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The legendary hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings is the latest to try its hand at creating a musical act built around it NFT avatars, today announces a collaboration with Solana-based project Catalina Whale Mixer to create a virtual band.
Called The Whales, the virtual band will pair colorful whale avatars from Solana profile picture (PFP) collection of music from what the companies claim will be “an all-star cast” of musicians and producers. These partners have not yet been announced.
It is similar in approach to Kingdoma virtual band consisting of Bored Ape Yacht Club avatars turned into band members, with plans to release music across the board metaverse. The kingdom comes from 22:22, a Web3-centric sub-label under the major music brand Universal Music Group (UMG), and Def Jam also falls under the UMG umbrella.
WAGMI Beach, the studio behind the Catalina Whale Mixer, was founded by music industry veterans, and the pros will shape The Whales’ tunes. But WAGMI Beach CEO Carlo Fox said Whale NFT holders would help shape the project and could potentially have their own NFT avatars join the band through an upcoming audition process.
“Instead of it being just like four guys in their garage deciding what it is, it’s like this community of all these people deciding the direction it’s going,” Fox said Decrypt.
Kingship in the end tapped Grammy-winning hitmakers Chauncey “Hit-Boy” Hollis and James Fauntleroy to compose the music. However, unlike Kingship – which was not developed with Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs and solely used IP Commercialization Rights given to all Bored Ape NFT holders – The original NFT project creator facilitated The Whales.
Promotional artwork for The Whales. Photo: Def Jam
Fox said this approach allows all Catalina Whale Mixer holders to potentially have a say in some aspect of the project. The team’s experience in the entertainment industry puts it in a position to “develop these opportunities for our community.”
Expect upbeat, energetic music from The Whales, as Fox cited inspirations as popular non-NFT virtual band Gorillaz and veteran musician and producer Pharrell Williams (who is involved in the Doodles NFT project). Benjamin Willis, another WAGMI Beach co-founder, said the working album title is “A Compilation of Vibes.”
“It’s not depressing, it’s not dark,” Willis explained. “It’s ambitious, it’s fun – you can dance to it, you can party to it. That’s sort of the idea.”
Def Jam and WAGMI Beach aim to roll out the first music from The Whales this summer, with plans to release tracks through traditional channels and as collectible music NFTs. Similarly, they plan performances through real concerts and festivals and digital metaverse worlds.
Willis said the deal was in the works for several months and that “there were a lot of hoops to jump through” to connect the traditional label with a Web3 upstart. Ultimately, though, the WAGMI Beach founders said they’re thrilled to have Def Jam’s support for this new endeavor.
“Def Jam is one of the most important labels of all time, culturally speaking — and from early hip-hop onward, they’ve always taken the leap to support what’s new before it’s popular,” Fox said. “We were very humbled and grateful that they were able to see the vision and why this is something special.”
