Buju Banton creates first NFT artwork

With a pioneering move, GRAMMY winner, multiple Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping artist and international reggae icon Buju Banton continues to make history by becoming the first GRAMMY award-winning reggae artist from Jamaica to mint a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) on the OpenSea marketplace. 

According to Ronnie Tomlinson, the Jamaican-born, Brooklyn-based entertainment publicist, Banton has created a collection of rare NFT Art pieces that will come in both digital and autographed canvas print. 

“The intention is to provide fans with a rare one of one digital Buju Banton asset/collectible, which can grow in value, creating an economical opportunity for NFT holders,” Banton said. “We have to keep up with the technological advancements of our times or get left behind, embrace the space, pure love.”  

Tomlinson, chief executive officer of the New York-based Destine Media, told Caribbean Life that a NFT is a digital asset that represents real-world objects like art, music, in-game items, and videos. 

“These digital assets are bought and sold online, frequently with cryptocurrency, and they are generally encoded with the same underlying software as many cryptos,” she said. “Artists and musicians have been making their musical offers available worldwide through an alternative space that is quickly becoming the trend of the future.” 

Tomlinson said fans will be able to purchase a digital copy of the installation as a NFT, which includes digital artwork designs of famous Buju Banton portraits, programable features and unlock-able content for the NFT owners to enjoy. 

She said the digital works sold as NFTs can still be copied and shared themselves, but ownership of a token is unique. 

“Think of it as something like a copy of a popular book autographed by the author,” Tomlinson said. “There are lots of copies of the book and more can easily be made, but the NFT version is one of kind.”