JAY-Z will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Reasonable Doubt with a special NFT auction. As multiple news outlets reported, the Brooklyn emcee has teamed up with auction house Sotheby’s to sell original artwork designed by artist Derrick Adams.
The artwork designated Heir to the Throne is named after the original title of JAY’s debut. Per Billboard, the piece “comments on and recontextualizes the album’s iconic cover” and will be available for sale during a single-lot auction set to start on July 2 at 10 a.m. ET.
“Over the years JAY has collected and supported my work, and so this collaboration is particularly fulfilling,” said Adams.
“With this NFT project, we jointly embrace the opportunity to further the conversation about how artists of different mediums contribute to a more inclusive society. JAY’s album Reasonable Doubt changed the game 25 years ago and continues to influence so many of us. It tells the story of someone from Brooklyn occupying the urban space — a place that is as central to my own work as it is to his. My portraits aim to capture the sensibility, optimism and beauty of urban life, and in JAY’s work, I’ve found tremendous kinship.”
The forthcoming Sotheby’s auction — which is authorized by JAY himself — comes amid an ongoing lawsuit between Roc-A-Fella and former co-founder Dame Dash. As REVOLT previously reported, the suit stemmed from the label’s belief that Dash was attempting to sale the rights to Reasonable Doubt amid an auction with SuperFarm.
The sale was eventually halted after the NFT marketplace received a warning letter from Hov’s lawyer, Alex Spiro. Days later, the judge presiding over the case issued a temporary restraining order against Dash that prohibited the sale of the Reasonable Doubt NFT.
Dash has maintained that he never tried to sell the copyright to JAY’s first project, explaining that the SuperFarm auction was his attempt at selling his rights to his share of Roc-A-Fella.