Snoop Dogg and Russell Simmons Turn to NFTs to Support “the original founding fathers of Hip-Hop”

Snoop Dogg and Russell Simmons have teamed up together in creating a new NFT project, named ‘Masterminds of Hip-Hop’, where they set out to financially support the original and pioneering artists in the hip-hop game who they feel weren’t paid enough during their careers. It is made in collaboration with Tokau, Gushcloud, BakerySwap, Paybby and Guillotine Vodka. The project is currently being teased on Tokau.io and will fully launch on Tuesday, 31st of August.

Words from Russell Simmons

Co-founder of the project, who’s famous for co-founding hip-hop label Def Jam, Russell Simmons, spoke to HipHopDX on the project. He said: “The idea is something I’ve had for the last couple years. Then over the last two months, this feeling that we should do something to compensate and to give credit to the original founding fathers of Hip Hop intensified. I felt more and more increasingly compelled to do something.”

He also spoke on Snoop Dogg’s involvement in the project:

“He’s helping to curate. So I got him involved early because I’m in business with Snoop on a number of things. And also, he cares about those guys. When he hears a story about a founding father of Hip Hop, he gets quiet and listens. He’s a heartfelt person who cares. A lot of artists when they’re really young, sometimes they don’t care, and when they get older, most of the time they still don’t care. But Snoop was very, very in tune with giving back and that’s why he got involved. He’s going to do an NFT and everything, but it’s not about what he does, it’s his curation of it and his adding credibility to it that I’m incredibly grateful for.”

Snoop Dogg and Russell Simmons’ NFT Launch

Currently, there’s not too much information on the official launch of the project. We know it will be launched on Tuesday, 13th August. On the Masterminds of Hip-Hop website, we are shown a few people on pieces of artwork. The people are as follows: MC Lyte, DJ Hollywood, Russell Simmons, Nikki D, Doug E Fresh, Busy Bee, Grandmaster Caz and Big Daddy Kane. Additionally, we see an ‘and more’ button, suggesting that the artists included are a limited number of the artists who will be supported.

Currently, you can sign up to a waitlist from Masterminds of Hip-Hop, where they specify that you are under no obligation to purchase if you sign up, so it will most likely just provide information on the project launch. Find the sign up here.

 

The NFT project from Snoop Dogg and Russell Simmons is one of a few NFT projects that revolve around hip-hop. If this interests you, another notable project to look at is T. Eric Monroe’s collection which merges 90’s hip hop and skateboarding.