Kaien Cruz to Drop NFT Music on SoundMint

South African R&B musician Kaien Cruz is dropping a collection of NFT music on SoundMint called “Back In Time” in collaboration with visual artist Somehoodlum, the collection consists of 1,500 unique audio-visual NFTs in total.

The public sale is already underway as we speak.

What is the Back In Time NFT collection all about?

Back In Time is a collection of musical NFTs curated by Cruz and Somehoodlum through SoundMint. As mentioned above there are 1,500 unique audiovisual NFTs in this collection.

The team assigned 1,250 NFTs to those on the MintList and the other 250 copies are available through a public sale going on right now at 0.1 ETH each.

Identifying as non-binary, Cruz’s music career took a leap in 2017 when his track “Love Me in the Dark” took off, leading to tour dates with Justin Bieber and catching the attention of several major labels.

Instead of taking the usual path to success, the 23-year-old artist turned down million-dollar record deals and jumped into the world of Web3.

Benefits of owning NFTs from the Back In Time Collection

NFT holders will have exclusive, early access to Kaien Cruz concerts and music previews from the artist.

They will also be able to access Somehoodlum Presents events and enjoy benefits similar to those available to Somehoodlum NFT holders. These include air drops, giveaways and podcasts related to the Somehoodlum NFT franchise.

According to SoundMint all Back In Time NFT holders will have exclusive access to tokenized merchandise in the future and in addition each NFT is CC0 enabled so you can trade your NFTs as you wish.

If you wish to purchase an NFT just go to the mint page on SoundMint.

Kaien Cruz

My first song, “Love Me In The Dark,” I put out with a local DJ, after my older sister heard me singing in my room and dragged me to the studio.

No one really knew I could sing or play guitar, until the song ended up on the radio. It quickly started topping the Apple Music charts in South Africa and was nominated for a South African music award.

A couple of months later, I sang at my second live performance in front of 90,000 people as the opening act for Justin Bieber’s Purpose tour.

Soon after, I moved to Los Angeles just before the pandemic, released an EP called “Demos For Ransom”, signed with CAA, toured the US for the first time and was booked to perform at major festivals.

For the past year, myself and my management team and creative director have been living in a one-bedroom apartment and doing our best to push my projects and ideas forward. Unfortunately, my EP “Demos for Ransom” was made with producers who tried to sign me to an outrageous production deal.

However, after going through the process of releasing music independently with my team, it inspired me to look for different alternatives to grow my career.

Why Web3?

Growing up queer in a small town meant it was always easier to talk to people online that I could relate to.

Platforms like Tumblr played a big role in cultivating a space and community, where I could connect with like-minded people.

I found this same sense of connectivity and community on Web3.

After the success of my independently funded and promoted EP, I went to several different labels, and met executives from all the major labels.

I quickly realized that many people in the music industry did not understand the vision of what I was trying to create, and did not allow me to have full creative control and the reins of my future.

Technology, music and entertainment go hand in hand, so naturally I have a vested interest in creating a community with Web3 that can be a part of my journey and career as an artist, while also creating a model for aspiring artists who want to maintain creative control as well.

I want to encourage others to stop fighting for a seat at a table that was never built for them and instead create their own table, specifically designed for their needs, interests and passions.

WARNING: This is an informational article. Geek Metaverse is a media outlet, it does not promote, endorse or recommend any particular investment.