Celebrities are appearing in the metaverse in record numbers.
From rappers to athletes, to businessmen and social media stars, celebrities are realizing that the Web3 experience is the wave of the future. And as a result, they’re staking their claim in the virtual reality world while they can.
Not every celebrity understands the concept, however — and that can sometimes lead to classic, and hilarious, comments.
For example, when Snoop Dogg announced that he was joining the metaverse, he was very specific about how he explained it to Kevin Hart.
“I built a whole metaverse called ‘The Sandbox,’” the Death Row Records capo said to the stand-up comedian. He also said he didn’t know s**t about it, but that he was “getting this money,” which is exactly the type of iconic thing you’d expect The Doggfather to say. (You’d also expect him to subsequently put Death Row Records into the metaverse, and that’s exactly what he did.)
Some celebrities, however, know a lot more about the metaverse than others. Wu-Tang Clan’s own Method Man, for instance, has built a whole virtual universe of his own. The self-proclaimed comics fan first entered the Web3 world with an NFT collection that featured him as a Marvel-style superhero, which was such a rousing success that he recently launched the second phase of his “MEFA-Verse.”
“We literally lifted 20 of the main characters from the graphic novel and made 20x mini-collections consisting of 420 variations and unique traits of each for a total of 8400 variations. Crazy!” Method Man said, according to the press release shared with AfroTech.
Aside from Method Man and Snoop Dogg, there are plenty of other celebrities you can find in the metaverse. Here are just a few of them.
Jay-Z
As AfroTech previously reported, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation entered the metaverse with their investment in SENSO of Sensorium Galaxy. The project is being described as a digital metaverse that fuses virtual reality and blockchain cryptocurrency technology.
Swae Lee
As AfroTech previously reported, the five-time Grammy nominee has gone from the Hip-Hop universe to the metaverse, as he’s been named the CEO of SYN CITY, a Mafia-themed metaverse platform.
Lil Baby
After initially saying that he didn’t want to ever be paid in cash again, Lil Baby entered the metaverse by teaming up with Nas and Gunna to invest $60M in a Series A funding round for a company that invests in metaverse real estate. Then, as AfroTech subsequently reported, he joined a 420-friendly NFT club called the Crypto Cannabis Club.
Gunna
Speaking of Gunna, AfroTech previously reported that the rapper and philanthropist was interested in entering the metaverse — so he purchased more than $300K worth of NFTs and teased that he’d be releasing his own line of NFTs in the near future. He also joined forces with Snoop Dogg and Timbaland to invest in Yuga Labs’ $450M funding round, bringing the metaverse company to unicorn status.
Lebron James — And His Son, Bronny
When it comes to the metaverse, it’s a family affair in the James household. In addition to Lebron’s various trademark filings that suggest his entry into the metaverse, his son Bronny is also reportedly getting into the game.
Rick Ross
Rapper-turned-entrepreneur — and frequent Wingstop franchisee — Rick Ross will be entering the metaverse in a very different way. As AfroTech previously reported, Wingstop has filed trademarks allowing participants in the metaverse to buy its chicken…virtually. Yep.
Nipsey Hussle
The estate of the “Racks in the Middle” rapper has ensured that his legacy will live on forever…even in the metaverse. As AfroTech previously reported, unreleased tracks of Nipsey Hussle’s have now been made available in the metaverse.
Rihanna
She’s gonna run this town tonight! As AfroTech previously reported, Rihanna recently filed trademarks to make her smash hit makeup line, Fenty Beauty, available for purchase in the metaverse.
Floyd Mayweather
Yes, even “Money Mayweather” is getting into the metaverse. As AfroTech previously reported, the boxer recently announced that he’d be returning to the ring in the spring of 2022…but he’d be doing so in the metaverse.
Shaquille O'Neal
As AfroTech previously reported, Shaquille O’Neal filed a bunch of trademarks to announce his entry into the metaverse back in December 2021.
