When we think about how hard it would be to lose one of our senses, we usually imagine losing our sight or our hearing. But what about losing our sense of smell?
Being able to smell may not seem as important as being able to see or hear, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a big deal if you can’t. Our sense of smell functions as an early-warning safety alert system, for one thing, so losing it can put us at risk. But smell is also one of our biggest memory triggers; a familiar scent can transport us to a specific time and place in the past in an instant. Pleasant smells can also evoke joy, whether we’re inhaling the fragrance of our favorite flower or basking in the mouth-watering scent of our mom’s cookies.
One of the most beloved scents in the world, even for people who don’t like the taste of it, is the smell of coffee. So when 54-year-old Jennifer Henderson got to experience her first whiff of coffee after two years of not being able to smell anything at all, her reaction was understandably emotional.
Henderson has been dealing with “long COVID,” a term referring to new or lingering symptoms long after an initial acute COVID-19 infection wanes, since she contracted the virus two years ago. Long COVID can manifest in many ways, one of which is the senses of smell and taste going awry. For Henderson, long COVID has resulted in bananas tasting like metal, garlic tasting like gasoline and her sense of smell being nonexistent for two years, according to WOIO News.
However, Cleveland Clinic anesthesiologist and pain medicine specialists Christina Shin, M.D. and Jijun Xu, M.D., Ph.D. have found that a common pain medication treatment seems to help many COVID long haulers regain their sense of smell and taste. The doctors told WOIO they don’t really konw why it works, but it does offer hope for many who are suffering with long COVID like Henderson.
“You feel like you’re in this box,” Henderson said in a video shared by CBS. “For two years, two senses are gone, completely gone. And now I just feel like I’m getting my life back. I’m getting back to normal.”
Watch the moment she realizes she can smell the coffee:
People struggling with long COVID often feel forgotten as the world increasingly moves away from focusing on the pandemic. It doesn’t help that there’s still so much we don’t know. As can be expected in a novel viral pandemic, data has taken time to collect and analyze, and even defining long COVID has been a challenge as researchers learn in real-time about the long-term effects of COVID infection.
The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that as of January 2023, the estimated workforce numbers affected by long COVID range from fewer than 500,000 to as many as 4 million. A study published in Nature in January 2023 estimated that long COVID occurs in at least 10% of acute SARS-CoV-2 infections, with more than 200 symptoms impacting multiple organ systems being identified with the condition.
Thankfully, breakthroughs like the one from the Cleveland Clinic do offer hope for people who have had far more questions than answers about their symptoms. Hopefully, we will see more people get relief like Henderson did as doctors and scientists keep working to decipher the long COVID puzzle.
If you’ve never heard of the Cat Distribution System, then you probably don’t own a cat, or you do, but you acquired your cat in a normal, non-weird way. You know, like at an animal shelter or from some nice lady on social media who had a box of kittens. Some people do get cats that way, and it’s one thousand percent a valid way to attain cat parent status.
But some lucky folks get cats through the Cat Distribution System (or CDS for short). Is this system real? The only people who know this are cats. They’re also the ones that run the system, so the rules and the way in which you attain your purr machine may be a bit wonky. You may wake up with an unknown cat in your bed even though all of your windows are closed, or you just may be like this delivery driver.
The driver was out picking up orders when a cat came out of the CDS and jumped on the man’s leg as he attempted to get back to his car. Thanks to his dash cam, you get to see CDS at work, and so did his mom. The video currently has over 2.8 million views on TikTok.
When the driver asked his mom if he could keep the cat, at first she said no. Then she saw the footage of the cat aggressively and desperately choosing her son to be its new cat dad—and that’s how you get a cat through the CDS. Once the cat realized she made the right choice, she snuggled up on her dad’s lap as he drove her home.
“We are not cat people,” reads the text overlay. “My youngest son was out making deliveries last night. A cat kept following him. Then jumped on his leg and would not let go.”
I have news for you, Mom, you’re cat people now. It’s how the Cat Distribution System works. They train their recruits to turn non-cat people into cat people, one unsuspecting human at a time. If you don’t make it to the end of the video, yes, they kept the cat and her name is Venus. That’s how the system is designed.
#catrescue #catrescueroftiktok I am not a #catperson but maybe now I will be after today. I #Love my #son has a #huge #compassionate #heart #momsoftiktok #rescate #gato
Gender reveal parties have continued to be popular over the past decade or so, and people have gotten more and more creative with them in an effort to keep them fun for everyone involved. Marissa Bailey decided to take her party to a local restaurant and use cupcakes to reveal the gender, but the catch was there were dozens of cupcakes and only one had the colored frosting in the middle.
Thankfully for the internet, Bailey decided to film the event and upload it to TikTok, where it has amassed over 10 million views. In the video, the family members take turns biting into the cupcakes as curious patrons watch, slowly realizing what’s going on. Soon the other restaurant guests become invested as cupcake after cupcake proves to be free of colored filling. (I don’t know whose idea it was to bake so many cupcakes but, whew, they were going to be there a while.)
Eventually, someone decides handing them out to the now-interested patrons would speed along the process. Even the server gets in on the game and cuts open a cupcake to again reveal no colored filling. So more volunteers raise their hands to bite into cupcakes.
Now there’s even more of a party because strangers are feeling invested and competitive, but alas there’s still no color in the cupcakes. Soon the entire restaurant is collectively shouting out in disappointment as another cupcake reveals a whole lot of nothing. The mom-to-be is looking stressed at this point, but the show must go on.
Surely she’s rethinking the idea of recreating a Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket situation. But just when defeat is hitting the pregnant woman, a shriek can be heard from a stranger in the restaurant, followed by, “IT’S A GIRL!!!” as she dances in place.
What a fun and intense gender reveal. Check it out below:
The Ted Lasso Power Rankings are a weekly analysis of who and/or what had the strongest performance in each episode. Most of the list will feature individual characters, although the committee does reserve the right to honor anything from animals to inanimate objects to laws of nature to general concepts. There are very few rules here.
Season 3, Episode 5 — “Signs”
HONORABLE MENTION: Jamie (I worry that the show has no clue what to do with Jamie right now but I do appreciate everyone giving him a word like “negativit-eh” to pronounce every week); Trent Crimm (the man is getting some primo content for his book); Dani Rojas (I do not like to see him sad); Isaac (he’s kind of like the team mom, which is nice); fingernails (“What’s that about?”): Chris and Arlo, the announcers (having goofy announcers as comic relief is basically just a cliche after Bob Uecker in Major League, but I still love these guys); Dr. Wagner (maybe don’t text patients “have important results, will call after the game”); apology raps (if you bully me, please do not do a rap about it in front of everyone); lamb poop (sour); Ms. Kakes (need to know much more about her someday); Barbara the CFO (need to know what was in that drawer); John Wingsnight and Jessica Darling (leave Anthony Hopkins alone)
10. Rebecca (LAST WEEK: 3)
APPLE
Her team is on a massive losing streak, she’s getting advice about maybe firing Ted and then having awkward little interactions with him in the hallways, she’s seeing all kinds of weird signs out in the world that are making her think that crazy psychic was right, she has baby fever and is making appointments about it with soccer-crazed doctors, and she can’t talk to her best friend about is because said best friend is making out with rich ladies in the office after slugging warm desk vodka from the bottle.
Other than that, solid week for Rebecca.
9. Zava (LAST WEEK: 7)
APPLE
ON ONE HAND: He’s a self-important bozo who goes on long-winded speeches about teamwork and loving his wife and is the kind of person who has just generally convinced himself that he’s smart because he is so very good at doing one thing that he’s been able to carve away anyone in his life who would be able to grab him by his little ponytail and shout “HEY, KNOCK IT OFF” into his perfectly angular face.
ON THE OTHER HAND: I would very much like to see him running his little avocado farm, maybe as a web series or an entire spinoff. I really hope the farm is in England. I enjoy the idea of Zava standing there in the middle of a field giving inspirational speeches to soil that is just straight-up geologically not-suited to grow a tropical crop.
8. Higgins (LAST WEEK: Unranked)
APPLEAPPLEAPPLE
In a way, this explains so much.
7. Nate/Jade (LAST WEEK: 5/Unranked)
APPLE
A few notes on this little piece of business:
I do not know if I like the show humanizing Jade in this way, and this quickly, if only because I enjoyed her a lot in those short bits as a cold and slightly dense hostess
I would like to know how long Nate sat there by himself at the window table after Anastasia left, because it seemed like kind of a long time, like at least from appetizers through dessert, which is really just very humiliating on a number of levels
I got extremely hungry while watching this scene, which was, I suspect, not the emotion they intended to inspire when they all sat down to create it, although this is probably one of those things that says more about me than the show
Still… very cute. Good for these two. I hope they have four awkward little children who are mean and also spit sometimes. Maybe not the spitting. I’ll think about it.
6. Keeley/Jack (LAST WEEK: Unranked/8)
APPLE
I suppose this is where I should do a big thing about the ethics of hooking up with your big investor and/or boss after a night of chugging vodka and cleaning up lamb poop, or maybe about how it’s a little weird how the show just kind of bounces Keeley from relationship to relationship and how — even as it became obvious from the body language on the couch — it struck me as weird that she’s just up and hooking up with women now (I mean, good for her if that’s what she’s feeling in the moment, but it did kind of scream in front left field from a character standpoint)…
… but mostly I just want to point out how massively ineffective the privacy screen on her office is if you can see straight through it to watch a couple of silhouettes start making out. A set of regular-ass blinds or curtains would work better than that. This is one of those things where we went ahead and invented ourselves backwards. Someone should be fired. Hopefully, they don’t have access to farm animals.
5. Ted (LAST WEEK: 2)
APPLE
The team can’t win a game. The fans are shouting a lot. His bosses are openly yelling at him and kind of discussing the process of moving on from him as coach. His kid is bullying some poor sap named Doug — not a lot of kids named Doug these days — and getting advice about handling it from his wife’s new boyfriend who was also their marriage counselor. The best player on the team just kind of surprise-retired to go be a farmer. Not ideal, on paper.
AND YET
You saw the speech at the end. You saw him shut down that feedback sound that usually signals a panic attack is en route. It feels like the classic moment in any sports movie where things are at their darkest and most hopeless just before they turn around. This is, weirdly, where Ted tends to shine. He still knows squat about soccer, and he’s maybe not the best tactician at any sport he coaches, but the man can do inspiration. That’s his whole deal. I don’t know if it’ll all work out, like, victory-wise. I do not think they’ll win the championship this year. But they’ll pull out of whatever this is. That’s… something.
4. Making a big scene when you get fired (LAST WEEK: Unranked)
APPLE
I mean, yes, Shandy was rightfully fired. And, sure, this was kind of just the “WHO’S COMING WITH ME?” thing Jim Breuer did in Half Baked with more swearing and hair. But…
Like…
I don’t know. I’ve never made a scene when I left a job and it looks kind of fun. The closest I ever came was when I was a teenage cashier at a grocery store and the manager told me I had to stay late because they were short-staffed and I had plans that night so was like “Nope” and just split. I could have gotten on the intercom and played around a little. I knew the code to use it from the register. That would’ve been fun.
We all have regrets.
3. Mae (LAST WEEK: Unranked)
APPLE
Runs a tight ship.
2. Roy (LAST WEEK: 9)
APPLE
A few Roy notes:
His little monologue about handling bullies was so dark and so much longer than I expected and maybe the hardest I’ve laughed at anything so far this entire season
I hope Trent transcribed the entire thing and includes it in the chapter about Roy
I enjoyed how everyone in the office started doing playfully little monkey noises and Roy did a chest-pounding gorilla grunt
Take a second today and picture Roy’s face when he finds out that the woman he appears to have regrets about dumping is now hooking up with attractive wealthy ladies at work. That’s a fun little visual for you.
1. Coach Beard (LAST WEEK: 1)
APPLE
You know, you think you’ve finally peeled back most of the layers of the onion on a guy and then he just up and reveals he used to perform at a strip club named Man City. It makes sense, I guess, given the things we know about him already, including his love of discos and nightlife and hula hoops and…
Ice Spice has graced the cover of Paper Magazine with a powerful photoshoot and an even more intriguing interview into how the “Bikini Bottom” breakout star feels about her sudden career rise. Specifically, she feels that rather than fitting into a lane, she is making her own path and sound.
“I don’t know if I fit in,” she explained. “I think that’s what makes me so different. I feel like it’s a new lane that I’ve started, and I’m starting to hear a lot of other artists sound like they belong in my lane now.”
This power also came from experiencing the world around her. “New York raised me,” Ice Spice added. “I’ve been knew this, been around men, had to pass men in the streets, had to take the train with men. So coming into the industry, it’s not just like, ‘Whoa, there’s men here?’ It’s like, ‘Okay, that’s the world.’”
“So real shortly after that, that’s when I started to realize my fame was picking up and people was constantly coming up to me. I started to know gradually,” she told Paper. “It’s not like one day, you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m famous.’ At some point, any time you step out the car, instantly people know you, instantly screaming your name.”
View some photos from Ice Spice’s photoshoot above.
Fans shared their photos of the concert, capturing a background featuring a sampling of the critical comments that Chlöe has received over the past several months, including such missives as “Why is her ass always out?” and “She doesn’t know who she is.” In addition to performing in defiance of these criticisms, she apparently also returned to the stage after performing for an encore of sorts in which she shared her explicative-laden thoughts on the subject at hand.
“F*ck what the f*ck anybody wanna f*ckin’ say,” she snarled. “They can kiss my Black ass.”
The In Pieces Tour was incredible!!! You did such an awesome job boo!! @ChloeBailey had to let y’all mfs know stop playing on her name! pic.twitter.com/aLafNKPHy3
Never forget: Chloe X Halle are from Atlanta, Georgia. They do not play that.
Despite a seemingly lukewarm fan reception for In Pieces, the album still reached the Billboard 200 and as the videos show, she’s still got plenty of support in her corner, regardless of the social media perception. After removing social media from her phone, it seems Chlöe isn’t just “clearer” as she put it, but freer to say exactly what she thinks, online backlash be damned.
Back in 2013, several demo tracks from British recording artist Jai Paul leaked onto the internet. Over the years, these demos have been held in high regard from fans, who have insisted that Paul release mixed and mastered versions of these tracks. Though he has yet to release polished versions of the songs, he did release the demos in the form of a compilation titled Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones) on digital platforms back in 2019.
Tomorrow (April 13), Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones) will be available for purchase on vinyl for the first time. The vinyl drop date coincides with the 10th anniversary of when the demos first surfaced onto the internet. But there’s a catch — only 3,000 copies of the vinyl have been pressed, and they will only be available for purchase for 24 hours.
Based on last year’s reported gross sales of vinyl records, it would be safe to assume that vintage music technology is making a coming back. However, this doesn’t seem to be slowing down the industry-shifting moves happening in the metaverse, on Web3, and with NFTs. Big-name acts such as Snoop Dogg, Gorillaz, SZA, Sia, Steve Aoki, Styles P, and Grimes have all raved about the mediums. Some even racked in tens of thousands of dollars in the process. Hell, even music platforms Spotify, Limewire, and the beloved music festival Coachella have jumped on board. But they aren’t the only entities benefitting from these creative havens.
Many technologically savvy musicians, producers, and DJs are no longer seeking deals (recording, publishing, or otherwise) with major record labels. Instead, they’re leveraging their independence to explore the larger financial payouts that the metaverse, NFTs, and Web3 have made possible. For the novice, it is important to define these terms to drive home just how innovative these tech and music intersections are. In layman’s terms, the metaverse is a 3-D virtual reality that exists in tandem with the world we live in today, just without the restrictions of physics or geography. Musicians can host concerts, meet-and-greets, and more for fans across the world in real-time, all for a fraction of the cost.
As for Web3, put plainly, it is a decentralized internet powered by blockchain where the power remains with the individual (who owns the data). The public internet in use today is referred to as Web2. Web3 is the tech container or infrastructure, and in most cases, there is a cost of admission to enter these digital gates. Cash will be of no use to you, you need to pay via a non-fungible token (NFT). Contributing writer Dane Rivera defined them best. NFTs are cryptocurrencies stored on the blockchain. NFTs are self-defined but, most importantly, “valued independently from one another,” meaning the individual creator of the token determines the value. Whereas in the world of tangible currency, for example, the value of the American dollar can fluctuate depending on the global markets.
The NFT and Web3 music spaces are still relatively new in the grand scheme of things. So, when considering rising artists for this list, only independent recording artists were considered. DJs and producers were not considered. Other qualifying criteria included the number of collections available for purchase, total gross income earned from their public collections, and overall impact on the community.
Although they did not make the cut, there are two honorable mentions that are important to list. Firstly, Nigerian-American recording artist MoRuf. The New Jersey native found underground success in the early 2010s with the release of his 2013 project, Shades of Moo. The album birthed the cult-classic track “Homie.Lover.Friend,” which featured singer Jesse Boykins III. Over time MoRuf’s follow-ups became few and far between. However, after becoming a husband and a father, he made a slightly more consistent return to music in the Web3 space with the single “Canal Street.” The success of the track led to a collaboration with Snoop Dogg on his mixtape Death Row Session: Vol. 2 (420 Edition) in 2022.
Next, no list of artists in the Web3 or NFT space is complete with a nod, even if it’s subtle, to Chinese-American alt-pop singer and producer Yunice. The Brooklyn-born, Macau-raised musician has had many stage names in her career, including Eunice and Wobble Wong, but the one thing that has remained the same is her passion for the art. Since as early as 2015, Yunice has kept her head down performing across the city. Eventually, earning sync placements with brands like 7Up and Walgreens, as well as movies such as Hooking Up, starring Brittany Snow and Sam Richardson. In Web3, Yunice has cultivated an infectious blend of emo and pop for the ultimate sad-girl soundtrack.
Continue below to see the full list in alphabetical order according to the artist’s name.
Aly
Aly, previously known as Lackhoney, is a Nashville native with Indian and Pakistani roots. His goal of founding fame in Music City came with a list of challenges, but none of which had to do with talent. Infamously known as the home of country music, the Muslim rapper and producer had his work cut out for him battling racial prejudice, islamophobia, and musical shunning. In nearly a decade since entering the music industry, with a few singles and a project, Sweets to his name, in Aly’s eyes, he hadn’t moved the needle enough both professionally and financially to continue down the entertainment path. Despite having millions of streams on track, such as “Love’s Like Drumming,” financial insecurity was still an ongoing battle. But after discovering Web3 around September 2022, he uploaded his older work. The eager music community immediately sunk their teeth into it, earning him a decent financial cushion to fuel his pursuits moving forward.
During an appearance on Impromptu by Huddln Radio, Aly shared how Web3 has fueled his musical pursuit since transitioning from Lackhoney to what he is now known as. “It was a time when I was at my absolute lowest. There were so many doubts about whether or not I was going to make music in the future — if I was going to give up after eight years of pursuing it. I just had no more gas in my engine at all. I went through every emotion,” said Aly before adding, “Web3 has been the biggest part of why [returning to music with the release of Sweets 2] has been possible.”
In a hip-hop climate hyper-fixated on the culture’s latest subgenre, drill, it would seem that its antithesis, conscious rap, would be a dying art form. However, that won’t be the case if Takoma Park, Maryland native Heno has anything to do with it. Having collaborated with artists such as JPEGMAFIA and Mick Jenkins, the Ethiopian-Eritrean rapper, and producer was well on his way to becoming an underground fixture. But after discovering Web3, Heno was able to expand beyond the underground while doubling down on his goal of creating an impact with his music. Through his music, Heno is bridging together the diaspora from the US to Ethiopia. His latest Web3 release, “Neybors” featuring Elujay and J.Robb, has set a new standard for rap drops in the community.
When talking about his experience with Web3, Heno wrote on Twitter, “What I love about Web3 is the ability to experiment with so many amazing tools to showcase my art. It pushes me to find new ways of releasing in a more intentional way than ever before.”
What I love about Web3 is the ability to experiment with so many amazing tools to showcase my art. It pushes me to find new ways of releasing in a more intentional way than ever before.
In an interview NFTNow, Heno drilled home the same point, “Obviously, I get paid more in Web3 than I got paid for streaming numbers. That’s great, but that’s the short-sighted benefit,” as the musician’s overall goal is to build a self-sustaining community. This is seen in his activism work for several social issues, including police brutality, prison reform, and more. Heno also appeared on Snoop Dogg’s Death Row Session: Vol. 2 (420 Edition) mixtape, which was released in 2022.
Put plainly, Inglewood, California singer and songwriter Iman Europe is one of the most celebrated Web3 music creators. Iman has served as an advocate for other musicians looking to enter the Web3 space. Whether she’s speaking on panels (Essence Fest, SXSW, NFT LA, or NFT NYC) regarding the importance of exploring NFTs and Web3 as a musician or uploading short video explainers on social media, Iman has screamed from the mountain tops to anyone who’d listen since discovering the community in 2021. Iman’s fierce championing for the space has been rewarded in many ways, including being named Dequency’s cohort fellow for Web3 sync licensing.
Iman has seen mainstream success dating back as early as 2018, after songs from her debut album, Nami, were prominently featured on Issa Rae’s hit show Insecure on HBO, the movie Nappily Ever After starring Sanaa Lathan on Netflix, and Disney’s TV series Good Trouble. She’s worked with Dave East, Sango, Zyah Belle, and more. However, despite her visibility, Iman shared that popularity and financial security aren’t mutually exclusive. During an interview with Bloomberg, Iman Europe revealed, “I had one person buy my song for the amount it would have taken a million streams to get.”
Instead of crafting her work to fit into the algorithm on different streaming platforms, Iman has been able to earn well above a livable wage after prioritizing NFTs and Web3 as the mediums for her art. Iman Europe also appears on Snoop Dogg’s Death Row Session: Vol. 2 (420 Edition) mixtape, which was released in 2022.
When you think of Web3 or NFT as it relates to music, the first artist to pop up in your mind should be LATASHÁ. The rapper, producer, and multimedia artist has, through her work as head of community programming at Zora, ushered in a new wave of musical talent. As a veteran musician and prominent figure in the independent New York music scene for the better part of a decade, LATASHÁ knows the ins and outs of navigating a career in music.
The Brooklyn native, now Los Angeles-based talent, has been featured in several viral freestyle cyphers. She held down artist residency at both the Brooklyn Museum and National Sawdust, as well as earned sync placements in Netflix’s Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker starring Octavia Spencer and on Freeform’s Grown-ish starring Yara Shahidi. The Afro-Latina has also been heard in several commercials for Ulta Beauty while being one of the faces of ATT’s Codes of Culture campaign. If that wasn’t enough, LATASHÁ has also appeared on Issa Rae’s record label Raedio’s EP The Bank Roll, all the while racking up co-signs by rap pioneers Lil Kim, Timbaland, and Missy Elliott.
Still, even with all of the success, LATASHÁ battled financial security while feeling restricted by what type of her art would be palatable enough to earn money. However, after diving into Web3, she found that all of her art (abstract visual, video, audio, and more) could live in harmony. She was one of the first artists to bring in over $10k for a music video to blockchain. After turning down multiple record label deals, LATASHÁ has found a lane all her own, without comprising her art while retaining ownership.
“Web3 has completely shifted my existence,” said LATASHÁ during an interview with NFTNow. “I was a struggling artist trying to figure this thing out, and when I got [into Web3], I felt like something healing within me. We’re finding wellness for artists again,” said the musician.
Many artists in the Web3 and NFT spaces had years of experience in Web2 before making the transition. Singer Rae Isla is the complete opposite, coming into her own as an artist while simultaneously navigating NFTs. Although the songwriter’s debut EP, No Longer Blue, was released in 2018, it wasn’t until her follow-up project 2021’s Another Life that Rae started to see a response in turns of career mobility. This was seen in her official music video for the single “Just Because,” earning constant rotation on MTV Latin America.
In just a few short years, Rae has found a way to innovate the way in which she approaches her career. Sonically she blends together country, Americana, and pop influences into her releases. Rae uses this same creative fusion approach in her exploration of NFTs featuring audio work, visual works, and live performances in her collections available for mint. When Rae always aims high, her most ambitious NFT project was to mint over 1,000 pieces of creative works (currently at 600 items minted). Also, after setting out to tour her latest project, the singer incorporated a collectible wallet from each of her tour stops.
During one of her performances, the singer took a moment to explain why the music NFT space is important. In the clip uploaded to Instagram, she says, “This what we’re doing in Web3 — we’re exchanging, we’re not transacting. I don’t need you to buy that song… I need you to buy something. Because I gotta keep the lights. But because we’re being supported in some way, we can share in all ways.”
Reo Cragun is no stranger to the music industry. The musician’s alternative rap and R&B major label debut 2017 single “Inconsiderate” gained traction granting him the opportunity to tour alongside Lil Yachty and Billie Eilish. Even after parting ways with his former label, Capitol Records, due to creative issues, the melodic rapper continued his buzz working with Grammy Award-winning producer Flume. Along the way, Reo even earned a co-sign from the late rapper Nippy Hussle.
Now, in the Web3 space, Reo has tapped back into his creative side, all while racking in high earnings. Reo, as part of the Web3 dream team, consisting of himself and frequent collaborator producer Daniel Allan have pumped out tracks like “Stars” and “Spent.” During an interview on the podcast, Mint (Where Crypto Meets Creators) hosted by journalist Adam Levy, Reo spoke about being introduced to Web3. “David Greenstein, one of the co-founders of Sound.XYZ told me about this idea that he was, ‘[we’re] going to launch [Sound soon]’ and ‘its the future of music,’ and I was like, ‘This is so sick.’ [Web3] is everything that I’ve been looking for.”
Cuban-American country music artist Sammy Arriaga has had his lifelong goal of being a mainstream singer slip through his hands on two occasions. Firstly, after being knocked out of the runnings on season 10 of the reality music competition show American Idol. Secondly, when he was dropped from Sony Records. However, the Miami native did not let that stop him from finding his own way in Nashville.
During his appearance on The New Music Business podcast hosted by Ari Herstand, he spoke about how being dropped from Sony Records worked in his creative favor. “It’s cool because I saw it as a compliment. I saw it as a compliment from above that [God] was saying, ‘Look, Sammy, I’m going to prove to you that you have what it takes to be on those labels. But I’m not going to lock you into a label.’”
After discovering Web3, Sammy became one of the space’s most impactful country stars. In less than two months, his 1500 METAGIRL Digital Hearts brought in more than $250,000 worth of music NFTs. When talking about how Web3 has changed his career, Sammy told Business Insider, “It’s safe to say Web3 is the best thing to ever happen in my music career thus far.”
“Ever since I immersed myself into Web3, I’ve been reignited and re-inspired. I never thought that being introduced to Web3 would impact me and my music career so greatly,” said the musician.
TK is one of the highest-valued monthly trading independent R&B singers in the NFT space. But his value was always recognized. As a Los Angeles-based songwriter and producer, TK has worked on music for Will Smith, Rihanna, The Weeknd, and Justin Bieber, to name a few superstars, but he found that he was being grossly undervalued.
During an interview with the Digital Punks – Der Music NFT Podcast, he said, “Just through being in different sessions with different labels and things of that nature, I started to see how artists and creatives were treated within the music industry. Typically, we are the last to get paid, and we get paid the least.”
After having a stark reality check after his tour in 2020 was rocked by the pandemic, he decided to take control of his financial earning potential outside of gigs. “I immersed myself in learning and Crypto and NFTs,” said TK.
Initially, he thought NFTs were “just Cryptopunks and Bored Apes” but was shocked to learn of the learning secondary music market. An associate of his revealed to him that he “ended up selling four songs for $235,000,” so TK was, as he stated, “locked in” after that. “I dropped my first music NFT on Sound called ‘Heaven On Earth’ on March 1, 2022, and it’s been an incredible ride since then,” TK told the outlet.
TK has gone on to drop several music NFTs projects, including a collection of 700 audiovisual NFTs called Eternal Garden. The singer, songwriter, and producer has quickly become one of the faces of R&B-centered NFT music drops.
Vérité isn’t your typical NFT/Web3 love story. Although the alt-pop singer has shared stories of her time working as a waitress while she was earning her Bachelor of Arts in studio composition at SUNY Purchase in New York, the Brooklyn-based songwriter has consistently worked since 2013, collaborating with R3hab and Pussy Riot along the way. The musician has toured around the globe and has even performed at Firefly Festival and Lollapalooza. Vérité’s NFT journey is more so about keeping your pulse on the changing musical climate. As an independent recording artist, Vérité has been relatively successful, but after stepping into the NFT space, her story has begun to shine brighter.
Back in April 2021, the singer became the first artist to auction master recording rights in perpetuity via NFT for her song. Selling just 3.3% of her song “By Now,” Vérité reportedly earned $33,000, according to Business Insider.
In a piece that she penned for NFTNow, she shared that her goal isn’t much more important than money. “My strategy for access in Web3 is enhancing and rewarding behaviors and participation. Some of these behaviors are monetized (attending a show, purchasing merch, etc), but I believe in the future, we’ll be able to identify baseline participation and engagement, eliminating financial barriers for fans who don’t have means,” wrote the singer.
Violetta Zironi’s journey into the NFT space has been a decade in the making. After finding breakout success in 2013, after finishing third in The X Factor (Italy), the singer was fawned after for her signature use of the ukulele. “At the age of 18, my music career was blooming, and I signed to a major label. It being apparent that the label and I had different goals,” said Zironi in a statement before adding, “I wanted to make music that I deeply, deeply loved. The rawness of real instruments, the craft of hands, voice, and soul. That was what I was drawn to. The label wanted to follow the trends.”
Although the musician felt boxed in by what the label and the public expected from her, Zironi played along. “My work in Italy stopped in 2015, two years after X Factor. I played concerts, released singles, and rode the wave as much as possible. Then I said to myself: ‘I want to try and see what’s out there.’”
Zironi did work for a time as a composer and actress in 2018’s The Magic Flute and 2020’s Rose Island (Netflix). However, her breakout moments didn’t come until two years later. “At the beginning of 2022, everything changed. I discovered NFTs and a door to an unexplored world! I decided to jump in,” says the singer.
With two exclusively NFT albums to her name (Moonshot and Another Life), Zironi’s bet on herself and her creative passions paid off.
Jay-Z is a man of exquisite taste across the board. From the brand of adult beverage he prefers, the songs he chooses to appear on, or who he gives a recommendation to, the “God Did” rap icon has earned the right to be picky. However, there is one thing he can’t resist, the late visual artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. So much so that this Friday (April 14), the musician will hold a ‘celebratory concert’ in Paris to pay tribute to both Basquiat and Andy Warhol.
The concert set to take place at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in France is part of an exhibition, Basquiat x Warhol. Painting Four Hands, in which the late artists’ work is being shown. Although Basquiat’s estate has spoken out against his work being featured by Jay-Z and his wife Beyoncé’s Tiffany & Co campaign (who is also backing this concert), the rapper emphasizes that he is solely a fan.
As part of the organization announced the event on Twitter, writing, “To coincide with the Basquiat x Warhol. Painting Four Hands exhibition, Jay-Z will give a celebratory concert to pay tribute to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.”
JAY-Z – Celebration concert
To coincide with the #BasquiatWarhol exhibition at the Fondation, JAY-Z will give a concert to pay tribute to Warhol and Basquiat, on Friday 14 April 2023 at 9pm, in the Fondation’s Auditorium.
The entertainer has often made reference to the late artists in his music. For example, in his 2008 song, “Ain’t I,” featuring Timbaland, he rapped, “I got Warhols on my halls walls, I got Basquiats in the lobby of my spot/I’m so sophisticatedly hood, S. Carter cashmere premium goods.”
In his 2011 song, “Illest Motherf*cker Alive” with Ye (formerly Kanye West), he rapped, “When I say it then you see, it ain’t only in the music / Basquiat, Warhols serving as my muses / My house like a museum so I see ’em when I’m peeing, usually you have this much taste, you European.”
This isn’t the first time the mogul has blended together live performance with visual art. Back in 2013, Jay-Z enlisted visual artists across mediums to participate in his project, Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film.
With Frank Ocean slated to headline Coachella for the next two weekends, longtime fans can’t help but wonder whether the elusive singer has some new music in store — or an announcement about some of his older, beloved music, like the star-making mixtape, Nostalgia, Ultra. Specifically, fans believe that the project will make its way to streaming at long last.
There’s certainly reason for hope. Screenshots of the Spotify app interface bearing the cover art and tracklisting from Nostalgia, Ultra have appeared online with some of the listings grayed out. This would suggest that the tape has already been uploaded and is now just waiting for the go-ahead to release.
looks like Frank Ocean will be making his debut project ‘Nostalgia Ultra’ available on streaming services after his Cochella performance pic.twitter.com/BpFxYdHwJZ
Earlier this year, pioneering rap trio De La Soul, whose catalog was also unavailable to stream, finally re-released their full discography to DSPs after a protracted label battle that saw them clearing a huge number of samples before they could completely bring back their old albums.
Ocean would face a similar issue; in 2012, a year after the original release of Nostalgia, Ultra, The Eagles’ Don Henley lashed out at Frank for including the entire backing track from “Hotel California” on the tape as “American Wedding.” Perhaps his feelings have changed (unlikely), maybe cooler heads prevailed, maybe Frank backed up the money truck, or perhaps the tape will be released without the offending sample, as had been done for other mixtape re-releases like Chance The Rapper’s Acid Rap.
Whatever the case, Frank Ocean fans are certainly excited at the prospect of finally being able to (legally) stream the tape that made Frank Ocean a Coachella-worthy household name.
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JAY-Z – Celebration concert
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