NFT
Electronic musicians Steve Aoki and Justin “3LAU” Blau have announced their first track as the CryptoPunks inspired duo, Punch. “Concentrate,” which comes out this Friday, takes inspiration from the cryptopunksroots as one of the first prominent figures NFT collections.
“We really wanted the first track to embody the spirit of what CryptoPunks is all about: underground, kind of the first of their kind, and more specifically tech-savvy, tech-driven, [and] futuristic,” Blau said Decrypt.
“Concentrate” clearly taps into those themes. It’s just over 3 minutes of fast electronic music suitable for a nightclub or a festival, with an industrial touch.
Artwork of “Concentrate”, the first single by DJ duo Punx. Image: Punx
But this isn’t your typical single release. Punx will give away half of all “Concentrate” royalties to a total of 99 NFT collectors chosen from Blau’s NFT holders, Aoki’s A0k1vers Passport NFT holders and CryptoPunks NFT holders, aiming to give back to those collectors and democratize number ownership.
Such a move tracks for this duo considering that Blau is also the co-founder and CEO of Web3 music rights platform Royal, which aims to give music fans the chance to support their favorite artists with NFTs that grant them rights to a percentage of a song’s royalties. “Concentrate” will be released on Royal and the 99 NFTs can be traded there after issuance.
DJs Steve Aoki and 3LAU form CryptoPunks Supergroup
Both Blau and Aoki have made numerous moves in the Web3 world, Blau shared Decrypt about the shared affinity that brought them together as Punx.
“Even though Steve is touring the world, he still shares an incredible passion for this technology,” said Blau Aoki and NFTs. “He was actually one of the first DJs that ever really listened to me when I used to rant about it. He was the only one who really understood because he is already a collector of all other kinds of things.