Post Malone Jumps on the Bored Ape Frenzy

The Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht club have been all over the music scene as of late. The frenzy started last week when Universal Music Group, one of the largest musician management companies in the world, signed KINGSHIP, a supergroup made up of three Bored Apes and a Mutant Ape, to their label. Then, early this week, Timbaland announced that he would be launching a metaverse music management company, using Bored Apes in the process as well. 

Well, these cartoon apes have found their way deeper into the music scene with the launch of Post Malone’s new music video for the song, “One Right Now.”

Post Malone Jumps on the Bored Ape Bandwagon

As mentioned above, Post Malone is the next big star in music to jump on the Bored Ape bandwagon after he used NFTs from the collection in the music video below.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club is one of the most successful projects thus far in NFT history and is one of the world’s biggest collections. BAYC features 10,000 unique digital images of cartoon apes, each with a different combination of background, fur color, apparel, and more, and all of which live on the Ethereum blockchain. 

In the music video (embedded above), Post Malone buys a Bored Ape NFT using MoonPay, a fintech startup that’s working to provide cryptocurrency payment infrastructure. MoonPay is hoping to reach a valuation of $3.4 billion after conducting its first ever venture capital round. 

Released on Monday, the music video has since amassed over 5 million views.

However, the music video wasn’t the only way Malone got into Bored Apes. In fact, two TikTok videos were recently released by MoonPay, showing Post Malone purchasing two Bored Apes for a combined 160 Ethereum, which works out to about $682,000. 

The first of the videos shows the purchase of Bored Ape #9039 for 85 Ethereum, or $362,000; a video that has nearly 100,000 views at the time of writing this article. The other video shows the purchase of the NFT from the music video, Bored Ape #961, which was purchased for 75 Ethereum, or about $320,000. 

However, it doesn’t look like the famed rapper used his own money to purchase the NFTs. Instead, he made money by promoting the NFT series. The cryptocurrency wallet that owns the Bored Apes, believed to be Post Malone’s wallet, previously received 175 ETH from MoonPay in two separate transactions. At the end of the transactions, 15 ETH, or about $64,000 was left over. It’s believed that the remaining ETH in the wallet was Malone’s payment for promoting the Apes and the MoonPay platform. 

What’s the Big Deal?

So, a famous rapper decided to buy a couple cartoon ape NFTs, what’s the big deal? Well, as mentioned in the beginning of this article, Bored Apes and NFTs in general, and NFTs in general, are quickly becoming ingrained in the music industry. Now, not only Universal Music Group and Timbaland have jumped on the frenzy, Post Malone is diving in too. 

The fact of the matter is that NFTs are becoming an important part of the music industry, and I’m not just talking about Bored Apes. In fact, there’s a strong argument that this technology will change the music industry as we know it. 

How will images that live on the blockchain change an industry as massive as the music industry? Well, in a few ways:

• Access Opportunities. The NFT community is growing quickly and opening doors for artists of all types. Previously, to address the masses, artists and musicians would need to go through managers, promoters, and more. However, the NFT industry provides direct access to a massive audience, making it possible to find success without inside relationships, promoters, and managers. At the same time, through NFTs, musicians don’t have to pay exorbitant percentages of their income to managers, promoters, and more. Not to mention, royalties can be collected each time a music NFT, or any NFT for that matter, trades. 

• Ownership. Digital ownership has had a wave of issues since digital files and sales were created. However, today, thanks to NFTs, Web3, and the blockchain, digital ownership is now verifiable, which makes piracy impossible and sets the stage for growth in the music industry. 

• Community. Finally, NFTs are giving artists a new way to communicate with their audiences, giving them the ability to build an entire community and ecosystem around their work and further expanding the opportunities that come along with their success. 

Where Will We See Bored Apes Next?

In the beginning, the only place you’d find a Bored Ape NFT was on a computer screen. However, the popularity of this collection has grown leaps and bounds as of late. Recently, we watched as Apes took over New York City with images found on everything from busses to billboards. Now, Apes are taking over the music scene. Who knows what comes next. 

The Bottom Line

The bottom line here is that while this story was predominantly about Bored Apes, NFTs are changing the entertainment industry as we know it. Bored Apes are simply a great example of how fast it’s happening. All told, it’s becoming clear that NFTs aren’t just a passing fad, they’re likely to be the technology that brings digital ownership to light and changes how we see the internet.