For those who weren’t sold on music NFTs already, hopefully the legendary Ed Young can help change your mind. As one of the co-founders of the iconic hip-hop magazine The Source, Young has worn many hats throughout his career, and has now ended up where most entertainment trailblazers will surely soon find themselves — as a part of the NFT community.

With art largely dominating the non-fungible ecosystem in 2021, it’s easy to see that the intersection of music and NFTs has a lot of growth still to come. Although we’ve seen quite a few successful drops from skin-in-the-game musicians like RAC, 3LAU, Steve Aoki and more, the music industry still has relatively minimal exposure within the NFT space.

When it comes to music and NFTs, the hugely influential genre of hip-hop has less of a foothold still. Young has seen the possibilities that NFTs can bring to artists, and with his latest endeavor, NFT.HipHop, he aims to elevate music in the NFT space without sparing any artistic value.

“I’m tired of crap NFTs. They’re not helping the marketplace,” says Young. “Just putting an NFT out because you scribbled something on a napkin and you think you can do a big money grab — that’s not sustainable, that’s not permanent.”

On this episode of the nft now podcast, Ed Young talks about his journey into the NFT space, giving power back to artists, and more.

In a streaming climate that pays artists peanuts, it’s increasingly difficult to “make it” in the music industry. Regardless of genre or talent, many would-be stars never make it past the beginning stages of development.

But while there may be no middle-class in the music industry, artists of all types and backgrounds have a chance to make a living for themselves within the NFT ecosystem. Sure, most won’t become NFT superstars, but making a living off of music can be much easier than making a run at music stardom.

“Everybody’s not going to be Justin Bieber,” says Young. “But can you do what you love doing and have a home, support your family, have cars and you know, go out to eat? Yeah, you can now. Yeah, and that has not been possible with the way it’s structured currently.”

With NFT.HipHop, Young hopes to not only bridge the gap between NFTs and hip-hop, but to do so in a way that has longevity. And while the fruits of his labor could be a ways off, Young is well on his way to build something truly special within the space.

“Jay Z will put something out…and it can go for a fraction of a fraction of what 3LAU did, “says Young. “Catch up people! Figure out what’s going on. That’s not the market…. We’re not at consumer level yet.

Be sure to hit subscribe and stream our full conversation with Ed Young here.