Melanated NFT Gallery, a Black and female-owned tech startup, has opened up bidding on DMX NFTs. The collection of previously unreleased work from the late rapper includes five tracks, handwritten lyrics from X’s rhyme book, a freestyle, photos, and more.
The collection is being released in partnership with Melanated NFT by DMX’s longtime collaborator and friend, DJ Superior. While bidding started for the DMX NFT auction on Friday (Dec. 31), there are still some items available, including the DJ Superior’s DarkmanX No Words piece.
“This has been an exciting year for us with an amazing client roster, board and team! So to end a fantastic year and begin a new one, we thought it perfect to let DJ Superior’s DarkManX No Words NFT carry us out of 2021 and into 2022!
“We are excited to announce the auction of the DarkManX NFT presented by DJ Superior,” Melanated wrote in a statement via Medium.com. “This is the first time that childhood friend and producer DJ Superior has opened his vault of early works by the icon that include unreleased songs, handwritten lyrics from rhyme book, impromptu freestyle battle, photographs, and more. We are honored to be entrusted with the rare items that will comprise this NFT.”
The NFT gallery was founded in February 2021 by entertainment marketing executive, entrepreneur and New York Times best-selling author, Nea Simone. According to Melanin’s site the company aims “to give creators from the global African and Afro+Latinx diaspora an opportunity to capitalize from their creations by offering limited edition, exclusive digital collectibles in the form of Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) or Crypto-Art.”
DJ Superior recently mentioned in an interview with The Sun that he was holding on to several unreleased songs and footage from his time working with X during his early years in Yonkers, New York. He told the outlet that he hoped to partner with Def Jam to release X’s work. “I just want people to know that they can work with me,” he said. “But I want a deal to be structured to be what’s best for X’s estate and his kids … We grinded hard before the world could see us. I want the kids today to see that. And I want to keep this man’s legacy going.”
Check out DJ Superior’s DMX NFT collection below: