World renowned US rapper Eminem has joined the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). The artists recently purchased one of the non-fungible token (NFT) apes on Thursday on the OpenSea platform for 123.45 ethereum which equates to nearly $462,000.
After purchasing the NFT, Eminem quickly made the ape, who wears a brown military-style hat, hip hop clothing and dazed expression, his Twitter profile picture. This is a popular move by those who hold NFTs in a bid to display their investments.
The Detroit artist has acquired around 20 different NFTs on OpenSea under the name Shady_Holdings. Eminem, whom Rolling Stone Magazine named one of the 100 Greatest Artists of All-time, won the 2002 Oscar for Best Original Song, and has garnered 15 Grammy music awards in a career dating back to the 1980s.
Eminem received thanks for his purchase via a tweet. Bored Ape Yacht Club member GeeGazza, who sold the ape, thanked the rapper for buying the NFT. “I’m living in a simulation,” he wrote, adding: “Madness. Let me write a lyric in your next single.” GeeGazza had been hoping for months that the entertainer would buy the ape, which resembles the iconic hip-hop style that the rapper is known for.
Georgio Constantinou, who is the artist manager of Web 3 digital agency Six tweeted that the firm had helped Eminem buy “the EminApe.”
This is not the first time that Eminem has shown interest in crypto. In 2018, Bitcoin is mentioned in“Not Alike,” one of the tracks on his album “Kamikaze.”
BAYC has been among the biggest sellers on OpenSea, helping to drive its most recent $10 billion valuation. A number of other celebrities, including DJ Khalid and Jimmy Fallon, also own Bored Ape and use it as their social media profile picture.
