Buju Banton steps into the NFT world.
The reggae/dancehall icon is known for his husky yet smooth radical tunes, and in more recent times, his unapologetic views too. He has always been a visionary with his craft, branching off into establishing his own clothing line, and now the “Wanna Be Loved” deejay is exploring the NFT space with new Buju art.
On Monday, November 22, Buju Banton shared on Instagram a sleek caricature style image of himself donning a gray space suit and 3D movie theatre style glasses with the caption, “I WELCOME ME TO THE NFT SPACE Space Punk #342.”
The composition and concept of an alternate reality could be likened to that of Mark Zuckerberg’s recently revealed MetaVerse. Interestingly enough, Buju’s NFT portrait was without his ubiquitous locks but not without his bighead spliff.
NFT stands for Non-Fungible Tokens and basically functions as the bitcoin of the digital art world. To the uninitiated NFT’s are currently the rave, it’s where en vogue digital art meets the ever-expanding world of cryptocurrency and many are keen on part-taking in this developing virtual universe.
A fan of the Gargamel made this tweet months ago, “After the craziness of gas recently – finally received this beautiful rendition of Buju by @bright1ight that I got at @itstheAGAH #CryptoArt auction with @LUVRworldwide #Rarible #Ethereum #BlackNFTMonth #NFTArt #BujuBanton #NFT via @rariblecom.”
In case one is wondering what’s that odd reference to “gas” and #Ethereum is about, according to Coinbase.com, “Ethereum is a decentralized computing platform that uses ETH (also called Ether) to pay transaction fees (or “gas”). Developers can use Ethereum to run decentralized applications (dApps) and issue new crypto assets, known as Ethereum tokens.”
As abstract as all this may seem, these digital developments continue to grow unprecedentedly even as we speak. Today, the reggae icon showcased to his Instagram fans a very personalized NFT noting, “TODAY I CREATED MY FIRST NFT ART Link:https://opensea.io/collection/bujugems @bycrimsontide @opensea.”
Banton’s NFT creation is a self-portrait done as an acrylic/watercolor mixed medium effect with waves of red, green, and gold across his face plus an offset crown to the side.
Tagged in the post were two international entities, OpenSea, the world’s first and largest NFT marketplace, and Crimson Tide, “a FinTech company that uses blockchain to create financial inclusion between the legacy systems and the digital modernization of money transfer,” according to their website.
The Grammy Award-winning entertainer proudly boasts his NFT investments following news of his upcoming new single entitled “Crash Dummy”, clearly he’s focused on moving full speed ahead with his multifaceted artistic journey, both at home and on the road.
One fan who queried, “what subliminal message u sending u was a Rasta man never Afraid to speak out against injustice what happen now u afraid of not being accepted by society the lion turn the Mouse!!!!” received a very calm response from the Gargamel who explained that he was simply enlightening his fans on new ways to make money.
“No way sis! Just showing my people how you all be make that money on the low. Don’t be mad. Cant always be night…….” wrote Buju, and his use of the popular “Can’t always be night” Tik Tok trend makes the scenario that much more interesting.
