By Vanessa Obioha
Two-time Grammy award-winning reggae group Morgan Heritage makes history today, April 17, as they become the first reggae artist to release their songs as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) ━ a blockchain technology that took the art world by storm last month ━ before release on any other platforms.
The group will be releasing a new song and two digitally remastered titles from their vast catalogue, allowing fans of the reggae group to claim ownership of their songs.
The reggae group made up of Gramps, Peetah and Mr Mojo is the latest musical group to release songs as NFTs.
The group has amassed over 36 million streams on their top tracks and has charted on numerous occasions.
As leaders and trendsetters, Morgan Heritage is known worldwide for its riveting stage presence and exciting showmanship.
The NFTs are made possible by Bondly Finance. The blockchain company will release three NFTs, each paired with full new music and classic songs from their catalogue.
“To have been chosen by Bondly to be the first Reggae artist in history to release new music along with songs from our catalogue on the blockchain exclusively to the Bondly Community and crypto world, in general, is truly a blessing. We are very excited about the possibilities of working with Bondly through this partnership to open the door for others in our genre around the world as well as our peers across the continent of Africa,” said the group in a statement.
“When I was introduced to their music by PelleK, I fell in love instantly and then realised how big their fan base was, globally. For us here at Bondly when it’s all said and done, we are pleased to be able to be the ones that brought Morgan Heritage and their amazing music to the 100 million cryptocurrency users that exist today,” said Bondly CEO Brandon Smith.
All three tracks are records from the upcoming album ‘Legacy’, which will be released on May 28. The album not only covers the group’s illustrious career but also chronicles its musical journey that spans 60 years of Jamaican music and its evolution throughout.
Artists such as the most recent Grammy winner for Best Reggae Album and their belated uncle Toots Hibbert from Toots and The Maytals are Ziggy Marley, Stephen Marley, Shaggy, Beres Hammond, Rebelution, Bounty Killer, Chronixx, J Boog, SOJA, Diamond Platnumz, Stonebwoy, and Patoranking just to name a few.
The first track, labelled “Light It Up” has a special feature from renowned artist PelleK and the song will be released commercially on April 23. Each of these NFTs will give exclusive access to unreleased music and ownership of unique art before it’s shared with the world.
Each song has a total of 175 NFTs and each NFT will be sold at 0.5ETH. The songs include “Light It Up” ft. PelleK which is yet to be released; and the digitally remastered songs “The World is Yours” and “Don’t Haffi Dread”.
According to Bondly Finance, 1000 Bondly tokens will be airdropped two weeks from the date of the sale, and five people who hold all three Morgan Heritage NFTs are eligible to win a BCCG card, airdropped the same day as tokens are distributed.
Each token holder will automatically be entered into a raffle to win one of the three of the Gold Tokens that will go up for sale the week of April 25 – May 1 and will receive free VIP access to the Legacy Live Stream Virtual Concert in June.
Also, each token holder that buys in advance will be entered into the sweepstakes contest. There will be three prizes and the winner will receive a 5-10 minute call from Morgan Heritage along with the MH x Bondly Swag, as well as other prizes.
Morgan Heritage NFTs will be sold through BondSwap and only 525 song NFTs will be released at 2PM EST today.
