Now that Juneteenth is officially a federal holiday, companies are getting in on the wave. Whether this is a good or a bad thing remains to be seen, but one of the first companies to honor the newly minted holiday has stepped up to the plate.
In a press release announcement, it was revealed that Jadu, a leading mobile augmented reality platform known for creating hyper-realistic holographic performances of musicians such as Lil Nas X, announced the release of a collection of NFT holograms themed around Black artists performing some of this decade’s most impactful dances.
Jalaiah Harmon, who created the “Renegade” dance that garnered more than 5 billion views on TikTok, is the first to be immortalized in honor of Juneteenth.
Harmon, who first became famous when Charli D’Amelio ripped off the “Renegade” and claimed it as her own, was revealed to be the creator of the dance by Taylor Lorenz of The New York Times. Michelle Obama also tweeted out support for the teenager after the controversy came to light.
Cookiee Kawaii, who created the “Throwback” dance and garnered more than 2 billion views on TikTok, also got honored with an NFT hologram in honor of Juneteenth.
Blanco Brown grew up in Atlanta, Georgia listening to both Hip Hop artists like Outcast and country music artists such as Johnny Cash. Although he found great success in his career producing for artists like Chris Brown and Pitbull, it wasn’t until he combined his two favorite genres in his single “The Git Up” that he created a viral sensation. Brown filmed himself performing a line dance to the song that quickly became a meme on TikTok and has since raked in over 2.5 billion views on the platform.
The holograms in this collection are now also available for free on Jadu’s mobile app. Using augmented reality, fans can now bring these artists to their own spaces to share their presence with these artists, create their own videos and be a part of cultural history.
On Juneteenth, NFT collectors can also begin to bid on the holograms on OpenSea.
