Kobalt To Launch Music Lyric NFTs

First Global Music Publisher to a Release a Set of Fully Licensed Direct-to-Fan NFTs 

NFTs Celebrate African Culture and Black Art

AUGUST 18, 2022 - Kobalt today announced its plans to release a Lyric NFT collection called An Electro Revival, becoming the first global music publisher to release a set of fully licensed direct-to-fan NFTs. In collaboration with Ghanaian visual artist, Afroscope, the digital art pieces were inspired by and include lyrics from the song “Le Petit Morte (a lude)” by singer-songwriter Dawn Richard.

The art blends Afroscope’s previous work of futuristic expression of African culture and fashion with Richard’s portrayal of a powerful, Black female superhero, emblematic of the song’s lyrical themes. Together, the digital set contains three individual NFTs to be offered at reserve auctions on the Foundation platform, Foundation.app. The reserve price will be set at 1ETH on August 25, 2022.  Once the reserve price is met, a 24-hour countdown will begin. 

“Dawn and I have a strong mutual respect for each other's work, and there was a synergy between some of our recent, individual visual explorations,” said Afroscope. “This NFT is special for several reasons. Firstly it is based on truly moving lyrics by an extremely gifted and inspiring artist. Plus, it brought together creators from different sides of the globe, epitomizing the power of connection and community in Web3.”

“This opportunity was akin to how Kobalt has helped me put together sessions with other like-minded artists and songwriters, but this time they helped connect me with a visual artist as they knew my passion here,” said Dawn Richard. “I believe the artist will be able to create their own ecosystem through spaces like NFTs and the Metaverse. I chose Afroscope because I feel his work resonates with my music. Together, we are both pushing for the essence of culture and the power of black excellence through our art.”

Derek Cournoyer, VP, Global Digital Partnerships, Kobalt, said, “After licensing many NFTs for various projects, we wanted to dive deeper into this emerging market and experiment alongside our clients. Afroscope is a world-class visual artist who has already made a name for himself in the NFT community, and in addition to being a brilliant songwriter and recording artist, Dawn Richard has a long history of creating innovative visual content.  These are among the first NFTs of their kind - inspired by and featuring lyrics from a published song - but most importantly, they're powerful, captivating art pieces." 

“Kobalt is always looking for opportunities to explore and embrace new technologies, particularly where they can benefit our clients,” said Dan Smith, Senior Manager, Product, Kobalt. “Creative expression is a step into the unknown, and we believe there is great benefit in mirroring this expression in our technology. This collaboration has been rewarding on so many fronts and provides a great learning experience that will help us further explore and scale potential Web3 opportunities with our clients.” 

More information on the digital works can be found here and on the Foundation platform.

About Afroscope

Nana Opoku, aka Afroscope is a multidisciplinary artist and designer who experiments across the full scope of digital and analog media. His process is quite spontaneous and intuitive, resulting in imagery that is often surreal, otherworldly, and afrofuturist.

Afroscope’s works have been showcased across the world, including exhibitions such as the prestigious Venice Biennale (April 2022), where he represented his country, at Art Dubai (March 2022), at Museum Ostwall in Dortmund (December 2021), at the Digital Art Fair Asia, Hong Kong (October 2021), and in several other expositions.

Through his practice, he has also had the unique opportunity to collaborate with notable organizations and individuals such as Adobe Inc., Chance the Rapper, MTV Base, and several other prominent creative entities. 

He views his work and the worlds he creates as extensions of his fascination with oneness, meditation, and play, and he revels in the mystical quality of his art-making process.

About Dawn Richard

DAWN has been one of music’s most distinctive voices and songwriters since 2004, as a member of Danity Kane and then Diddy-Dirty Money, releasing the cult R&B classic “Last Train to Paris.” However, it’s as a solo artist that she’s really soared. Across three solo albums, DAWN has honed a style of music that she describes as “genderless and genreless”. DAWN’s 2019 album New Breed was her most successful to date. Showcasing her home city New Orleans and the Carnival Indian culture makes her latest album a one of a kind masterpiece. Her vocal and dance ability are matched with her production and songwriting skills making her one of most extraordinary talents of our time. New Breed was named as one of the year’s best albums by Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Vogue, FACT, LA Times, Spin, Rap Up and many more. DAWN continues to push the boundaries of music and visual technology with her videos and live show, becoming the first artist to perform live in 360 on YouTube. She has also released a VR album debuted by WIRED as well as collaborated with her long time partners Adult Swim making her the first black female singer to do so. What makes DAWN a unique pop sensation and a phenomenon is that she does this all DIY. Being completely Independent with no label or team she has broken ceilings for women, POC, LGBTQ, and so many others. DAWN is more than just her music, she is a movement.

About Kobalt 

Kobalt is a music and technology company built for artists, songwriters, publishers, and labels as an alternative to the traditional music business model. Across 13 global offices, the company serves over 700,000 songs, 30,000 songwriters, and 500 publishers, including Roddy Ricch, Max Martin, FINNEAS, Karol G, Andrew Watt, Stevie Nicks, Phoebe Bridgers, The Lumineers, Gunna, Justin Quiles, The Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney, and many more.  On average, Kobalt represents over 40% of the top 100 songs and albums in the US and the UK.

Through Kobalt’s unique services and technology platform that tracks and collects royalties for the trillions of micro-payments in digital music today, the company continues to drive innovation in music and technology. Kobalt’s latest innovation, AMRA, is a global digital society that has reached all corners of the world outside of the US and includes direct digital collection for China, Brazil, Japan, and more.