Eminem

Eminem, who counts himself an avid collector of items like action figures, baseball cards, comic books, and $600 cassette copies of classic hip-hop albums, recently became the subject of a collection of valuable goods himself — with the caveat that those “goods” only exist digitally. Em released a collection of NFTs to take advantage of the swiftly expanding crypto bubble which included digital copies of the above-mentioned items last weekend, with the resulting sales raking in nearly $2 million. According to CryptoBriefing, the collection raised “just short of $1.8 million” on Nifty Gateway on Sunday.

Other stars, like The Weeknd have also released NFTs that have made over $1 million, but Eminem is arguably the biggest artist to enter the game to date. NFTs — or “non-fungible tokens” — are like a digital certificate of authenticity for a piece of art, keeping a sort of chain of custody within the code that is associated with the item, which may have a physical component. If that seems like a confusing explanation, Saturday Night Live actually repurposed an Eminem song to try to explain NFTs, with Pete Davidson and Jack Harlow employing the beat from “Without Me” to break down how the newfangled wealth laundering devices work. Eminem seemed bemused, but quickly announced his collection, which turned out to be a wise decision for the rap icon.

While some people are still trying to wrap their heads around what NFTs even are, artists from all over the music world have been quick to take advantage of this growing digital realm. Names like Doja Cat, Jack White, and The Weeknd have all released NFTs of their own. Now Eminem is joining in on the fun. The rapper announced his own line of digital collectables after a Saturday Night Live segment that saw Jack Harlow and cast members explaining what NFTs are through a rap over the Detroit native’s classic song “Without Me.” Now, a day before he drops his line, Eminem has finally revealed what it will contain.

The upcoming release, which drops Sunday, April 25, is a part of an event Eminem has dubbed “Shady Con,” in collaboration with NFT marketplace NFT Gateway. He’ll release original instrumental beats, digital comics, and action figures. The latter will come in three forms, each capturing various Eminem’s rap personas: Marshall Mathers, Slim Shady, and Eminem himself.

“I’ve been collecting since I was a kid, everything from comic books to baseball cards to toys, as well as every rap album on cassette I could get my hands on,” Eminem said on his website. “Not much has changed for me as an adult…I’ve attempted to recreate some of those collections from that time in my life, and I know I’m not alone. I wanted to give this drop the same vibe of, ‘Oh, man I gotta get just that one or maybe even the whole set!’ It’s been a lot of fun coming up with ideas from my own collecting passion.”

You can watch a video from Eminem’s website above.