The Bored Ape Yacht Club can now count the real Slim Shady as one of its members.
Eminem, the rapper/entrepreneur/entertainer whose real name is Marshall Mathers, has paid roughly $462,000 for one of the non-fungible token ape drawings, quickly making the ape his Twitter profile picture.
The purchase occurred last Thursday and is part of a larger collection owned by the artist. His Shady Holdings alias on OpenSea owns 22 NFTs as of midday Monday, including eight purchased at the start of the year. The BAYC NFT appears to be the biggest, though, selling for just over 123 Ether.
The art bears a striking resemblance to Eminem, with the ape wearing a hat that’s virtually identical to one Mathers is frequently seen wearing in photographs. It’s also wearing what appears to be a gold chain.
Mathers hasn’t discussed the transaction on social media (unlike, for instance, Snoop Dogg, who unveiled himself as NFT kingpin Cozomo de’ Medici in September). But a representative of Web 3 digital agency Six tweeted the firm had helped Eminem buy “the EminApe.” And BAYC member GeeGazza tweeted he had sold the NFT to the artist. (He’s been lobbying Eminem to buy the NFT since July.)
Eminem’s previous investments have been on the more traditional side, ranging from a sneaker startup called StockX to a pop-up diner/merchandise store called Mom’s Spaghetti.
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