-winning rapper behind the hit "1-800-273-8255" doubled down, telling radio personality Big Boy, "The market's down, but I'm like three to five years in my head. Don't even look at it."

Logic is not alone in his enthusiasm. Snoop Dogg is arguably the most legendary and dedicated rapper in the Web3 space. He has experimented with NFTs and curated fan experiences accessible to token holders, and he even contemplated transforming Death Row Records into a metaverse music label. He co-founded a Web3 livestreaming platform as well.

In a 2021 interview with Vanity Fair, Snoop explained that NFTs provide "a direct connection to my fans and my community. Unlike when you buy one of my records or download a song of mine, I can't connect with you. You dig? With NFTs, I can. [...] There is no platform or middleman filtering my message anymore."

In 2022, Snoop collaborated with fellow Bored Ape aficionado Eminem on a BAYC-themed song and music video. For two consecutive years, 2022 and 2023, he was recognized by Cointelegraph as one of the Top 100 Cryptocurrency Influencers.

Soulja Boy is another rapper with a long-standing affinity for Bitcoin, having named a 2018 song after the cryptocurrency. Despite his excitement over the financial gains he has made from the cryptocurrency, he has also been accused of promoting various pump-and-dump schemes and NFT scams.

Most recently, Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan released new music as Bitcoin Ordinals, allowing holders to use the music as they wish under a Creative Commons Zero license.

Others have explored tokenizing the royalties associated with their songs. Nas, whose debut album, "Illmatic," is widely regarded as one of the greatest hip hop records of all time, had a highly successful drop on the Royal platform in January 2022. Collectors who purchased the accompanying NFTs received a portion of the royalties generated by his songs "Rare" and "Ultra Black."

Nas was also an early investor in Coinbase and likely netted a substantial profit of $40 million or more when the exchange went public in 2021. He was recently spotted with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong at a get-out-the-vote event hosted by Stand with Crypto, an advocacy group promoting pro-crypto policies. At the event, Nas referred to cryptocurrency as an "innovative, fresh, new, exciting, different way to connect with central banks and change things in a more convenient way."

Convergence of Counterculture and Technological Innovation

Numerous up-and-coming rappers have also been bitten by the blockchain bug. So, what is the allure of crypto for rappers? To begin, both hip hop and crypto are deeply rooted in counterculture and rebellion.

From N.W.A and Public Enemy to Dead Prez and Immortal Technique, hip hop has a long and storied history of challenging authority and addressing issues affecting urban communities, such as poverty and police brutality. Similarly, Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin emerged from the ashes of the 2007-2008 financial crisis as an anti-establishment challenge to the authority of the traditional financial system.

Hip hop and Web3 also share a common emphasis on self-ownership and control, according to musician and NFT creator Latashá, who began her career as a rapper but now identifies as an "artist and world-builder."

"Jay-Z, to me, is like a predecessor, [and] Nipsey Hussle is a predecessor of Web3." She tells Magazine that "their whole mentality was about independence. It was about ownership. It was about keeping everything as much as possible."

"I think it goes back to the beginnings of hip hop and what hip hop really was about before the industry kind of took it over, which, to me, is about that experimentation, that ability to sell a CD out of your trunk. That kind of vibration is what I really loved about music and hip hop, and I still resonate with it through Web3."

Nipsey Hussle, who was tragically shot and killed in 2019, was an ardent believer in cryptocurrency. In 2018, Nipsey described crypto as "a form of karma":

"The banks had such a crooked model that the engineers and software designers and programmers was like 'We not gon fix this with a protest, we not gon fix this with a march on Wall Street. We gon fix this with technology.' And they created an equalizer that just, it checkmated the whole game."

Get Rich or Die Tryin' with NFTs

Nipsey Hussle was also a real-world pioneer of many signature NFT moves, such as item scarcity and peer-to-peer commerce. In 2013, he made a highly limited run of 1,000 physical copies of his mixtape "Crenshaw" and sold them for $100 each. Supporters rallied around the hashtag #ProudToPay.

In 2015, he repeated the experiment, this time pressing an even more limited edition of just 100 copies of his mixtape "Mailbox Money" and selling them for $1,000 apiece.

Fans could listen to both projects for free online — in the same way anyone can view a Bored Ape JPEG online — but purchasers received a limited edition collectible and the verifiable knowledge that their money went directly to the artist. This strategy is widely used by musicians today with music NFTs.

Nipsey's entrepreneurial spirit is deeply rooted in hip hop, where music has provided many with an escape from poverty and an opportunity to live a previously unattainable lavish lifestyle of financial security. From jewelry to luxury cars and expensive clothing, rappers have earned a reputation for flaunting and showcasing their wealth.

Likewise, crypto is replete with tales of astronomical gains, fast Lamborghinis, and is perceived as an avenue for wealth creation in a world where the odds are stacked against those without existing wealth. The reality is that despite their deep cultural roots, both crypto and rap music have their fair share of participants who are solely driven by profit maximization.

Hip Hop and Crypto as Technological Innovations

Hip hop and crypto are both rooted in a culture of technological creativity and innovation.

"Marley Marl invented the sample, right?" notes Renata Lowenbraun, music attorney and CEO of independent music Web3 platform Infanity, which primarily focuses on hip hop and R&B.

She also highlights the significance of MP3s, as rappers were among the first musicians to wholeheartedly embrace this novel distribution method through online mixtapes, pioneered by artists like Lil Wayne in the mid-2000s.

The foundation of rap was built upon repurposing old technology to create something entirely new and unique. Turntables became instruments, and vinyl records became samples from which new songs were created. Today, developers fork existing blockchain protocols to create something unique, while memes on Crypto Twitter are constantly being flipped and remixed.

"I think the culture of hip hop and the ancestors of hip hop, even, always were technologically advanced, always were thinking about how to do things differently," says Latashá.

"I think hip hop is literally technology in itself, and so it only makes sense that it would be correlated with Web3."

Crypto as an Alternative to the Music Industry

Web3 also provides an alternative path to success outside the clutches of major record labels, which have a reputation for being exploitative, controlling, and predatory.

"It is sort of the first time that if you happen to be somebody who is an independent artist and really wants to be successful without relying on streaming or the major labels, you can do that," argues Lowenbraun.

Her company, Infanity, recently partnered with The Hype Magazine, a legendary hip hop magazine, to raise awareness within the hip hop community about the transformative power of Web3.

The publication was the first to feature cover stories on rappers such as Ludacris and Soulja Boy and, further attesting to hip hop's embrace of new technologies, was also one of the earliest publications to go digital.

Hype Magazine founder Jameelah "Just Jay" Wilkerson tells Magazine that it was Web3's ability to empower artists that initially caught her attention.

"I was like, 'So, we can give artists control of their legacy rights to their stuff?' You know, this is not something that happened in my lifetime. I've been 21 years in, and I have never seen that. I've always seen labels control everything."

"This is the first time that I've met people in the entertainment industry who are willing to teach the artists how to keep their ownership and make