Asian hip hop mag LiFTED launches cover art NFT

With all the hype generated around NFTs right now, whether it be digital art, an EDM re-release or even a house, it’s no surprise a player from Asia’s thriving music scene steps in with big guns.

We talked to LiFTED Asia to walk us through their process of launching their first NFT collective featuring American-Chinese rapper Bohan Phoenix. We hope this piece serves as a guide to get you safely at the top your NFT game. In case you are falling behind on the NFT hype, here is a little guide on the NFT craze and how it has become a new phenomenon in the art market.

As the NFT market is expanding immensely, there are now numerous NFT marketplaces, each with distinctive features to attract creators of all sorts to promote their arts. The following are the five most accessible NFT markets which are widely considered to be Mintable, Opensea,Superrare, Rarible and Mintable.

Opensea: Claiming as the largest NFT market, Opensea offers a wide range of digital collectibles from arts to trading cards, domains to virtual worlds. Running on the Etherium network, Opensea has a built-in minting tool that allows users to mint their items without experiencing the pain of coding, and by paying a small fee for gas (GWEI), you can get on without a fuzz.

Superare: Striving to build an Avante-Garde approach, Superrare differentiates itself by branding itself as the authentic platform where tokens are sold only in a single edition, meaning bootlegs are forbidden. Their editorial team will also introduce you to their curated lists of artists to maintain the artistry passageway. However, it implies there is a higher threshold for entry. Upon creating your profile, you will need to submit your portfolio and answer a bunch of questions as if you are interviewing for art schools before given permission to sell.

Rarible: Rarible is a “community-owned” NFT marketplace that operates solely of their own tokens: Rari. Like other marketplaces, Rarible is loaded with a variety of contents from digital arts to glossy memes. When you are making any transactions on Rarible, you will be required to transfer your assets (ETH) into the designated token. Service charges and additional expenses will be applied, so if you are seeking a platform with minimal disbursement, tread lightly because once your assets are converted, you will need to take an extra step to make it universal.

Mintable: Owned by entrepreneur and Shark Tank host Mark Cuban, Mintable is the marketplace with an easygoing user interface with, of course, a wide variety of digital collectibles. The biggest feature of Mintable would be its clarity, as you can directly locate and find the metadata of the token. However, you will have to set up a store first before minting your items and putting them on sale, and so far it has the slowest response when loading, which could be a huge disadvantage considering auctioning is a huge part of NFT trading.

Now, a crypto wallet is another necessity when it comes to NFT, as it is the tool to get access to store your assets and transactions. It is in fact usually the first thing Marketplaces will request access to connect with once you have created your profile. Metamask has been the most commonly-used application in the NFT field and can be easily set-up with a few clicks on your computer or mobiles, yet you may encounter technical difficulties and errors with Marketplaces as they might run on incompatible networks. Therefore get a wallet from prolific crypto platforms like Wallet Link and Trust first and have your Metamask wallet set up, run a few tests before you start minting, otherwise you will find yourself in a midst of confusion and ignorance (like we did).

When you are coursing through the overwhelming Ethereum network, you will notice there are millions of alternatives of ETH, and most of them have an overextending name like DJs from the 90s. Try to look for ERC-20. It defines a common list of rules that all Ethereum tokens must adhere to, thus making it the most universal blockchain as an ETH. You may wonder why as an artist do you have to acquire Eth to sell your art? As you are minting your item and uploading it for sale, marketplaces will ask you to pay for ‘gas’. To better explain it, ‘gas’ is like the handling fee you pay your banks. Before you invest your hard-earned gold into crypto, keep an eye on what exactly you are purchasing.

Some ETH such as BEP-2 might only be accessible and has no value outside of their designated networks and platforms. If you are a struggling artist with little to spare, try not to make any mistakes when purchasing ETH from trading platforms, otherwise you will literally have to pay the price for your negligence.

Now that you have every tool locked and loaded, do not under look the importance of your Wi-Fi’s stability. It might take mere seconds to over an hour to mint your item, and if your neighbor’s Wi-Fi you are stealing from is acting up, you will face the risk of losing all your process and starting over again. Starting over might result in having to mint again, and that would cost you more money.

It took the LiFTED team over 20 hours to successfully create and list the Bohan Phoenix cover as NFT, which is now exclusively listed on Opensea. As complicated as it could be, art is inherently risky. Happy minting everyone!