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April 27, 2022

In This Issue:

From the Editor by Vagobond

NFT Music Beat by Angel Blue

Vagobond’s Recent NFT Acquisitions

NFT & Crypto Alerts, Alpha, News, & Headlines

NFT Religion from Bald Jesus

Useful Info compiled by Vagobond

The NFT Graveyard by Vagobond

GM and Aloha Frens,

It’s a really weird place to be right now – the NFT universe. We might as well just call it the Yugaverse or Apeverse this week because is there really anything else? I had some $APE and I sold it. Not financial advice, but it seems silly not to take some profit in this world when it becomes possible. The entire NFT space seems to have shifted from art to money – from innovative code to innovative scams. I don’t have faith in anything in the NFT or crypto space at the moment – except in the amazing people I’ve met in it. The people are still there, still building, still dreaming, still working – trying to change the world. I think we can do this. This is why I focus on a few key areas – music (don’t miss today’s NFT Music Beat with Angel Blue, below), travel, writing, and to some extent gaming and metaverse plays. I’m also giving a lot more focus and time to connecting in my local IRL community as well. What’s the commonality among these? I think it’s access and that’s what NFTs are really all about. Access to musicians and their music, access to writers and their writing, access to games/worlds and the rewards in them, access to places, experiences, food, drink, and access to people. This is essentially what I believe NFTs really are – they are access tokens. I won’t be publishing today’s VMB as an NFT but come Friday – I’ll have something special for all of you.

~CD Vagobond

Music NFT Beat

4/27/2022

Gm gm how are we this fine Wednesday. I’m Angel Blue and I’m bringing this weeks music nft beat with a wonderful new artist i discovered as my main feature. His name is Griffter

https://twitter.com/iamgriffter

Griffter is a Music Producer and composer/songwriter/DJ.

For 2 years Griffter was persuing a deal with labels then he discovered Music NFTs 8 months ago and found the empowerment they were to bring. Griffter states that everyone has the right to not be judged, which is true. Especially with labels making it so difficult for any artist by saying how good they are or there is no market for their kind of music. When I listen to All Out his latest track it reminds me of my uncle who was a dj back when I was a child but unfortunately in the 90s and early 2000s it was same as today he couldn’t get a deal. All Out for sure brings back a lot of nostalgia and hope for that kinda music to be in web 3 without judgment.

After being in lockdown for a long time, frustrations grew from not being able to see friends and fam. Long gone the nights where we could be wild with our friends and have no cares… from that frustration, a dirty ass track was born..https://t.co/FwZp2tUjKC pic.twitter.com/fTscl70jF3

— GrifftΞr (@iamGriffter) April 15, 2022

Griffter speaks highly of his next collaboration with a Grammy winning songwriter and producer Genzo. Something he never thought would happen and that’s what’s beautiful about web 3. The connections you make along the way and the people you meet.

https://twitter.com/genzomusic

I asked Griffter his inspiration for his music and it comes from an eclectic musical background. Having played violin for 10 years and his mom playing multiple genres growing up. He has a club scene background which you can hear prominently in his work. His musical inspiration was a droning bass king and whatever his mood was. He also has a background in Hip Hop and R n B where he started. Griffter spoke fondly of how he would love to play a joint metaverse and IRL show where his fans wouldn’t miss out. We have all been there wanting to go to a show but evidently having to miss it due to some unforeseen circumstances and he wants to change that. He wants everyone there and knows the technology is there. We talked about how he wants his fans to listen and enjoy the music, how he wanted the artwork to remind people of going to clubs and personally what it means being Asian American and entering the arts. I told him his songs( he has an entire Spotify in his links in his bio) evoked memories for me personally being on vacation and those kind of songs being blasted out in the car. This was Griffters intention to evoke a memory.

It's a beautiful time for artists to get their name out there and it's unfortunate that some just look at platforms before the music. I've given a lot of value with my NFTs and I'm not looking to make a bag, putting all earnings back into experiences I can provide

— GrifftΞr (@iamGriffter) April 23, 2022

He has been on a journey to find fans from web 2 to web 3. In web 3 it has so many more opportunities by getting to know people, having relationships with fans even becoming friends with people. Something that has been so taboo in the music industry for so long. I remember if I wanted to speak to my favourite artist, I had to write a fan letter which got sent to the record label and mostly likely got opened and trashed. That’s how much we have evolved in 20 + years. Especially as Griffter said artists being hit hard in the pandemic and many realising that they were living off nothing because it was drained. All he wants to do give fans experiences and for artists to start utilising tech like experiences for example holding certain amount of NFTs offers VIP passes. Once his NFTs sell out it will trigger a raffle to get a piece of merch. He’s bullish on web 3 due to the interaction he can have with fans, meeting talented people in the space and creating special connections staying web 3 is fresh and invigorating.

In other news. Something that was good news was Warner Brothers approach into Web 3. As everyone knows I very sceptical of record labels coming into the space, because that is kind of the opposite of what Web 3 is bringing but I have hope after they enlisted Mike Shinoda as Web 3 Advisor for Warner Records. An accolade he deserves

Linkin Park co-founder Mike Shinoda has been tapped by Warner Recorded Music (WRM) to help shape the company’s “artist-centric approach” to Web3. https://t.co/2FisXA9PmO

— billboard (@billboard) April 20, 2022

As Mike stated on his Twitch he will still be empowering the artist. And with his 20+ years experience in the music industry and his influential presence in Web 3 and Music NFTs, he is the perfect person for this role. A role Warner especially created for him.

Excited to explore web3 with the Warner team 🙏🏽 https://t.co/txkT51U48r

— Mike Shinoda (@mikeshinoda) April 20, 2022

Also back in March at SXSW he created a track in collaboration with FlufWorld where it was airdropped to certain holders this week named Lucky Foot

Check it out below

https://twitter.com/flufworld/status/1517080714268848129?s=21&t=ypAI9RH1w0v0dUOgQCq9ZA

Warpsound gave us new airdrops of their own versions of the rolling stone cover they did.

https://twitter.com/warpsound_ai/status/1518068485800136704?s=21&t=ypAI9RH1w0v0dUOgQCq9ZA

This weeks genesis tour with warpsound was with My Pet Hooligan and next weeks will be with Adam Bomb Squad

Events

Warpsound Genesis Tour with ABS Twitch and the ABS discord

https://twitter.com/warpsound_ai?s=21&t=ypAI9RH1w0v0dUOgQCq9ZA

https://twitter.com/adambombsquad?s=21&t=ypAI9RH1w0v0dUOgQCq9ZA

Bitlectro Labs Topical Tuesdays

https://twitter.com/bitlectro?s=21&t=ypAI9RH1w0v0dUOgQCq9ZA

Until next week frens stay safe

Vagobond’s Recent NFT Acquisitions

I’m not minting anything these days unless it’s either free and gasless or an essential part of a collection I already hold. I feel like pfps and generative 10k collections have come as far as they can and now it’s the established winners in this space that will give us something new. Possibly like what BAYC is doing with $APE or BYO is doing with their universe. I don’t know – but I’m watching for it and looking for opportunities to either take profits or increase my stake in projects that I think might bring about the next wave of innovation. At this point, it’s safe to assume that every new project is either a rug or a future failure. There are just too many unknowns and too many scams. Blue chip projects and solid teams are the safest bet – but even something like BAYC has an uncertain future in a space that has only developed over the past year.

These were free + gas for Metakays holders. Interesting? Time will tell. https://opensea.io/collection/metakubes64

News & Alpha

* ALPHA * – The Vagobond Discord is one of the best free alpha servers around. You might see it in this briefing, but you’ll definitely see it in the Alpha channel of our discord first.
*ALERT* There is word of a scary new exploit that uses Google Sheets – you click on the link and it drains your wallet. I’ll share details when I can but in the meantime don’t click on any links that arrive via DM or email unless you are 100% certain of the source!
*Airdrop* – DYOR and use a safe wallet! This has not been tested by me but some users have reported getting large airdrops that converted to ETH with no issues: https://docs.benddao.xyz/portal/airdrop
*Airdrop* – DYOR! Check airdrop eligibility for Optimism here, gonna be one of the best airdrops this year https://app.optimism.io/governance More info here
Central African Republic Introduces Bitcoin as Legal Tender
Doge surges 9% on Twitter + Elon Musk Acquisition News
Musk wants to authenticate every Twitter user – bye bye anon crypto twitter accounts?
Are NFTs the new social media playbook?
Non-Fungible Heroes NFT Project signs with WME
I’m going to be tokenizing and distributing my startup corporation to holders of Bald Jesus and Vagobond NFTs. Iwahai, Inc. is a Delaware C Corporation and the owner of Voic eMarkr which can be found in the the Apple and Android app stores. VoiceMarkr is a voice centered social media and communications platform which will be owned and developed further by the community – so if you want to be a part of it – you should join the Vagobond Discord ASAP.

Here are the app store versions that exist now:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/voicemarkr/id1593688844

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iwahai (update soon)

The progressive web app lets you listen to markers but doesn’t give you the ability to make them like the phone apps do. https://www.voicemarkr.com/

Where My Vanagon Goes – A Hawaii Based NFT with IRL Utility

I’ve been publishing this briefing as an NFT through ReadMe books. This is highly experimental and I will only be creating 3 copies of each unless they begin to sell out on a regular basis. Here are the first of them. Moving forward I will be taking what I’ve learned to publish an NFT magazine.

https://opensea.io/assets/matic/0x931204fb8cea7f7068995dce924f0d76d571df99/53

https://opensea.io/assets/matic/0x931204fb8cea7f7068995dce924f0d76d571df99/54

https://opensea.io/assets/matic/0x931204Fb8CEA7F7068995dcE924F0d76d571DF99/55

https://opensea.io/assets/matic/0x931204fb8cea7f7068995dce924f0d76d571df99/56

https://opensea.io/assets/matic/0x931204Fb8CEA7F7068995dcE924F0d76d571DF99/57

The First NFT/Metaverse Religion- Bald Jesusism

Upcoming Holidays

The holidays of Bald Jesusism are meant to be fun and healthy for you and your fam. Enjoy them!

May Day – May 1st is a day to celebrate workers of the world and all they do. It’s a day to fight exploitation and wage slavery. If you have a job, take this day off. In Bald Jesusism, if you have a job, May 1st is the day you call in sick for religious reasons.

Bitcoin Pizza Day – May 22nd is the day the first official transaction with Bitcoin took place. Two large pizzas for 10,000 BTC. We celebrate these very expensive pies by eating pizza and buying pizza for others. This is a great day to buy an extra pizza and give it to someone who doesn’t have one.

https://www.baldjesus.com | Bald Jesus Twitter | Holy Bjble Twitter

https://www.baldjesusdrinkingclub.com – Minting Now!- for Bald Jesus Drinking Club

.04 ETH limited to 777 total

Holy Bjble – AB version – Readable on OS! Only .001 ETH on Polygon so no gas

Bald Jesus is Your Bro! Don’t Be a Dick

Useful Info

I periodically move all of this to the NFT 101 page on Vagobond.com https://vagobond.com/nft-101/

Watchlist:

Yuga Labs BAYC Land drop

Adidas drop

10KTF $NTD drop & BYO $TRYP drop

Gutter Juice ‘Clone’ reveals

Art Heads – I won a free mint of this project, so I’m watching for the mint.

Evmos Punks – The failure of the Evmos Chain the first go around is not promising – but since they learn as they go – this is still a great project to be watching for iteration and innovation.

Great Projects I’m Not In or Following:

aka projects I missed and am salty about. There are too many – see the whole list at:

https://vagobond.com/nft-101/great-nft-projects-ive-missed/

Missed in April: Moon Birds, Murakami Flowers, Seeds – and so much more. I’m in full JOMO ‘Joy of Missing Out’ mode.

Tokens & Staking

These are the tokens and crypto/defi projects that NFTs have led me to. Bizarre when you think about it. See the full list at here

These are projects that I wanted to believe in that simply seem like they are dead. I bought into many of these instead of the winning projects above. Take that as a warning. I sincerely hope that they resurrect – but when I put them here, it means that I’ve stopped believing and looking. I hope to someday have a section at the top called ‘Resurrections’ for when projects in the Graveyard manage to rise up again. As time goes on, I have no doubt this will be the biggest section of this newsletter and I will let it keep growing so that those who care to look can understand that the majority of projects fail and investors lose money. Pick wisely, my friends, and good luck!

Newly Buried: These aren’t dead projects but projects I’ve lost hope in exiting profitably. I’m not selling any of these but am tired of watching them fail to deliver. I hope they all resurrect and prove me wrong.

See the huge full list at https://vagobond.com/nft-101/nft-project-graveyard/