alternative press wicked craniums nft covers
[Alternative Press/The Wicked Craniums]

AltPress and Wicked Craniums team up for first-ever NFT covers

In celebration of NFT Week 2021, Alternative Press has announced the unveiling of its first-ever NFT magazine cover, featuring The Wicked Craniums. Developed in partnership with the Craniums and their community, the end result is an ultra-limited first-of-its-kind cover exclusively available as an NFT. The collection is available at the time of this announcement and will be limited to 420 pieces of six different covers, plus 69 NFTs that will be given away through airdrops to the community.

Just one week after announcing our 400th cover, Alternative Press’ new release continues a storied history that has led us to feature hundreds of cover artists since our founding in 1985.

Read more: Angels & Airwaves announce exclusive NFT livestream ‘LIFEFORMS’ concert

nft cover wicked craniums group
[Alternative Press/The Wicked Craniums
This new launch builds on that legacy and further signals AP’s continued support of the NFT community and the metaverse. It also reflects our commitment to bringing all things alternative to our loyal readers and community, especially when it comes to music, art and their intersection in the metaverse.

NFT.NYC is a week-long celebration of the NFT community. Collectors from around the world meet up to attend events and discuss all things connected to the metaverse. Held for the second year, the annual event has been heralded as a turning point for culture, challenging conventions in the art world and creating new opportunities for creators and fans alike to connect with each other. The record-breaking event also featured dozens of speakers from within the community, including Quentin Tarantino, who launched his own line of Pulp Fiction NFTs.

Wicked Craniums focuses on experience and music and has been hosting exclusive events for their community, including Bone Shake, where the skulls rage together in real life and the metaverse, blending the lines of reality. During NFT.NYC, prominent members of the Cranium community, the founders and AP met in a secret society-style dinner to celebrate and share the news of this upcoming cover launch and the future of the alternative community in the NFT and crypto space.

Read more: These 12 platforms are the best places to buy and sell NFT art pieces

Of the project, the Craniums team expressed excitement about the collaboration.

“Wicked Craniums has planted a flag in the NFT space with dedication to innovative tech and has established a community of rebels with a focus on music,” they say. “As an artist that grew up casing the newsstand for the latest AP, it blows my mind to be able to collab with the magazine that represents the ideals and energy WC stands for. Being on the front cover feels like a dream and is a big win for the space overall, but it also shows how AP has constantly been on the cutting edge of what’s new and exciting. We’re so excited for the future we’re building together.”

Wicked Craniums is known as one of the most music-focused and artist-friendly projects in the space. Well-known community members include huge artists from multiple genres, such as M. Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold), Joel Madden (Good Charlotte), Steve Aoki, Marshmello and more. The Craniums have expressed future plans for utility around the music community and felt the AP cover was validation that their love of alternative and rock music was an important part of their personality.

Read more: Exclusive interview: Avenged Sevenfold’s game-changing Deathbats Club

Cranium holder and longtime NFT collector M. Shadows and Avenged Sevenfold recently announced their Deathbats Club NFT line. Designed to provide a unique form of fan engagement as well as education about NFTs, A7X saw the unique potential in the community. Of the project, M. Shadows noted that they were capable of delivering a unique fan experience through the platform.

“If you have this, you also get exclusive merch drops,” he says. “You get to go to parties on yachts. You get to go to parties in Vegas. It’s basically your ticket into a club. I thought, ‘We have a fanbase who want music and access to us.’ We’ve had 20 years of building goodwill with our fans, and they always want stuff — Zoom calls, guitar lessons from Syn [Gates, A7X guitarist], giveaways, exclusive merchandise, everything.”

Read more: Good Charlotte and Clay Mates tease exclusive Halloween NFT collection

Madden, also an outspoken supporter of the community, recently brought his own unique angle to NFTs. Ahead of Halloween, Good Charlotte revealed their first creative offering in the Cardano space, a collaboration with the CNFT project Clay Mates and their Clay Nation collection. The unique “Trick or Treat”-themed drop was exclusive to Clay Nation holders and reflected the band’s passion for NFTs, as well as their deep roots in the music world and their relationship, especially with the CNFT community.

altpress wicked craniums merch
[Alternative Press/The Wicked Craniums
This special AP cover is available to mint here. For more info, visit The Wicked Craniums’ website and their community Discord. A limited merch collaboration is also available in the AP merch store while supplies last.

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