Lil Nas X
When TikTok announced an NFT program, Lil Nas X was slated to be among the first of the platform’s users to participate in a drop. On the one hand, this made sense. Lil Nas X has been nothing if not a trendsetter. After getting his break for crossing over rap and country, he’s become a genre-defining hip hop star. From that perspective, getting into NFTs makes sense. Even if you feel the aesthetic of most NFTs is equivalent to a bag of dog shit on fire, you can at least kind of get it.
But the hip hop star has also been outspoken about the risks of the climate crisis, even tweeting that his breakthrough smash “Old Town Road” includes a “reference to reversing the ongoing climate change, water pollution, and catastrophic political climate we are witnessing in these trying times.” Most NFTs are being minted on the Ethereum blockchain, which uses carbon-intensive proof of work methods to maintain its security. Though the TikTok NFT program collapsed in shambles, it’s sad to even see the homie Montero being associated with it.
