AY-Z’s quest to be the biggest tycoon Hip Hop has ever continues — through the digital economy’s hottest buzz item of the moment.
As the 51-year-old Hip Hop legend’s new TV deal is being finalized, TechCrunch is reporting that JAY-Z and his Marcy Venture Partners is among several investors who contributed to a $19 million dollar funding round for Bitski, a start-up based in San Francisco that specializes in giving companies NFT branding.
Alongside JAY-Z, other high-profile investors include Roc Nation’s Jay Brown, music mogul Troy Carter, Serena Williams, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, 3LAU, and venture firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
Billed as the ‘Shopify for NFTs,’ Bitski specializes in creating NFT storefronts and has reportedly raised $23.4 million to date.
The growing NFT marketplace has become a hotbed for Hip Hop talent, as a wide range of artists from Eminem, Jim Jones, Post Malone, Wu-Tang Clan and more have expanded their merchandise lure and built anticipation for upcoming releases amid the cryptocurrency craze.
JAY-Z has had an eventful (and lucrative) 2021 in and out of the studio. At the top of May alone, his S. Carter Enterprises production company filed for a trademark that led to speculation. And on May 3, the huge $302 million-dollar sale of his streaming service TIDAL to Square CEO Jack Dorsey was finalized, all the while his Nas duet “Sorry Not Sorry” was a huge part of internet conversation.