Hip-hop superstar and urban fashion mogul Kanye West has stated that he would rather create real-life content instead of NFTs.
Influential American music icon Kanye West is uninterested in non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In a recent strongly worded and expletive Instagram post, West displayed a handwritten note which read:
“My focus is on building real products in the real world; real food, real clothes, real shelter. Do not ask me to do a (expletive) NFT. Ask me later.”
West (who now goes by the moniker “Ye”) captioned the post with another message echoing his distaste for NFTs. However, the Chicago native also seemingly suggested that he might be more receptive to the idea of digital assets in the future. His “Ask me later” sign-off to the post suggests so. Currently, over 1.5 million people on Instagram have liked West’s NFT post. The award-winning rapper, record producer, and fashion designer has over 10.5 million followers on the popular social media app.
West’s disapproval of the digital assets is the latest among NFT skepticism in the high glamor world of celebrityhood. Previously, leading Hollywood actor and star of the “Matrix” and “John Wick” franchises, Keanu Reeves, weighed in on the concept of NFTs. Speaking at a media session to promote the latest “Matrix” movie installment, Reeves dismissed NFTs as being “easily reproduced”. According to him, people should not take NFTs seriously because their value is subjectively based on a certain number of investors.
Additionally, Bernard Arnault, CEO of luxury fashion brand LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, also echoed anti-NFT sentiments. According to Arnault, the company has no immediate plans to tap into the space:
“We’re not interested in selling virtual sneakers for 10 euros. To be sure, it’s compelling, it’s interesting, it can even be quite fun. We have to see what are the applications of this metaverse and these NFTs.”
Kanye West NFT Stance Negates Broader Entertainment Industry
However, West, Reeves, and Arnault currently represent outlier cases in an industry that has rapidly taken to digital assets. Countless celebrities in entertainment, sports and fashion are lending their brands to NFTs at a surprisingly-alarming rate. The who’s-who lineup of new-found NFT celebrity proponents includes Eminem, Katy Perry, Neymar, Jake Paul, and Snoop Dogg. Snoop even owns a high-priced ‘digital land’ called the ‘Snoopverse’ in Ethereum-based platform The Sandbox. Other celebrities to recently embrace NFTs and try to leverage it or their respective brands include Doja Cat, and Reese Witherspoon. The American actress famous for her “Legally Blonde” role even tried to drive a pro-feminist angle around her foray into the space. Also, New York rapper Nas recently unveiled an NFT scheme offering fans publishing rights to two of his songs.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs are one of the leading brands in the digital asset space to do big business. For instance, it can count the likes of DJ Khaled, KSI, Rich the Kid, Post Malone – and NBA veteran Steph Curry among owners. Furthermore, legendary music producer Timbaland has established a production company to create custom music for Bored Ape NFT owners.
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