Coin-Crypto senior reporter Rachel Wolfson visited South by Southwest (SXSW) — a ten-day annual technology, film and music festival in Austin, Texas — to connect with a melting pot of crypto, celebrities and enthusiasts. blockchain and web3 industries.
Wolfson spoke with Darryl McDaniels — culturally known as DMC — founding member of the infamous New York hip-hop trio Run-DMC, about the group’s illustrious discography, his views on the capitalist-induced flaws within the traditional music industry, as well as his overarching vision in collaboration with blockchain project The Song That Owns Itself (STOI)) to promote decentralized digital ownership.
Run-DMC achieved colossal success in the 80s and 90s with multiple critically acclaimed albums and tracks such as ‘It’s Like That’ and ‘Walk This Way’, leaving it a legacy as one of the most influential hip-hop acts in the history of the genre.
Prior to the interview, McDaniels freestyled a four-bar verse dedicated to Coin-Crypto and inspired by the crypto and blockchain space.
“On the microphone I get coin, I’m going to do big things like Bitcoin. This here is the king of the rock thing, the coolest [mf’king] thing on the blockchain.”
Great interview for @Coin-Crypto with Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC at @Algorand during #SXSW2022 pic.twitter.com/pweAF2uIvs
— Rachel Wolfson (@Rachelwolf00) March 15, 2022
In conversation with McDaniels, it was clear that his passion for restoring artistic sovereignty and creative ownership within the music industry was fueled by his vision of the potential impact of blockchain technology, a model in which decentralized mechanics could provide the opportunity for enhanced autonomy. from the maker.
McDaniels stated that “Run-DMC has always been an entity that brought people together, changed things and improved things,” he stated his ambitions to build blockchain solutions that nurture this tradition.
“What I’m doing with Algorand and the STOI is going to help us manifest the solutions needed to put the power back in the hands of the creator, keep the power in the creations, and let everyone experience everything that comes with it. †
STOI is an innovative project that aims to use smart contracts to create tokenomic governance models for music tracks. According to the vision illustrated in their whitepaper, the project seeks to[ing] creative entrepreneurs and their fans using the tools of Web3.”
The project’s inaugural non-fungible token (NFT) titled ‘God Particle’ sold on the Foundation marketplace for 0.5ETH on November 30. On February 14, STOI switched from Ethereum to Algorand, citing faster speed, greater cost efficiency and lower environmental impact. The project has outlined roadmap plans to launch a governance-based DAO and addition of nonfungible token (NFT) in the near future.
On Monday it was announced that the third edition of the STOI project will symbolize McDaniel’s latest track ‘Million Scars’, a song he executed live at the AlgoRanch pop-up event at the SXSW festival that same day.
Pictured: Rachel Wolfson, Darryl McDaniels and George Howard – Algorand . art advisor
Commenting on the future of the music industry amid a rise in technological influence, McDaniels revealed that “it’s not just about leaving the middle man,” before stating that:
“It’s making something that encompasses everything that everyone is involved in, from its creation to its continuation…the song owns itself because the song is the thing. The creator is where the power begins, and that’s where the power would have to stay.”