The 'Books of Ye' NFT Project - a Series of Bible-Themed NFTs Starring Kanye West
NFTs as an expression of meme culture and the cult of celebrity
In 2015, three brothers attended a Kanye West concert.
Awestruck by the spectacle of the show and inspired by the artist’s presence and confidence, the brothers decided to create and sell a piece of conceptual art in tribute to the rapper - The Book of Yeezus was born.
Their artistic creation took the form of a customized print of the Book of Genesis from the Bible. Within it, each instance of ‘God’ was replaced with ‘Kanye’ or ‘Yeezus’.
Their book was created as a comment on modern religiosity and society’s tendency to deify and worship celebrities as though they were the gods of the modern era. It seemed a fitting way of reflecting Kanye’s desire to portray himself as a god-like figure:
The Book of Yeezus sold thousands of copies upon its release. It drew widespread coverage within the mainstream media, as well as speculation that Kanye himself was behind the project. Printing ceased in 2017 but second hand copies of the book still sell for hundreds of dollars.
In 2022, the creative force behind The Book of Yeezus returned with a new project - The Books of Ye.
An anonymous collective of 2D and 3D artists who have previously worked with brands including Prada, Dior and Adidas, decided that their next series of Bible-themed, Kanye-infused creations would employ the hottest artistic medium of the day - NFTs.
The Books of Ye NFT series represents another excellent example where established artists and creators are embracing NFTs as the medium through which to engage with their audience and to convey their message, through their art.
As Marshall McLuhan put it in 1964:
“The medium is the message.”
The rise and rise of NFTs
NFTs have exploded into the public consciousness in the last couple of years, and the marketplace continues to grow exponentially. In 2021, over $22 billion was spent on NFTs and there are no signs of that growth slowing.
Drawn by the abundance of opportunity (or perhaps by FOMO), a steady stream of investors are buying their first NFTs in the hope of backing the next CryptoPunks. At the same time, animators, illustrators, photographers and film-makers alike are minting and launching their NFT projects, hoping to ride the wave of enthusiasm and financial success.
To cynical observers, many of the best known examples of NFT would be aptly described as little more than ‘mass-produced JPEGs’.
Those who understand the principles of NFTs, recognize that the generative minting of collections such as Bored Apes and Alien Frens using blockchain computer code, makes each example within a limited series more complex and intricate than they may at first seem. The rarity of each NFT, and the utility, benefits and bonuses that come with it are what gives it value and makes it desirable to collectors.
The creative teams behind NFT collections often hide behind online pseudonyms and avatar images, shrouding their true identities from collectors. That was certainly the case for the founders of Yuga Labs - the force behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club until recently when its founders, known as Gordon Goner and Gargamel were revealed as two young guys from Florida.
For every project that seeks to mimic those that have come (and succeeded) before it (see CyberKongz, Prime Ape Planet or a plethora of other ape-themed NFT collections that seem derivative of the Bored Ape Yacht Club) there are good examples where successful artists of some renown and with an established following are embracing NFTs as the medium through which to express their creativity and convey their message.
That seems to be the case for The Books of Ye.
NFTs as an expression of meme culture
The modern era will be remembered for many things, both good and bad. One undeniable facet of modern-life is the unprecedented volume of information and opinion that’s thrust into our consciousness.
Some of this comes from conventional sources - our collective faith and belief in the quality, reliability and impartiality of information provided by the mainstream media appears to be dwindling rapidly. At the same time, influencers and celebrities generate seemingly endless streams of content too.
Memes emerge from both of these sources of information, and often end up being more memorable than the events or moments that gave rise to them.
Arguably, the entire presidency of Donald Trump demonstrated the power of memes. Many of the more significant and cringeworthy episodes from those four years have been distilled into meme-able moments, videos and soundbites.
The rise-and-rise (and eventual fall) of so-called meme stocks like GameStop and AMC cinemas happened because of the potential for the internet to enable communication, collaboration and collusion amongst complete strangers.
Celebrity influencers have made careers out of being famous for being famous, with little in the way of charisma or discernible skills to justify the exposure and following that many have amassed. All it seems to take to gain a following and to influence large numbers of people is the ability to harness the mood of a collective, and to tap into that in a way that captures their imaginations. Memes are the perfect means for achieving such ends.
It’s little surprise then that there’s such a clear intersect between meme culture and the world of NFTs. This was proven when the stars of many of the internet’s best-known memes recognized the potential and chose to mint and sell NFTs for these moments in history, often for significant sums of money.
Taking this to the next level, The Books of Ye is demonstrating how NFTs can be employed as the go-to artistic medium through which to express meme-culture.
The medium is as significant as the art Itself
The same has been true of art throughout time. Whether you subscribe to various artistic creations as being truly worthy of the label art or not, creators have always pushed the boundaries of what’s accepted and appreciated by the general public.
There was likely a time when the frescoes painted on ceilings of religious buildings and palaces were seen as frivolous, impractical, or excessively flamboyant. And yet, few who’ve had the pleasure of observing Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel would dispute that its impact is as much about the medium and the setting as it is about the painting itself. Admirers of that piece gaze towards heaven as they take in the imagery, confounded by the scale of it and the intricacy of the piece that took years to complete.
The same is true of works of art throughout history — their impact has been as much about the medium used to create them and the environment in which they’re displayed and experienced, as it is about the subject matter or the skills and artistry that went into their creation.
This seems to be at the root of why The Books of Ye has chosen NFTs as their artistic medium; employing cutting-edge blockchain technology as an expression of the ethos of one of it’s best-known and most notorious meme-able celebrities.
The Books of Ye
The NFTs within The Books of Ye reflect an evolution of the original inspiration behind the 2015 Book of Yeezus.
The creators behind the project have crafted 5 individual ‘Book of Moses’ - digital NFTs employing 3D graphics in the presentation of the book, with Kanye West featuring as the lead figure throughout the text and illustrations.
The project will also issue 1,000 digital 3D cards in five separate series’ - each card featuring an illustrated image from the Bible, once-again with stylized imagery containing Kanye’s likeness prominently displayed. The cards will be color-coded within each series - gold being the rarest within each drop.
According to The Books of Ye website, NFT owners will also gain access to a private blockchain-based viewing space where they can access their manuscript, read a foreword elaborating on the concept; view exquisite full-color illustrations depicting notable scenes from their Book and all backed by an original soundtrack.
Images and 3D videos of NFTs from within The Books of Ye can be viewed at the project’s website. A 2D image from one of the NFTs is included at the top of this post - ‘The Tower of Babel’.
A further example - ‘The Garden of Eden’ below demonstrates the style of artwork that’s been generated by the BoY team and which is incorporated in the digital 3D versions of the NFT cards.
The Books of Ye have been minted on the basis of original digital works of art rather than being generatively created by computer algorithms. As such the NFTs will be pre-minted and offered for sale via an NFT marketplace in drops of 200 at a time. The creators have offered limited spots for potential buyers to take part in a pre-sale which will likely increase anticipation and demand for the NFTs as they are released.
The series-size chosen by the creators behind the project is deliberately small compared to other projects that typically issue between 5,000-10,000 NFTs within a series. This reflects both the meticulous thought and craftsmanship that has gone into the creation of each NFT within the series, and also the higher than usual floor-price that its creators aspire to achieving via the NFTs. Each card will be sold initially for a price of 0.2 ETH.
The project originally intended to launch with an even smaller issue of 100 NFTs with a higher target floor-price of 4 ETH. After further consideration its founders felt that the same exclusivity could be achieved by minting and selling 10x the number of NFTs for a lower price. This will also allow more buyers to join the exclusive group of owners.
What happens next?
The NFT marketplace is in a period of intense growth, but also of radical innovation. It feels like a critical mass has been reached where enough people are aware of NFTs conceptually that we can expect that growth and enthusiasm to expand beyond the worlds of art and blockchain enthusiasts.
As The Books of Ye demonstrates, the growth is about more than just ‘more of the same’ - more than multiple projects generating and selling ape-themed JPEGs (for example).
It’s about creators deliberately choosing NFT as an artistic medium and then understanding and exploiting the synergies between it as a technology and the message that they are seeking to spread via their creations.
I’ll be watching the progress of The Books of Ye with interest.
Somewhere out there, I suspect that Kanye will be watching too!
You can find out more about The Books of Ye NFT project by visiting its website.
If you’re interested in learning more about the world of NFTs and the many ways you can get involved, check out the story below:
My eBook on Choosing and investing in NFT projects will also provide you with a method for evaluating a project as an investment once you’ve found one whose art you enjoy - Get the eBook here.