Upstart NFT platform Official Trading Packs (OTP India) has raised a seed round from angel investors to launch the first NFT collection designed to empower hip-hop artists in India. The company was started by local artists and creators looking to transform the Indian music industry.
With the rise of hip-hop in India, many artists are finding success in terms of building an audience, but they are still unable to make a living. OTP aims to solve that problem using NFTs combined with innovative technology allowing any individual to purchase an NFT using local payment gateways or credit card.
The first collection features trading card avatars of 10 premiere hip-hop artists across the country and is designed to empower both the artists and their fans. Each card is directly linked to an artist and will give the owner real-world benefits such as exclusive event access or video shout outs, in addition to holding value of the NFT itself.
The NFT and cryptocurrency industries have seen massive growth over the past year, with India becoming the country with the most cryptocurrency holders in the world – over 100 million as of November, 2021.
“We really want to cut out the middleman,” Co-Founder and Hip-Hop Artist Jay Kila says. “If you look at the music industry today it is very difficult to understand how to make money – especially for an independent artist. Streaming rates are incredibly low and record labels don’t really work in an artist’s favor. OTP is a community where fans can directly support their favorite artists and still benefit themselves. The incentives go both ways.”
With the first release currently being rolled out, OTP is already in talks with over a dozen other Indian artists for the next drop.
“Over the next 6 months you are going to see almost every big artist come out with their own NFT,” says Ajinkya Haldankar, Co-Founder. “This is great as the awareness of this space is spreading, but one issue is a lot of these projects lack intrinsic value. With OTP we wanted to build something substantial that isn’t just about one artist, but the entire hip-hop community. We also wanted to make NFTs that hold real-world value for their owners – as well as being accessible to the masses.”
“The plan is to empower as many artists as possible," says Jay Kila. "Being an independent artist today implies freedom – this should mean financial freedom as well.”
