嘻哈与加密货币：反主流文化与技术革命的融合

自 20 世纪 70 年代诞生以来，嘻哈文化一直拥抱技术创新，从黑胶唱片采样到利用互联网进行发行。如今，在区块链技术的支持下，嘻哈音乐和 Web3 的融合为艺术家提供了自我所有权、创意表达和财务赋权的新途径。虽然加密货币和 NFT 引起了怀疑和争议，但支持者认为它们符合嘻哈音乐独立、叛逆和社区建设的根源。通过拥抱 Web3，嘻哈社区有可能增加获得经济机会的机会，促进艺术自主性，并促进艺术家与其粉丝之间的联系。

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

嘻哈与加密货币：反主流文化与技术创新的融合

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.

半个世纪过去了，库尔·赫克 (Kool Herc) 的传奇 DJ 在他姐姐在布朗克斯的派对上表演，引发了嘻哈音乐的诞生。那个时代，世界发生了深刻的变革。过去，唱片公司和广播电台是艺术家寻求成名的把关人。如今，任何有才华和智能手机的人都可以在舒适的家中录制音乐、培养粉丝群并建立可持续的职业生涯。

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?

鉴于说唱音乐在全球范围内取得的巨大成功，人们可能会质疑嘻哈音乐是否真的需要区块链和加密货币的整合。这仅仅是另一种盈利途径，还是有更深层次的联系吸引了如此多的说唱歌手进入 Web3？

Rappers' Embrace of Crypto

说唱歌手对加密货币的拥抱

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."

Rapper Logic 于 2020 年 11 月公开披露，他已投资 600 万美元购买比特币，这可能是嘻哈艺术家已知的最大一笔加密货币购买交易。 2022 年 6 月，这位格莱美获奖说唱歌手在热门歌曲“1-800-273-8255”背后加倍努力，告诉电台名人 Big Boy，“市场下跌，但我脑子里好像有三到五年了。不要”连看都不看一下。”

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.

他的热情并不只限于逻辑学。 Snoop Dogg 可以说是 Web3 领域最具传奇色彩和最专注的说唱歌手。他尝试过 NFT 和为代币持有者提供的策划粉丝体验，他甚至考虑将 Death Row Records 转变为虚拟音乐厂牌。他还共同创立了 Web3 直播平台。

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."

在 2021 年接受《名利场》采访时，Snoop 解释说，NFT 提供了“与我的粉丝和社区的直接联系。与你购买我的一张唱片或下载我的歌曲不同，我无法与你联系。你明白吗？有了 NFT，我就可以 [...] 不再有平台或中间人过滤我的消息。”

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.

2022 年，Snoop 与 Bored Ape 爱好者 Eminem 合作制作了 BAYC 主题歌曲和音乐视频。 2022 年和 2023 年连续两年被 Cointelegraph 评为 100 名加密货币影响者之一。

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.

Soulja Boy 是另一位对比特币有着长期喜爱的说唱歌手，他以加密货币命名了 2018 年的一首歌曲。尽管他对从加密货币中获得的经济收益感到兴奋，但他也被指控推动各种拉高抛售计划和 NFT 诈骗。

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.

最近，Wu-Tang Clan 的 Ghostface Killah 发布了新音乐作为比特币序号，允许持有者在知识共享零许可下按照自己的意愿使用这些音乐。

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."

其他人则探索了将与他们的歌曲相关的版税代币化。 Nas 的首张专辑《Illmatic》被广泛认为是有史以来最伟大的嘻哈唱片之一，该专辑于 2022 年 1 月在皇家平台上取得了巨大成功。购买随附 NFT 的收藏家获得了部分版税由他的歌曲“Rare”和“Ultra Black”产生。

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."

纳斯也是 Coinbase 的早期投资者，当该交易所于 2021 年上市时，他可能获得了 4000 万美元或更多的可观利润。最近有人发现他与 Coinbase 首席执行官布莱恩·阿姆斯特朗 (Brian Armstrong) 一起参加了 Stand with 主办的投票活动。 Crypto，一个倡导支持加密货币政策的倡导组织。在活动中，纳斯将加密货币称为“创新、新颖、令人兴奋、不同的方式，可以与央行联系并以更方便的方式改变事物”。

Convergence of Counterculture and Technological Innovation

反文化与技术创新的融合

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.

许多崭露头角的说唱歌手也受到了区块链的困扰。那么，加密货币对说唱歌手的吸引力是什么？首先，嘻哈音乐和加密货币都深深植根于反主流文化和反叛之中。

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.

从 N.W.A 和 Public Enemy 到 Dead Prez 和 Immortal Technique，嘻哈在挑战权威和解决影响城市社区的问题（例如贫困和警察暴力）方面有着悠久而传奇的历史。同样，中本聪的比特币从 2007-2008 年金融危机的废墟中崛起，作为对传统金融体系权威的反建制挑战。

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."

音乐家兼 NFT 创作者 Latashá 表示，Hip hop 和 Web3 都强调自我所有权和控制权。 Latashá 的职业生涯始于说唱歌手，但现在被视为“艺术家和世界建设者”。

"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."

“对我来说，Jay-Z 就像一个前辈，而 Nipsey Hussle 则是 Web3 的前辈。”她告诉杂志，“他们的整个心态都是关于独立。这是关于所有权。这是关于尽可能保留一切。”

"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."

“我认为这可以追溯到嘻哈音乐的起源，以及在行业接管它之前嘻哈音乐的真正含义，对我来说，这就是那种实验，一种从你的行李箱里出售 CD 的能力。那种振动是我真正喜欢音乐和嘻哈的地方，我仍然通过 Web3 与它产生共鸣。”

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":

Nipsey Hussle 于 2019 年惨遭枪杀，他是加密货币的狂热信徒。 2018 年，Nipsey 将加密货币描述为“一种业力形式”：

"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."

“银行的模型如此扭曲，以至于工程师、软件设计师和程序员都说‘我们不会通过抗议来解决这个问题，我们不会通过华尔街游行来解决这个问题。我们会用技术来解决这个问题。’”他们创造了一个均衡器，将整场比赛都将死了。”

Get Rich or Die Tryin' with NFTs

尝试用 NFT 致富或死去

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.

Nipsey Hussle 也是许多标志性 NFT 举措的现实世界先驱，例如物品稀缺性和点对点商业。 2013 年，他限量发行了 1,000 张混音带“Crenshaw”实体版，每张售价 100 美元。支持者聚集在#ProudToPay 标签周围。

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.

2015 年，他重复了这个实验，这次他的混音带《Mailbox Money》限量发行了 100 张，每张售价 1,000 美元。

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.

粉丝可以免费在线收听这两个项目——就像任何人都可以在线观看 Bored Ape JPEG 一样——但购买者会收到限量版收藏品，并且可以证实他们的钱直接流向了艺术家。如今，音乐家在音乐 NFT 中广泛使用了这种策略。

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.

尼普西的创业精神深深植根于嘻哈音乐，音乐为许多人提供了摆脱贫困的机会，并有机会过上以前无法实现的财务安全的奢华生活方式。从珠宝到豪华汽车和昂贵的服装，说唱歌手因炫耀和展示自己的财富而赢得了声誉。

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.

同样，加密货币充满了天文数字般的收益、快速的兰博基尼的故事，并被视为在一个没有现有财富的人面临巨大困难的世界中创造财富的途径。现实情况是，尽管加密货币和说唱音乐有着深厚的文化根源，但它们都有相当一部分纯粹受利润最大化驱动的参与者。

Hip Hop and Crypto as Technological Innovations

嘻哈和加密货币作为技术创新

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

嘻哈和加密货币都植根于技术创造力和创新的文化。

"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.

“样品是马利·马尔发明的，对吗？” Renata Lowenbraun 指出，她是音乐律师兼独立音乐 Web3 平台 Infanity 的首席执行官，该平台主要专注于嘻哈和 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.

她还强调了 MP3 的重要性，因为说唱歌手是第一批全心全意地通过在线混音带接受这种新颖的发行方法的音乐家之一，这种方法是由 Lil Wayne 等艺术家在 2000 年代中期开创的。

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.

说唱的基础是建立在重新利用旧技术来创造全新和独特的东西的基础上的。转盘成为乐器，黑胶唱片成为创作新歌曲的样本。如今，开发人员分叉现有的区块链协议来创造独特的东西，而加密推特上的模因不断被翻转和重新混合。

"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.

“我认为嘻哈文化和嘻哈的祖先，甚至总是技术先进，总是在思考如何以不同的方式做事，”拉塔沙说。

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

“我认为嘻哈本身就是技术，因此它与 Web3 相关才有意义。”

Crypto as an Alternative to the Music Industry

加密货币作为音乐产业的替代品

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.

Web3 还提供了一条摆脱主要唱片公司控制的成功之路，这些唱片公司以剥削、控制和掠夺而闻名。

"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.

“这有点像第一次，如果你碰巧是一名独立艺术家，并且真的想在不依赖流媒体或主要唱片公司的情况下取得成功，你就可以做到，”洛文布劳恩说。

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.

她的公司 Infanity 最近与传奇嘻哈杂志 The Hype Magazine 合作，以提高嘻哈社区对 Web3 变革力量的认识。

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.

该出版物是第一本以 Ludacris 和 Soulja Boy 等说唱歌手为封面故事的出版物，进一步证明了嘻哈音乐对新技术的拥抱，也是最早走向数字化的出版物之一。

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

Hype 杂志创始人 Jameelah “Just Jay” Wilkerson 告诉 Magazine，最初引起她注意的是 Web3 赋予艺术家权力的能力。

"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."

“我当时想，‘那么，我们可以让艺术家控制他们的作品的遗产权吗？’你知道，这在我的一生中并没有发生过，而且我从来没有见过这样的事情。”

"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

“这是我第一次见到娱乐界的人愿意教艺人如何保持所有权并做出贡献