Yo! Back for another “Making it NFT as a Rapper” post, which essentially details what I’ve been up to as someone making rap music in Web3 and the lessons I’ve learned along the way. It’s been a long time since I checked in with y’all like this, but since I’m dropping on Sound for my birthday on the 15th, I figured this is a good time to holla at everyone.

Most of the year has been in a bear (down) market, so people have been trying to adjust accordingly. Some folks are dropping the price of their NFTs to match demand for NFTs right in the moment, some are doing them for free, some are losing their minds and leaving the space altogether. I’ve been doing a mix of all of these things while continuing to experiment around what we could use these tokens for. I’ve been trying to think about how I can innovate, create new experiences. Since the bear market began, I’ve been figuring it out in the ways that I best know how. Above all, I’ve been trying to be as patient as possible. Not everything I do or drop is selling like when the market was hot, and adjusting feels like the right thing to do. More on that last part later.

Above all, I’ve been trying to be as patient as possible.

I joined the team of a project (Kindred Hearts) and started a project with the homies (Koodos) — both haven’t sold through yet, an effect of the bear market. Check them out and learn more. I dropped again on Sound, it was free. I minted a utility focused NFT for my community and as a result all but abandoned my social token. I might try it again, but I don’t know yet. I dropped an NFT in support of my friend Shawntel, that was free if you bought one of her NFTs. That went well. I’m gonna continue to try things, and while not all of them may work, I think it’s important to keep trying.

Use these down periods to learn, build and be present as opposed to releasing things. When things pick back up, you’ll be armed with all of the tools you need to make a splash. Here are some of the things I’ve been trying to learn more about, outside of the craft itself:

• Community Management vs Community Design

• Web3 Security

• Tools to help deliver utility

• Tools to build my own NFT marketplace

• Tools/Teams to develop a full scale project

Use these down periods to learn, build and be present as opposed to releasing things.

On the more risky side, despite dropping less work, I’ve been trying to be aware of how I’m pricing my NFTs during this time period, because when the market is powering forward, these prices will be remembered as what amount of ETH they sold for as opposed to what the market conditions were like. If we lower our prices too much to meet market conditions, theres a possibility that raising my prices during the bull market will be met with pushback. We’ll see though. I’m likely overthinking.

The last thing I’ll say is that this might be the perfect time to find a meaningful way to support someone else in the space. I dropped something to support Shawntel that went well. We didn’t plan to collaborate but it worked out like that because I was supporting her, as she’s supported many others in the space. With my drop on Sound, the artist TitanDemonBane had dropped a song called Sound XYZ on Mint Songs, in hopes of getting the attention of the folks over there. I hopped on a remix and we’re putting that out. Finding ways to partner with, support, and uplift each other is also something worth doing in these slower times.

That’s it for me. Make sure you subscribe, wherever you’re reading this. Would love to see you pull up to the listening party for my next release on Sound. Either way I’m grateful to have kept your attention for this long.