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NFT $RAP UP Week 3: Cryptocurrency, Music NFT, Wearable & Metaverse News
When all else fails to explain American violence, blame a rapper & hip-hop music
Super Afro Soul: the music of Orlando Julius, titan of Nigerian music
Online Streaming Act claims to level the playing field … but for whom?
Russian artists grapple with the same dilemma as their Soviet forebears – to stay or to go?
NFT $RAP UP Week 3: Cryptocurrency, Music NFT, Wearable & Metaverse News
When all else fails to explain American violence, blame a rapper & hip-hop music
Super Afro Soul: the music of Orlando Julius, titan of Nigerian music
Online Streaming Act claims to level the playing field … but for whom?
Russian artists grapple with the same dilemma as their Soviet forebears – to stay or to go?
Lola Plaku & Maria Giuliana discuss the empowering Girl Connected Mentorship Program
“I wanted a professor like me” – a hip-hop artist explains his turn to academia
Organik & Lush One talk KOTD Season 1 ahead of the March 5 semi-finals & what’s next for King of the Dot
Calgary TikTok influencer Doc Dami aka Damicuts talks haircutting, becoming a celebrity barber & more
Introducing the producer behind Houdini’s “Late Nights” hit: Hirst Beatz
Reaction: NFR Podcast shares their first thoughts on Drake’s Honestly, Nevermind album
Mike Tyson on Jimmy Kimmel Live!: Fighting Jake Paul, the airplane confrontation & Will Smith slapping Chris Rock
YouTuber Patrick Cc: looks at “The Dangerous Life of a Clone Rapper”
Falling Back: Drake marries 23 women in new Director X-powered video
All I Need: RAXX drops new video for Buckroll-produced single
Honestly, Nevermind: Drake releases seventh studio album
J Morris returns with the “Can’t Sleep” video & “Angels Rise” single
Guns & Roses: Big Zee drops new album ahead of Ottawa Bluesfest performance
Queen of the 6ix: Paris Richards & Dub J find early success with new collaborative album
Toronto-based éz catches a buzz with his latest single “2CB”
Post Malone announces the Twelve Carat Tour with stops in Toronto & Vancouver
June 2: Budding Toronto rapper Road Runner to headline in Ottawa
US-based #iVoted Festival 2022 announces first round of artists including Run The Jewels, Lil Nunni, Lil’ Scrappy, & more
Rolling Loud Toronto will be headlined by Future, WizKid & Dave between September 9-11
The Retrospected Tour: Classified announces new Canadian tour kicking off Oct. 14
Post Malone announces the Twelve Carat Tour with stops in Toronto & Vancouver
June 2: Budding Toronto rapper Road Runner to headline in Ottawa
US-based #iVoted Festival 2022 announces first round of artists including Run The Jewels, Lil Nunni, Lil’ Scrappy, & more
Rolling Loud Toronto will be headlined by Future, WizKid & Dave between September 9-11
The Retrospected Tour: Classified announces new Canadian tour kicking off Oct. 14
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Published
Crypto News
The biggest news in crypto right now is the market crash and slow recovery. In November, at its peak, the entire crypto market was valued at $3.1 trillion and, as of last week, it had fallen to less than half at $1.3 trillion. While worrying for countries, companies, and people who’ve invested large amounts of money into crypto, there’s a flip side for everyday investors. If you’ve been on the sidelines and are not sure how much money you want to invest, a dip like this is a great time to jump in. Do your research, find a coin you like and buy what makes you comfortable.
The crypto market is notoriously a roller coaster ride. It’s only predictable to a certain extent as every crypto guru on YouTube will tell you, “This is not financial advice.” Over the years we’ve watched it dip and climb again so if you’re in it for the long run just HODL, which has come to mean, hold on for dear life. Crypto prices are always changing. These are prices at the time of writing, watch online for current prices.
- Bitcoin $37,715.27 CAD
- Ethereum $2546.28 CAD
- Binance $381.64 CAD
- Cardano $0.681522 CAD
- Mana – Decentraland $1.5612 CAD
Photo: Milad Fakurian
NFT News
This time last year it was estimated nearly a million accounts were buying and selling NFTs. As of May 2022, there’s only an estimated 491,000 active accounts. For those that have been in the NFT space for a while it might be a relief. When anything becomes popular people jump on out of FOMO (fear of missing out) or they think they can make a quick dollar. A lot of these accounts that have fallen off are most likely people who got bored or didn’t see an instant return. This leaves room once again for the amazing artists that populate the NFT platforms to mint their work and stand out.
Companies that have recently made announcements regarding NFTs:
- Starbucks announced on their website, “We plan to create a series of branded NFT collections, the ownership of which initiates community membership, and allows for access to exclusive experiences and perks. The themes of these collections will be born of Starbucks artistic expressions, both heritage and newly created, as well as through world-class collaborations with other innovators and like-minded brands.”
- Instagram is following Twitter’s lead. Mark Zuckerberg wrote this caption on a recent Facebook post, “Enjoyed talking to Tom Bilyeu about NFTs, Web3 and the metaverse. This week we’re starting to test digital collectibles on Instagram so creators and collectors can display their NFTs on their profile. Similar functionality is coming to Facebook soon, along with augmented reality NFTs on Instagram Stories via Spark AR so you can place digital art into physical spaces.”
- Coinbase has opened their NFT platform to the public. After a genesis drop of artists such as Paris Hilton, and Bored Ape Yacht Club everyone can now make a profile.
- Spotify has announced: “Spotify is running a test in which it will help a small group of artists promote their existing third-party NFT offerings via their artist profiles.” Their spokesperson said: “We routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve artist and fan experiences. Some of those tests end up paving the way for a broader experience and others serve only as an important learning.”
Wearable News
Cameraman Wearable Review by Chris Marshall (QxG)
“Lights! Camera! Action!” Have you ever wanted to see yourself or your work on the big screen? Does filming in the metaverse spark your creative curiosity? Over the past several months, the internet has been flooded with hot words like “NFT” and “wearable”, making it almost impossible for the average human not to be slightly interested. I’ve spent these past months diving deep into the heart-of-the-beast – so to speak – and have returned with remarkable findings! As it turns out, the metaverse and Web3 aren’t as incredibly confusing as their names may preclude. Today, we’ll review a distinct wearable, its functionality, and how content producers find many creative uses for this meta-journalist must-have.
The QxG Cameraman, created by BrandonManus.eth is a collaboration made in heaven. To give a brief overview, QxG is an in-house publication dedicated to providing Decentraland users with vital content concerning the wearables they love and the creators who make them. We spotlight diverse wearable designers, SDK builders, event hosts, and new developments within the Decentraland ecosystem. Our goal is to help new users stay up to date on the latest and greatest wearable content in Decentraland.
This wearable comes fully stocked with all the bells and whistles. Modeled after an actual JVC Professional camera, the inspiration comes from a real place. Clocking in at 30 hours of work and just a few hundred bits shy of the maximum triangle limit, the QxG Cameraman takes creative advantage of Decentraland’s wearable guidelines. As of today, the triangle limitation for wearables is 1500 tris with up to two different materials per asset. Now: if all of this sounds like a foreign language to you, trust me, you’re not alone. 
Firstly, I recommend looking up one or two Blender tutorials on YouTube. Gain a general understanding of what terms like tris and material mean in the world of digital assets, and you’re well on your way. Now that you’ve done your homework, we’ll discuss how this wearable helps content creators while filming in the Decentraland metaverse.
With the majority of tris being used to animate the avatar into the form of a cameraman, attaining anatomical correctness provided a unique challenge for our creator. “The first problem was making sure the arm wasn’t weighted to the skeleton, and that took a while to figure out,” says Brandon. But alas, the final product was a success! The creators managed to capture the form and style of a real-life cameraman while remaining well within the tri limit.
Holding this wearable in-game grants the social cue of “hey, look! I’m recording.” Providing an air of respect for content producers, the talent or event they’re capturing, and other users enjoying the scene.
You can check out this legendary upper-body wearable in the marketplace using this link: https://market.decentraland.org/contracts/0x0ee7db458f59bb9422e570a43ab5211dd6d9176e/items/0
Metaverse Events
Tuesday’s in Decentraland join Guerrilla Music and Decentral Games for Meta-Verzus Español hosted by Pixelia and Milito. Spanish rappers and producers go head to head in the weekly Meta-Verzus music battle. 10 PM UTC/6 PM EDT in the Stronghold Lounge. Link: https://events.decentraland.org/event/?id=ebe696a5-1171-4fb4-83aa-513562662d15 
Thursday’s join King Mizo for his weekly 2 hour Party & Bullish DJ set in the $ICE Lounges in Decentraland. Brought to you by Guerrilla Music and Decentral Games. Follow @KingMizoMadeIt on Twitter for links and event information. 9PM UTC/5 PM EDT in the Stronghold Lounge. Link: https://events.decentraland.org/event/?id=961752fa-a762-4bce-b218-06e3e07c5e62 
Check out the event listings at https://events.decentraland.org to find more events and times.
If you’ve never been to a metaverse event but are curious, jump in. All you need is a computer. It’s completely free, you will be given a randomly generated avatar that you can control using the WASD and arrow keys. Run around, dance, blow kisses, make it rain and enjoy the metaverse.
Music NFT Radar
Peace, this is King Mizo. Every two weeks I will be sharing a few music NFTs that get me excited. None of this is financial advice and my taste in music NFTs are personal and do not reflect HipHopCanada or Guerrilla Music’s choices. Hope you enjoy the music that is shared every other week. If you want to suggest some music NFTs for future segments, please message me on Twitter.
Link: https://twitter.com/KingMizoMadeIt 
We present our personal weekly music NFT picks.
This week’s pick smOke skreeZy dropped his music video for “Colors” as an NFT which is now selling for 0.12 ETH on Opensea.
Check out his NFT here: https://opensea.io/assets/matic/0x2953399124f0cbb46d2cbacd8a89cf0599974963/75365569223107673184286689418415286983374474834260698453845622688140020940815
Follow smOke skreeZy here: https://twitter.com/smOkeskreeZy
Guerrilla Music just released the largest music NFT collaboration to date. The NFT costs 0.025 ETH and is supporting the Guerrilla Music charity guild. 100% of proceeds from these NFTs will go into the Color the Blockchain P2E Charity Guild. The funds will bring monthly passive income that will be poured into buying people computers, internet cards, and basic Web3 education. 
We want to bring equal access into Web3 with Color the Blockchain, the charity leg of Guerrilla Music. The artwork for the NFT was done by the legendary Aeron_treasures. This song was produced by Upside Beats and King Mizo. The single was organized by Guerrilla Music & $RAP Token. The artists who shared their time, talent, and hearts to support a dope collaboration and a good cause are The Mecca, HeyBela, Gb-Ali, Maxwell Bruno, Milito, Jannotti, smOke skreeZy, Jack Frost, and King Mizo.
Listen to the Audio NFT here: https://opensea.io/assets/matic/0x2953399124f0cbb46d2cbacd8a89cf0599974963/28006238130137847640933096480154768962294604940343204510203579715610002587758
Check out https://RapToken.xyz to learn more and follow https://twitter.com/RAPTOKENxyz
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Written by @ADayInTheSky, and curated by @KingMizoMadeIt.
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