Why hip-hop is becoming the biggest success story for Web3 music

There is a difference between genres in Web3 music. While hip-hop and electronic (and to a much lesser extent pop) undoubtedly dominate the space, each seems to exist in its own microcosm. Considering the technological dependence of electronic music, it makes sense that the genre has easily found a foothold in Web3, but what about the others?

Hip-hop may be the most genuine reflection of the NFT space. However, we are not talking about mainstream rap/hip hop. While electronic superstar DJs like 3LAU, Dillon Francis and Steve Aoki have cemented their lasting names in Web3 on the one hand, front runners of the hip-hop scene have been relatively few and far between.

Snoop Dogg, Timbaland and a handful of others seem to be here to stay. Still, it cannot be ignored that countless stars, such as Lil Uzi Vert, Trippie Redd, A$AP Rocky and so many more have gotten involved in NFTs only to turn around and almost immediately pull their names (and profits) out of the ecosystem. All things considered, how will hip-hop flourish in Web3?

Who leads hip-hop in Web3?

The grassroots of blockchain technology has helped hip-hop achieve a fairly stable base in Web3. While many industry leaders have ventured into the pop and electronic sectors of Web3 music, building their own unique platforms and developing virtual artists, hip-hop has remained a genre ruled almost exclusively by digitally native creators in the NFT community.

This is not to discount NFT ventures like SongCamp or innovative music projects like Arpeggi Labs, On the contrary. While independent successes are significantly additive to the Web3 music space, hip-hop highlights a tenacity that all market sectors can learn from.

To see the innovation happening on the ground floor of Web3 hip-hop, we need look no further than creators like the multi-talented artist LATASHÁ, who has almost single-handedly defined the music video NFT market while serving as a manager of Web3 events via Zoratopia. And while the likes of LATASHÁ help with infrastructure and art, rappers like Heno., Black Dave, MoRuf and so many more are, in real time, setting the tone for independent prosperity on NFT music platforms.

What does the future hold for Web3 hip-hop?

A bootstrap movement of sorts, hip-hop has seemingly taken over as the backbone of Web3 music. This may not be glaringly obvious to those outside looking in on music NFTs, but to industry participants it is undeniable. Still, while other sectors of the NFT market have begun to trickle toward mass adoption, some have been left wondering when this might happen for Web3 music.

Looking to the future, what will it take for mainstream hip-hop to make the leap into Web3, and vice versa? While the very surface of this intersection has been explored by the aforementioned industry giants that have secured their staying power in Web3 hip-hop, the question is also being explored by individuals and brands – including Soulection, Death Row Records and now Rolling Loud.

Through a PFP project called LoudPunx, Rolling Loud hopes to enter the NFT space, cultivate the community, and become an incubator for hip-hop in the Web3 all at once. While this opportunity is still a ways off, the NFT community can still help support the creators of culture by sharing their art, spreading the word, and unbridledly celebrating the biggest NFT music moments in 2022 and beyond.