JA RULE Joins Ranks Of Celebrities Embracing NFTs With Collection "Black is Beautiful"
JA RULE, the American rapper and actor, whose real name is Jeffrey Bruce Atkins, has joined the ranks of celebrities embracing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with a collection called "Black is Beautiful."
It has been reported that Rule, along with his business partner Herb Rice, said they would donate US$25,000 from initial sales of the collection to historically Black universities including Jackson State University, Morgan State University, Hampton University, Spelman College, and Morehouse College.
However, the rapper's entertainment company, ICONN Media, will match an additional US$25,000. Each of the selected schools has a personal tie to Rule and his collaborators, who operate under an entity known as The Painted House.
The report said that Rule's daughter is a Hampton alumna, and Rice's wife graduated from Morgan State. Other members include Deion Sanders, the head football coach at Jackson State, and TV personality Tanya Sam, who attended Spelman. Sam's husband graduated from Morehouse.
Rule said:
"Those were the schools that were on our radar for [those] reasons. This is just the spark—we're starting it. I pray that others will get on board with this movement."
Thus, according to The Painted House, that movement involves helping "communities of colour with access, education, and insights to empower the next generations of creative minds." In addition to the initial donation of US$50,000, Rule is considering investing in these universities' art programmes.
Source: Business Times