nftThe world of art is currently swooning over NFTs and the music industry’s most prestigious awards show: the Grammys are no different. In a recent announcement by the Recording Academy, Tezos-based NFT platform OneOf was revealed as the Grammys’ official NFT partner. This is just the first phase of the Recording Academy’s three-year plan to integrate NFTs into the overall Grammy experience. NFTs even received some primetime airtime during the telecast when host Trevor Noah referenced Bored Ape Yacht Club as he joked about how touring was impacted by the pandemic: “You know it’s been rough when your favorite artists go from trying to sell you music to trying to sell you pictures of digital monkeys.”

The Recording Academy announced its partnership with OneOf a month in advance, with the unveiling of an exclusive NFT collection in early March. This collection was headlined by critically-acclaimed fine artist ThankYouX, 3D animator and Adult Swim contributor Andre Oshea, and Emmy-winner Emonee LaRussa. Buyers from these collections were treated to up to 51 unique NFTs with their purchase, as well as VIP access to several exclusive events at the Grammys.

“The Recording Academy and the Grammys is the most significant institution in the music industry that brings support, education, and awareness to all artists, and it’s very important that OneOf partners with the Academy and the Grammys not only for this year but for multiple years bring NFT education to all artists and fans,” says Lin Dai, co-founder, and CEO of OneOf. Andre O'Shea at the OneOf Grammys Afterparty. Courtesy of OneOf.

On the eve of the Grammys, OneOf sponsored Steve Aoki’s pool party at the Wet Republic and hosted a reception at Resorts World Las Vegas with rapper G-Eazy who is set to drop his own NFT project entitled “The Geralds” on the platform. In an interview with NFT now, G-Eazy explained that he has been curious about the NFT space for a while but wanted to learn as much as he could before taking the plunge and launching his own project: “You can’t talk to a culture you don’t belong to.”

For ThankYouX, the Grammys collaboration was the culmination of years spent working in the music space as his career progressed from street art to fine art to NFTs – from DJing and designing merchandise for A-list artists to building a collector base that includes musicians like Paul McCartney. “The Grammys are one of the most iconic logos and awards that you can recognize,” he said. I felt like it was an honor. This is the first official brand collaboration that I’ve done in the NFT space, so I felt like this was the one that made sense.” Emonee LaRussa at the OneOf Grammys Afterparty. Courtesy of OneOf.