ask me later
ask me later
GM.
I love Kanye (both new and old), so I have no issue with what he said this week. Not everything has to be an NFT. Not everyone has to be into NFTs.
At a wedding I went to recently, someone who followed me on Twitter (before I got into this whole game) said she’s thought about unfollowing me because she just “can’t handle anymore NFT talk”.
It got me thinking…are we really pushing NFTs that hard on the rest of the population? Kanye’s Instagram post this week supports the claim that we are.
So maybe just cool it. We’re a cult, for sure, but we want to be one of those cool cults…not the kind that tries to get you to join at the Barnes and Noble in the self-help aisle.
(All I know, is that in the words of Kanye, I ain't finished [with NFTs], I'm devoted [to NFTs]…and you know it, and you know it!)
ALPHA
The rumblings got louder this week that Bored Apes would be featured during this year’s Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime performance in Los Angeles as a few claimed to have been reached out to by the NFL.
Time will tell, but with performers like Eminem already owning a Bored Ape, it certainly does seem possible.
It would be a big lift to the Bored Ape brand, which hasn’t exactly been suffering. Justin Beiber bought one this week and they hit a 100 ETH floor, the first NFT of its kind to do. See their OpenSea chart below. It’s “only up” for them.
Bored Apes are, in my opinion, like Bitcoin. In a few years, everyone will have a story about they almost bought one, or did buy one but then sold too early. With a Super Bowl appearance, it may mark the top for this NFT boom, but it will only make their cultural significance that much larger.
Farokh was able to organize a seemingly impossible interview with the Yuga Labs team and I highly recommend you take a look at it. It’s cookie-cutter and really a puff piece (as you would expect from the chameleon Farokh) but it’s crazy when you take a look at what they’ve accomplished in so short of a time. In less than a year, their brand may be featured in one of pop culture’s biggest nights.
For those watching next Sunday, it’ll be your time to shine. “Don’t know what NFTs are all about *random person at this Super Bowl party*? Let me fill you in.”
One thing is for sure, you won’t be able to seriously tell them that a Bored Ape is possible for them at this point.
Personally, I think a better bet would those Pepsi Mic Drop NFTs that were “minted” a few months ago. I’m guessing they will have some Super Bowl utility and there are only a thousand of them so supply is limited. Plus, they are sponsoring the whole show and are a brand that everyone knows about. There’s your alpha normies.
BETA
Here’s an NFT poem in honor of Valentine’s Day coming up:
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Pump my bags, dev.
Or I will FUD you!
My favorite NFT project (Cool Cats) had a bungled launch this week. They were supposed to launch their companions (called Cool Pets) with an egg-minting on Friday of last week. It then turned to Monday. Then, it turned to late Monday. Then, for their allow-list it was Tuesday. Now, it’s Thursday, maybe?
It’s certainly not a good look and cements my theory that no launch in the NFT space ever goes right; someone is always left disappointed.
I’m biased if you couldn’t tell by the opening line of this section. But to me, creating something is already hard enough. But putting that work out for people to judge? Now that is even more vulnerable. With writing my newsletter, I’ve run the gamut on emotions.
But ultimately, in order for your bag to get pumped, your NFT will have to evolve into something that has more than “community” or “vibes”. In the case of Cool Cats, it will be a game. In order to make that game, they’ll need to have misses like this. As the old adage goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and I’m sure in Rome there were a few architectural disasters along the way.
We’ve let our space be hijacked by “tastemakers” (aka influencers) who contribute little next to nothing but control an audience so large that they have the power to tear down a project with a single tweet. A bunch of college freshman who have made a few bucks off NFTs can take to Discord to crap on the work someone has slaved months on (in the case of Cool Cats, it’s a years-long vision being executed) all because they’ve overextended their tuition money and can’t wait a few days to dump the NFT they “love so much”.
NFTs were supposed to be a medium that supported artists and builders who were just recently marginalized by corporate big whigs. “Content creators” who were paid nothing for their work now have the ability to monetize their art better than they ever were before. Unfortunately now, we’re quickly reverting back to our old ways.
Let’s remember to mute someone FUDing a project today and more importantly, remember who is behind some of these projects. But I realize asking for empathy and for people to be patient is hard these days.
DELTA
The Brooklyn Nets became the first professional sports team to join the Metaverse. For anyone trying to understand what that means, please don’t ask me, I don’t get it either. Just get there first, I guess, and it’s news.
Speaking of vulnerability, *full disclosure* I’m working on a project right now called Everyday Aliens. I’d really appreciate it if you follow us (not asking for anything more). With it, I’m seeing firsthand how hard it is to build these things from scratch and how much work can go into it. That’s why I’m particularly sensitive to what Cool Cats and plenty of other projects go through on a daily basis. Just wanted to throw that all out there, in case someone was offended by the Beta section of this week’s edition.
Currently brainstorming and getting ammo for a ‘why normies hate us’ article where I dive into Twitter Spaces, tweets, and projects that make you cringe. The problem is that it could be a 100-part series and I don’t have that kind of time right now. Paternity leave is kicking my butt. Shout out to all the moms out there! I don’t know how they do it.