Music producer Nellee Hooper, who has worked with leading acts such as Massive Attack, Soul II Soul, Sade, U2, Madonna and Bjork, has taken the role of head of cultural partnerships at NFT venture Throne, as well as being one of its founding partners as previously reported.
Hooper will be responsible for “introducing the Throne NFT ecosystem and the new value of NFTs to the creative community as well as to cultural icons in various genres of the arts,” Throne explained.
Hooper said: “With my first paycheck from the first Soul II Soul album, I wasn’t into flashy cars or fancy jewellery, I walked into Sotheby’s auction house and bought a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting called ‘Ellington’ – it was the scariest thing ever, I was shaking! £70,000 in 1990 was a hell of a lot of money! I heard it just sold for £12 million. But I caught the collector’s bug and have never looked back.”
He added: “Here we are today, I see NFTs as redefining our cultural ideology. Showing us how we define artistic value. I love what we are doing at Throne; it’s cutting edge. I’m all about art and creator value and I couldn’t be more proud of the work we are doing.”
Earlier this month, music executive Gee Roberson, who has worked with Kanye West, Drake and Nicki Minaj among others, joined Throne as partner and creative director.
Throne is a new NFT (non-fungible token) marketplace for creators and collectors of digital art, using Ethereum Blockchain technology. Throne has no platform fees when creators select to transact in THN, its own digital currency. According to Throne, a core part of its ideology is that open protocols like Ethereum and interoperable standards like ERC-721 and ERC-1155 “will enable vibrant new economies where creators and collectors truly own this powerful brand new type of digital item.”
Throne artistic director Chimere Cisse, who has held senior communication roles for global organizations including Hearst Magazines and Burberry, said: “Because we think open, liquid marketplaces will help power these new creative economies, we’re building a platform with the help of a community of passionate users, developers, and creators. The importance of technology and contemporary culture is reflected in everything we do, and we are clearly setting ourselves apart because of it.”
“We are an open creative economy,” said strategy and marketing director Adam Strauss. “NFTs have exciting new properties: they’re unique, provably scarce, liquid, usable across multiple applications, and armed with all the programmability of digital assets.”
He added: “The digital realm isn’t a secondary space anymore, it’s where we live our lives, and it’s where the future is coming into focus. We need better systems for investing in creative expression, supporting visionary artists, and connecting the internet’s creative community. We’re building Throne to fill that need, using the possibilities of crypto to expand what’s possible for creators and collectors alike.”
Roberson said: “NFTs are an artistic medium, changing how we create, giving us tools to reimagine how we resource creative economic communities.” He added: “I know we are all doing something that will greatly improve the future for artists of every genre. It’s a new world.”
