Ghostface Killer, the legendary rapper from the iconic hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, just announced he’s releasing a new music project as a collection of Bitcoin Ordinals NFTs.
According to his post on X, he will be minting 10,000 free Ordinals that come with Creative Commons Zero (CCO) rights, which enable anyone to modify, remix, or reuse the music. The project is being released in collaboration with Rare Scrilla, NakaPepes, and Ordinals Bot.
While we’ve seen an increase of Music NFT projects on other blockchains, Ghostface will be one of the first well-known musicians to release music as Bitcoin Ordinals. According to the website Ord.io, less than 1,300 audio files have been inscribed on Bitcoin.
However, it’s not surprising that a member of Wu-Tang Clan would launch a Bitcoin Ordinals music project, considering the group has been innovating in music since they first burst on the scene in the 90’s. They even released a project in the 2000’s that foreshadowed the Music NFT movement.
In 2015, Wu-Tang sold a 1:1 album called Once Upon a Time in Shaolin to Martin Shkreli for a whopping $2 million. Though the record wasn’t sold as a non-fungible token, the concept of an exclusive 1:1 record with a certificate of authenticity and ownership shared many commonalities with NFTs. The album is currently owned by PleasrDAO, which paid $4 million in crypto for it back in 2021.
Ordinals, which allow for metadata to be inscribed on individual satoshis, was released in 2023 by the developer Casey Rodarmor. Though it was widely criticized at first by Bitcoin maximalists as an unnecessary use of Bitcoin, it has grown increasingly popular. Over the past 30 days, Bitcoin is the #2 blockchain for NFT sales by volume (behind Ethereum), as per data from CryptoSlam.
NFT Music Continues Its Ascent
For fans of Wu-Tang Clan, the free Ordinals collection should be exciting news, and the fact that the songs will come with Creative Common Zero rights is icing on the cake, especially for musicians and DJ’s that like to remix songs. But while Ghostface Killer is one of the first celebrity musicians to release Music NFTs on Ordinals, he certainly isn’t the first to venture into Web3.
In fact, musicians have been flocking to Web3 for some time now and the movement only appears to be gaining steam. At Rarity Sniper, we’ve covered several stories about musicians releasing music as NFTs. Here are some of the top headlines:
- Justin Bieber Turns Hit Song into Royalty-Sharing NFT
- Grimes’ NFT Profits Eclipse Music Career Earnings
- Earl Sweatshirt & The Alchemist Unveil NFT Album on Gala Music
- Snoop Dogg & Method Man Drop New NFT Single
- Steve Aoki & 3LAU Debut First Single as CryptoPunks Duo
- Billy Ray Cyrus & Snoop Dogg Collab For NFTs
- Rihanna’s NFT Song Lets Holders Earn Streaming Royalties
We’ll have to be patient to see if music on Bitcoin is as successful as it’s been on other blockchains. But considering the popularity of Ghostface Killer and Wu-Tang Clan (and given it’s a free mint), there’s a chance this project could kick off a movement.
Finally, there’s a saying from Wu-Tang Clan that’s become a part of hip-hop culture: “Wu is forever.” Now, a prominent member of the rap supergroup will have 10,000 NFTs inscribed on Bitcoin, and as anyone in the space knows — Bitcoin is (also) forever.