Every first Thursday of the month, at OS NYC, an NFT party scene and culture is bubbling.
At the most recent BRONXLYN NFT event, artists Jay Prob and Rocky Snyda (the duo behind FUTRxLGND) paved the way for two new artists to rocket themselves into the NFT stratosphere.
Pull up to the next FUTRxLGND NFT party at OS NYC on April 7. Artists looking to get their song minted for FREE submit your entry HERE.
Artists Mareko and Carter Brown stumbled into FUTRxLGND’s next big thing by accident.
Easy concept. The song with the best audience reception gets a chance to make itself heard on a bigger stage with a bigger audience.
So how come two artists came out on top?
One hinge date-turned-music-contest, and another last-minute pull-up, brought Mareko and Carter to the next level.
Jay Prob and Rocky Snyda join forces with PHLOTE to create one hell of an NFT party
The Jay-Snyda duo took started off their joint journey as NFT pioneers with a bang as the two founded their FUTURxLGND brand, soon after welding their solo songs together to make their collaborative debut: “BRONXLYN.”
“I’m glad that I ended up trusting his vision,” said Snyda.
Who was initially a little skeptical of the blended song, instead of the regular EP collaboration. “It was really cool,” said Jay, “mostly because people like Rocky as a person more than me,” the rapper joked.
Check out the BRONXLYN NFT here.
Creative direction lay in the hands of Jay and Snyda too, as they directed and edited the entire “BRONXLYN” piece – basing the music video in locations inspiring their rap repertoires now: an “infamous diner” in the Bronx, and Snyda Chicken.
“People like seeing us do things together,” said Jay. Previously the artists have joined forces to bring their music into the main domain, even re-inventing the concert wheel with subway jam sessions.
What’s an NYC NFT party without NFTs? Meet the winners
Neither artist intended to be there that night.
But swarms of sky-high 100s emoji paddles filled the room when the crowd heard the sound of Mareko and Carter Brown. “The reaction that they both got […] was just kind of undeniable,” said Jay.
It was a rare opportunity for any artists in the making to get their voices out in the open.
“It’s not something as an artist that you experience too often […] You don’t really get a chance for people to hear your music live and see a reaction,” said Carter.
But these artists took to the main stage next to Jay and Snyda, swarmed with love for their tracks: “Veronica Decides to Die,” and “Your Cool.”
Mareko and Brown showed up completely at the last minute to the event as those around them convinced them to come to the first live Phlote vote.
Snyda and Jay laughed about how unplanned both artists’ submissions were. “First of all, let’s shout out to how small New York is,” said Snyda. “I feel like it’s really funny that you guys ended up winning when one: Mareko you weren’t even supposed to be there, and two: Carter you were about to not be there.”
Mareko and Carter had no intention of storming their way to the top that night. Snyda was glad they did though and felt “like everything just worked out the way it was supposed to work out.”
Mareko shows up and shows out
Mareko is an up-and-coming artist with an eclectic style. From electric guitars to electronic beats and smooth bars, the 22-year-old is breathing fresh air into the NFT space.
Check out MOM’S SPAGHETTI NFT here
“Like they almost didn’t even play my stuff, because they were about to wrap up,” said Mareko. But the musician got her chance to hear her beats when she called out Jay and Snyda for playing mainly male musicians.
Her January 2022 release (“Veronica Decides to Die”) has just topped over 4000 Spotify streams and 2000 views on YouTube, as the artist looks to unlock new levels in her music game.
“I feel like I was kind of avoiding looking in people’s faces too much,” said Mareko when her single was mid-play before she realized just how much the crowd liked her head-banger song at the NFT party.
The artist went on to describe how her song stood out from the rest, and how that originality carried her to the win. “It was the most different to everybody else’s […] kind of hip-hop stuff and my song’s a bit more punk-rock oriented.”
Mareko was no stranger to the NFT space though. “I was already into Web 3.0, NFTs, and all that stuff, but I just never acted on it,” said the artist. The second BRONXLYN event was the step that took her to that new height out of her comfort zone.
Carter Brown unlocks the heat
Paraprofessional by day, rapper by night, Carter strives to be “the next best thing to hit the music scene.” The Queens native was raring to bring his music into the NFT space and find a new platform for his sound.
“The first event I wanted to go to was to just learn a lot, and I did,” said Carter. But the rapper thought the BRONXLYN NFT event “was a one and done thing.”
The tune Carter played that night was definitely a switch-up. The artist focuses on slower R&B or rap, so the pop vocals and upbeat record showed the audience another dimension to the musician’s many sides.
Carter played his main single “Your Cool” that he’s pushing, with over 114,000 streams on Spotify already and a pending music video. “It’s different from the rest of my music and it’s different from everything else I heard that night […] they rockin’ with it,” said the rapper.
Check out Carter Brown’s music NFT here.
“The reaction that they both got […] was just kind of undeniable,” said Jay about the passion the audience felt for both of their drops.
Amongst the sea of trap and rap music that night, these two artists shone without any hype around it. “I feel like our music spoke for itself,” said Mareko.
Curating a community of dope BIPOC music artists
The NFT space and those that built it are making moves and paving the way for a new wave in the music industry.
The potential is boundless and exciting to see. “You guys might be pioneering a lot of s**t that you don’t even realize,” Snyda said to the winners.
Jay and Snyda’s vision is clear. “We’re really just like road-mapping BRONXLYN in the world of Web3 […] continuing to have those real-life interactions and events too where we can help people like these two come into Web3 and do their thing,” said Snyda.
NFTs aren’t always so straightforward for a musician.
At times it can feel overwhelming and backward for artists new to the Web3 scene though. Mareko highlighted some of the fears artists can have about these things, “I’m into this technology and stuff, but I’m not trying to compromise my artistry.”
It’s exciting to see what’s in store for visionaries like Jay and Snyda, and artists with new launchpads like Mareko and Carter and where they’ll take the NFT space next.
Pull up to the next FUTRxLGND NFT party at OS NYC on April 7. Artists looking to get their song minted for FREE submit your entry HERE.
What do you have to lose?