Now I know what you’re probably thinking: Shanelle, what the hell is an NFT and why is Jay-Z suing over it?
Well, I’ve got two answers for you. Number one, I don’t exactly know what an NFT is but I will try my best to explain it to you. No. 2, Jay-Z is suing over it because apparently—it’s a big deal. Like, a really big deal.
You see, according to Page Six, the “Apeshit” rapper filed a lawsuit over the weekend in New York’s Southern District court against the Roc-a-fella Records cofounder in an effort to halt the NFT sale of his debut 1996 album, Reasonable Doubt. Per The Verge’s Mitchell Clark, an NFT is a “non-fungible token” that is unique and can’t be replaced with anything else. They’re a part of the Ethereum blockchain, a type of cryptocurrency, that supports these NFTs and stores extra information that makes them work differently from anything else.
In the suit, Hov and his lawyers assert that Dash stole the copyright to his album and minted it as an NFT to sell at an auction that was set to be held two days from now. After getting wind of this, Jay-Z’s lawyers were able to get the auction house to cancel the sale but claims that Dash is still “frantically scouting for another venue to make the sale.”
“The sale of this irreplaceable asset must be stopped before it is too late, and Dash must be held accountable for his theft,” court papers allege.
Since Dash is only partial owner of the album (Jay-Z and Kareem “Biggs” Burke are the co-owners), Hov’s legal team is arguing that he has no “right to sell the copyright or any individual ownership interests in Reasonable Doubt.”
This news comes the same week as the album’s 25th anniversary which just so happens to be this Friday.
Dame Dash has since responded, telling TMZ that it’s not just the album he’s trying to sell, but his entire Roc-A-Fella stake. Dash also claims that Jay-Z’s lawsuit is “full of inaccuracies” and that “The Story of O.J.” rapper previously tried to buy Dash’s shares but the price was too low.
If he gets his way and is able to move forward with the sale, Dame Dash says, “Under the terms of the deal with a potential buyer, the buyer would buy my share of Roc a Fella Records and Jay-Z will have exclusive administration rights.”