Tripp Derrick Barnes painted the work, which consists of a flame with ‘fyre’ on a black background.
Rapper Ja Rule has become the latest to enter the NFT market. He put up a 48?60 inch Fyre Festival-inspired oil painting for sale as an NFT.
The disastrous Fyre Festival fiasco in 2017 resulted in a six-year prison sentence for co-founder Billy McFarland. Ja Rule promoted the event via social media, though he was later cleared of legal charges.
The painting will be sold on the Flipkick NFT exchange. The exchange is one of many new ones to enter the market, as NFTs begin to find a home with the larger public.
“One of the happiest moments in life is when you find the courage to let go of what you cannot change”
Exit Fyre – Enter ICONN https://t.co/flk4lSvNzb NFT
#ICONN #FlipKick #physicalNFT #digitalNFT $Iconn https://t.co/jo92ZZUjIf
— Ja Rule (@jarule) March 16, 2021
Ja Rule claims that he “just wanted that energy out,” referring to the painting that currently resides in his New Jersey mansion. Tripp Derrick Barnes painted the work, which consists of a flame with ‘fyre’ on a black background.
The painting was previously at Fyre Media’s former headquarters in New York City. He also said that he had heard of NFTs a few weeks ago and that he is still learning about this new kind of asset.
A valuation of $600,000 was assigned to the piece. The auction will go live on March 17.
The price may seem steep, but judging by the prices NFT collectors have paid for art, it could be an easy sell. Digital artist Beeple famously sold a single piece of NFT art through Christie’s auction house for $69 million last week.
Ordinarily, NFTs focus on digital artwork. However, more and more assets are slowly being integrated as the hype builds.
NFT Mania Continues to Hit the Mainstream
NFTs, which give the holder the exclusive rights to a particular asset, have become the hottest topic in the market. They have even surpassed DeFi in terms of growth. Some argue that NFTs have reached mainstream adoption quicker than DeFi.
Elon Musk even shook the market a bit on March 16, offering the sale of a song-based NFT, replete with the dogecoin mascot. Musk’s partner Grimes even sold an NFT art and music collection for $5.8 million. The NFT buzz has grown to the point where Google searches have exceeded that of “cryptocurrency” and “blockchain.”
However, all is not sunshine and rainbows. As prices and interest spike, NFT platforms have also been targeted for attacks. On March 16, one of the most popular platforms, Nifty Gateway, was subject to an account hack, indicating there is room for technical improvement.
