Latashá on Championing Web3 Music

One of the most promising sectors to emerge from the proliferation of NFT and blockchain technology in recent years is undoubtedly Web3 music. Considering that the old music industry has continued to fail artists time and time again, music creatives of all types have flocked to the blockchain to take a crack at independence and succeed.

So far, few have achieved such significant staying power in the blockchain music sector like Latashá. A rapper, poet, performance artist, event coordinator, community leader and much more Zoratopia founder has continued to define what excellence in Web3 music looks and sounds like. In doing so, she has emerged as a leading advocate for Web3 music and a prime example of NFT music prosperity.

Which is precisely why, in 2023, the multi-hyphenate artist has once again secured a spot on nft now’s NFT100 list of influential leaders in the space. We recently sat down with her to discuss her journey into Web3 music, the founding of Zoratopia, the next chapter in her career and more.

From label tape to blockchain IP

Before Latashá found herself near blockchain music, she had already set out to make a name for herself as a rapper. Having fallen into music, as she says, “accidentally” due to her interest and involvement in poetry slam, by the time she came aboard Web3, she had already accumulated over a decade’s worth of recording experience. She had even secured opening for acts such as Kanye West, Q-Tip, Big Sean and more along the way.

However, everything changed for Latashá when she got to know the innovation happening in the music NFT area. “I really believe that Web3 has completely changed my existence,” she said in an earlier interview with nft now. “I was a struggler trying to figure this out and when I got it [to Web3]I felt something heal inside me.”

In early 2021, Latashá embarked on her creative blockchain journey with the minting of an NFT for her song I like it on Zora. In doing so, she became one of the first artists to sell music videos as an NFT. Since then, she has almost single-handedly defined the music video NFT market, with her work exhibited and sold worldwide.

After witnessing the transformative power of NFTs firsthand, Latashá doubled down, embossing poetry and performance art before inevitably jumping back to embossing music videos. During her experimental process, and over the course of a single summer, she was able to generate income equivalent to what she would get from a record deal, but without giving away rights to her masters (as is the case with most record deals. )

In addition to establishing herself as a major player in music NFT through her artistic endeavors, she quickly became a manager of Web3 events after being hired as head of community programming at Zora in June of that year. This in turn led to its creation of the educational platform Zoratopia. Here, Latashá organizes events and talks to give artists, collectors and curious spectators better access to information about how the metaverse and NFTs can benefit them.

When the NFT space eventually plunged into a bear market in 2022, Latashá maintained his belief in the revolutionary nature of Web3, at times putting his own artistic ventures on hold to help bring the community together. By curating personal Zoratopia activations both on NFT.NYC and Art Basel Miamishe helped reinforce the importance of IRL Web3 events, promoting celebration and positivity along the way.

In 2023, however, Latashá says her focus has shifted back to spearheading Web3 music innovation through visual music. “Look out for Latashá because this year is all about this music thing,” she said in an interview with nft now.

A new era of championing Web3 music

Through her artwork (which she lovingly refers to as her “heartwork”), Latashá seeks to shape her theories and stories about black femininity, self-empowerment, autonomy, love, and transcendence. While she has become known as a progenitor of initiatives to bring marginalized artists to the forefront of Web3, she has recently opened a new chapter in her career, emphasizing her individual creative endeavors.

“I am very excited about where we are going in music NFT, and especially for myself and what I create. Last year, a lot of my work was dedicated to Zoratopia, community, building out real narco infrastructure and connecting people,” said Latashá. “But this year I’m deeply connected to my music again. I’m working on a brand new project that I’m really hyped about, I’ve just done some big releases, so I’m feeling really good.”

To kick off this new era in a big way, Latashá agreed to be curated as part of both the NFT Korea Festival and Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova’s My Body My Business auction. The former gained her a wider international audience, with her play The net ending a giant bid of $21,000. The latter, organized by Sotheby’s, featured a number of pieces created by prominent female artists in Web3, but took a strange turn when the bidding began.

In an event that once again caused contention between Web3 and Sotheby’s, the auction was reserved for Latashá’s piece Start here was met, only for the bidder to withdraw shortly afterwards, resulting in her being asked to lower her reserve price. She refused, of course, and by doing so, apparently she got the New York-based Superchief Gallery to enter and issue its own winning bid of $5,000 out of respect for her integrity.

“I was pretty pissed off about it, but we worked through the emotions of it all and now at least I have Sotheby’s on my resume,” Latashá said of the situation. “As far as I know, there haven’t been any visuals from independent artists going to Sotheby’s, so it was still a really incredible milestone and it made me remember that music is a fine art; visual music is an art.”

Summarizing the event, Latashá said that it is important to remember that institutions are what they are and that Web3 can only hope that they can play a role in the betterment of artists. She also noted that while the Sotheby’s auction was supposed to be a significant event for the release of her new project, it still hasn’t slowed down her current plans in the slightest.

What’s next for Latashá?

With this new chapter in Latashá’s career focused primarily on her own creative endeavors, the most important development currently taking place is the launch of the campaign for her upcoming album which is due for release sometime in late 2023. Although few details have been announced, she says fans and collectors will turn their attention to galleries and auction houses in the coming months.

“I can’t talk too deeply about it, but I’ve been releasing visual music to different galleries and spaces. Just quietly as the promotion for my album,” Latashá said. “So that’s something we’re quietly doing right now. I guess I’ve kind of made it loud by saying it to nft now [she laughs]but we’re doing this as the start of the campaign for a big album coming from me by the end of this year.”

With more information to be released via Latashá’s Twitter, patrons of the Web3 music space will be sure to follow her lead and keep a close eye on what’s to come. Because considering her history of excellence, Latashá’s upcoming addition to the music NFT market will undoubtedly help further revolutionize the artist-fan dynamic and inspire those looking to break out of traditional music career structures to follow in her footsteps.

Want more NFT100 honoree interviews? Get the full list of everyone we spoke to here.