In 2016, Young Paris caught the eye of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation owning to his electrifying performances. He has since gone on to work with global artists like Tiwa Savage, Olamide, Skales, Jay Park, Wizkid and Trinidad James.
In addition to music, Paris is marking his mark in entrepreneurship through a series of investment in real estate and the NFT space. His venture into the newly emerging world of Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) is geared towards creating opportunities for blacks, he says.
In February this year, he released a one-of-a-kind NFT collection dubbed the Syndicated Cat Club (SCC). NFTs are pieces of data, be it images or audio files, which are stored on a blockchain. Over the years, many celebrities like Jay-Z and Akon among others have invested in NFTs or metaverse.
Paris’ new digital art collection on the Ethereum blockchain network consist of 9999 bespoke cat creatures with features reminiscent of the Big Screen.
Why venture into NFTs? Paris says it is simple. He wants to create a direct relationship with his supporters since it allows fans and investors to buy a collection and help artists raise money for a project.
“Just imagine all these artists that can now have their fans buying their music before it’s even out,” he told Phoenixmag. “And then having the money to reinvest into way better music videos and way better concerts. It’s just going to make the art world and music and entertainment way better.”
Paris says he wants more black creatives to embrace NFT as under-represented artists can tap into this market to make significant profit.
“I’d like to see more Black creatives in the NFT space because so many amazing under-represented artists can tap into this market and profit from the high liquidity and potential return of owning these tokens,” Paris told Forbes. “NFT’s are a unique and very profitable space for all artists. I’d like to use my platform to encourage more Black designers, musicians, and creatives to get on board.”
Young Paris is Congolese, French-born and New York-bred artist whose multicultural influences show in his music just as much as in his style. His music is a mix of EDM, hip-hop and African music while his wardrobe combines streetwear with tribal prints and face paint.
“My sound comes from my cultural background I am Congolese, I grew up in Paris by way of Congo and my father co-founded national ballet in Congo so I grew up with a strong traditional influence,” he told Harperbazaar.
“Just growing up in the neighborhood and living in New York, hip hop culture was my dynamic and I just also love going to parties and listening to EDM. So I just thought I could mix these different vibrations into what I thought I could display my sound to be and that’s pretty much what you hear.”
Paris was recently featured as one of the “Meet The Next Generation Of Black Leaders And Entrepreneurs” by Forbes.
