Volume 21

OpenSea: Let’s start with your influences and inspirations. What inspired you to start the Song A Day project during the financial crash of 2008? Did you ever imagine that it would evolve into this daily routine that's lasted now over a decade?

Jonathan Mann: No, I was only supposed to do it for a month. That was the challenge that was set out for me. I was 26. I was living in Berkeley, California. I didn't have a whole lot going on. It was a pretty dismal time...

Digital poetry just got even hotter. Mad Arts, an innovative digital art and technology museum, acquired 22 digital poems from theVERSEverse earlier this month. The acquisition marks one of the most substantial digital poetry collections purchased by an institution.

In today’s unexpected creative mashup news, celebrated composer Hans Zimmer has written “The Tron Anthem,” a new theme song for the Tron blockchain. The song has reportedly been in development for over two years and was created in collaboration with Tron founder Justin Sun.

Zimmer is known for scoring films like “Inception” and “The Dark Knight.” The song, a blend of orchestral arrangements and electronic music, is said to be a reflection of values in web3.

Get ready for NFTs on your TV. Samsung is launching its Samsung NFT Gallery TV App on April 24. The app connects with Samsung Lifestyle TVs and enables users to view high-quality digital artwork of their favorite NFTs.

This functionality is enabled through Samsung’s bundle of integrations with OpenSea’s marketplace, Polygon’s layer-two blockchain and Ledger’s smart wallets. The move by Samsung is part of a broader initiative, which the brand is dubbing “GEN|3|GATE,” to improve digital experiences in metaverse gaming.

Adidas and mobile fitness app STEPN are elevating the sneaker game with the recent launch of a ultra limited-edition co-branded Genesis Sneaker NFT. According to a tweet, the collection will unveil four unique sneaker designs, including rare looks inspired by the colors of the brand’s official web studio ALTS by adidas.

The Sneakers NFT collectibles listed for 10,000 GMT (worth approximately $2,293 at the time of writing) and minted on Solana. The drop is happening in two phases running from April 17 to April 21.

Cool Cats is uniting its community with a colorful new art project. The NFT brand recently shipped 3,000 blank miniature cat statues to holders for them to customize and paint however they like. When complete, proud holders are then able to scan a NFC chip to create a sharable digital rendering of their unique statue.

Gear up, Azuki fans! “Enter The Garden,” the brand’s long-awaited anime anthology, is dropping this month. Behind the first episode is an all-star creative team led by console gaming animation heavyweight Junichi Yamamoto and well-known character designer Kinu Nishimura, along with voice actors Akari Kito and Tomokazu Sugita.

The series aims to merge traditional anime with blockchain technology, offering the Azuki community a chance to co-create and own parts of the intellectual property.

The highly anticipated MetaTABI boot is here! The Maison Margiela collection hit digital shelves on April 17. Blending the iconic toe-box design with exclusive perks, the MetaTABI NFTs are available in two colors — white or black — and come with physical handmade boots or custom leather wallets. Holders also gain early access to Margiela’s future web3 projects and virtual reality experiences. Read more about the MetaTABI launch on OpenSea’s blog.