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Insights from Ibn Inglor, Musician and DAO Creator

One of the biggest challenges creators face in Web3 is knowing where and how to start promoting their project. Even if you have had great success in Web2 and other traditional domains, the NFT space presents an entirely new learning curve. So, we spoke with hip-hop artist and Web3- trailblazer Ibn Inglor. Ibn raised 20ETH ($92k at the time the funds were raised) through crowdsourcing, which went on to fund ‘DANGER ZONE’, and Danger Zone DAO. He shares his wisdom for aspiring creators with us in our intimate interview.

1. You are your brand

Power can be found in vulnerability. You will feel uncomfortable at first, but it is necessary to garner attention. Hit people up in the DMs. Speak up in Twitter Spaces. People want to hear the passion and purpose behind your project.

2. Create with a community

One of the biggest differences between Web2 and Web3 culture is the accessibility of the people behind the product. NFT holders are essentially investors in your company, and in Web3, they have a new level of access to you and your work. So, be as transparent as possible, and allow your community to feel valued and involved in the process.

3. Web2 success means nothing in Web3

What worked for you previously will not work for you now – the marketing, expectations of yourself as a founder, communication strategies – they’re all different. You need to be adaptable, and more than anything, you need to be willing to start all over again.

4. You do not have to do it alone

You do not have to do it alone. Build yourself a team – this is a whole new industry, and to be successful, you need to share the workload. Read on to discover more about Ibn and uncover his advice for aspiring creators.

Recently, we had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Hip-hop artist and Web3- trailblazer Ibn Inglor. As a musician since 2013, Ibn’s projects have gained the attention of some major publications, including Hypebeast, Noisey, and The FADER Magazine. It’s no surprise that his work has been so alluring, with his dark and dramatic production style being compared to that of the iconic Kanye West.

Now, Ibn is bringing his ingenuity to Web3. After successfully crowdfunding 20 ETH through Mirror.xyz, the creative artist used the funds to create ‘DANGER ZONE’, and began Danger Zone DAO — one of the first creator DAOs. Once cited as ‘too ambitious without enough support’, Ibn has gone on to create that support for himself from the ground up, using the power of Web3 to grow his community.

Through our discussion with the committed creator, we explored the work that led to his success. Ibn talks about the grind behind the scenes, the power of community collaboration, and how vulnerability helped him to achieve his goals. His beginnings in Web3, together with his wisdom for aspiring creators, are shared below for all aspiring creators to read.

(If you would like to follow Ibn on his journey, check out his Bonfire account here: https://ibn.xyz).

Ibn’s NFT journey began in March of this year. However, he did not dive in straight away - instead, he absorbed the space for a few months, before fully immersing himself in May. From then on, Ibn became fully engaged with Web3, from selling his music NFTs on Catalog, to spending all night communicating in Discord. Ibn soon recognized the networking potential of the NFT space, and so was heavily invested in being active on both Discord and Twitter. As many Web3 creators know, this constant ‘grinding’ can take its toll, and Ibn describes struggling with the pressure to be seen in Twitter Spaces.

“Twitter spaces is pretty much where I had my biggest hurdle, I would say, like getting over my public speaking anxiety was the thing that kind of got the crowd.”

Still, despite his anxieties, Ibn did not let this deter his vision. After being in the NFT space for a while, Ibn came across Mirror.xyz one night, and was immediately inspired to get on the platform and open a crowdfunding pool. Compelled to create his pitch, he wrote it without any hesitation, before going back over every sentence and every word of his pitch to ensure that he told his story. This needed not to only describe what Ibn was building, but who Ibn is, and where he has come from.

“I really had to make it to a way that it was very easy to read and come across straightforward and just straight to the point about me, my story, where I'm from.”

Throughout our discussion, one thing was clear — Ibn is Ibn. There are no facades; when speaking with Ibn, he gives you his all. This sets him apart, as his openness and willingness to share his story inevitably led to his success.

With the crowdfunding pool open, he did not sit back and wait for people to find him. Instead, Ibn set out to find investors, reaching out to the contacts he had made through his networking efforts. He describes contacting “any and everybody I could who had open dms.” Some people responded, and some didn’t. Still, that didn’t stop him from sending those messages, because even if only one out of one hundred people responded, that was one more person who knew who he was and his story. Ibn describes this ‘grind’ as similar to the work he put in Web2.- In Web2 he would hit up publications and editors to have his music featured, and so in Web3 he used the same tactic, reaching out to influential people and publications through DMs.

He also became more committed to Twitter Spaces, and telling his story over and over again, all through the day and night. If you’re a Twitter Space enthusiast, you will know that shill spaces are common, and often filled with creators trying to sell their latest work by telling you what it is and why you should buy it. Ibn took a different approach. By opening up and being vulnerable, he lets people get to know him personally, and understand not only what he is creating but why. Ibn says that it was not easy to be vulnerable, but he realised that he had to ‘get over’ himself.

“No one can tell the story but me. People want… people have to hear it from me to really believe it and understand the passion behind it and what I'm saying and why I'm doing what I'm doing.”

As Ibn has divulged, he is very open and honest with his fans and supporters about his work. Ibn’s transparency is key to his journey, and so after successfully crowdfunding 20 ETH ($92k at the time the funds were raised), he continued to keep the community involved in the progress. Those people who resonated with Ibn’s story and decided to back the crowdfund were welcomed into the production process — they witnessed the creation of Danger Zone in real-time. The musician even gave them access to mixes on SoundCloud as they were being worked on. From this, the DAO was born. In fact, Ibn did not even know what a DAO was until the community began to ask about a Creator DAO. The musician once described as not having enough support had created a whole team, all through the magic of NFTs.

Now that Ibn has made a name for himself, he could choose to sit back and let growth happen through word of mouth. However, looking at all that Ibn has done, this is not his style. He is still approaching new faces, reaching out in DMs, and committing to the hustle. In fact, Ibn says, “I feel like it's even more work that has to be done now than it was prior to the crowdfund being launched.” From fleshing out concepts for songs to finishing and mastering the EP, DANGER ZONE was a lot of work. After you become funded (whether through crowdfunding or a successful NFT project mint) there is pressure to produce what you promised to create. So, to keep the community feeling involved, Ibn continued with the same vulnerability he started with.

As a musician since 2013, Ibn had an existing fan base outside of Web3. So, when starting out, he was excited to share his new ventures with his friends and fans. However, onboarding did not always go to plan. The NFT space presents a huge learning curve for newcomers, and that can be intimidating. You have to adapt and grow, and unfortunately, not everyone is ready to make the move.

“The web3 mentality that you have to adapt when you get into this space is something that I feel like a lot of the people…didn't wanna fully adapt. And so they kind of fell off you know, being interested in it.”

With existing fan bases reluctant to explore Web3, artists can often feel that they are starting all over again. Therefore, a successful career in Web2 means nothing in Web3 — and this can catch many creators off guard. So, if you are an established artist, prepare yourself to build your reputation and community from scratch all over again.

“Ultimately the sad truth is you have to start from ground zero in this space. So a lot of artists that have fan bases or something going on in Web2, starting from ground zero is something they definitely don't want to do at all. Starting that grind all over again is the steepest hill to go up as an artist. So I think there's like, ‘I'm gonna stick with what I got going on and this is what's working for me’. And, I feel you.”

Finally, when asked for any last advice for aspiring Web3 creators, Ibn had so much more wisdom to share. To sum it up — Ibn’s advice is simply to learn. Learn the basics of the space and how the technology works. Absorb everything you can about cryptocurrencies, blockchains, DAOs and existing NFTs. Do not try to jump in without first understanding the ecosystem that you are joining. Then, once you are ready to make the move, do so with honesty and integrity, and above all — be yourself.

“Rock it out how you rock it out, how you necessarily see it best fitting for your personality. Cuz I tell people like, come correct or don't come at all, You know, meaning — Hey, come with knowing who you are before you get into this space. And if you don't necessarily know who you are just yet, you can possibly find yourself.”

Finally, Ibn stresses that you do not have to do this alone. As a talented musician and creator, he has clearly worked hard and pushed himself to the limit to get to where he is today, and so he wants others to understand that there is power in collaboration.

“It's important for artists though, to understand that they don’t have to do it alone. You know, I think a lot of times NFT artists feel like they have to kind of be like this one-man army. And I think a lot of artists, especially in the music space are learning that, hey, like you still need management, you still need a team, you still need help doing certain things, right? It's a whole new industry or business model. It's just a new financial vehicle for creators, and creator teams to be able to monetize their work and own their IP. That's essentially what web3 is doing. It's empowering creators.”

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