He is a fan of French rap and the Magic card game.
Paul Wallaert, founder of Yadeck, wanted to combine his passions.
In a few days, this French rap card game will be launched in a beta version, reserved for several selected players who can register on the site.
These cards are actually NFTs, these non-fungible digital tokens.
Depending on a rapper's ranking to the top album each week and their certifications, the card's value, power, and price vary.
A well-known and well-ranked rapper will embody a more powerful card than a lesser-known early-career rapper.
But the interest is also there: betting on an emerging artist is the opportunity to invest little in someone who can explode.
It will be possible to collect the cards, exchange them, resell them, or participate in competitions where two players compete in a duel with a "deck", a pack of 5 cards.
Each purchase will be at auction.
A floor price will be set for each level.
For example, the basic cards called "collectors", will be marketed from 2 euros.
A digital rap league for everyone
“
When we saw Sorare using NFTs as a tool
,
we thought it was really an interesting technological object
,” explains Paul Wallaert.
He launched the Yadeck project in 2021 with his brother Yann.
The investment company Athéna Family supported them with 2 million euros.
Since then, around twenty employees have been working on development.
They quickly collaborated with Amadou Ba and Florian Lecerf two collaborators of Booska-P, a rap magazine.
"They know the people in the industry, the record companies, it gave us good first contacts"
.
Yadeck was able to approach Warner Music France, with whom a partnership was created to obtain the rights to their artists.
But the site also wants to obtain the rights of independent rappers, many on the French scene and among emerging talents.
“We want to become the FIFA of French rap.
Every football player dreams of one day having his character in the game. For us, it must be the same model and rap is the only musical style that embodies confrontation particularly well
.
Read alsoKylian Mbappé invests in Sorare and his NFTs
For artists, there is a real interest in terms of communication.
“They will be able to reach a wider audience, an audience of investors who do not necessarily know the world of rap”
.
A commercial argument is created:
"Each production house, and therefore by redistribution each artist will receive royalties on a purchased card, without having to pay anything"
.
It is also an opportunity to federate its community, since each card sold will be coupled with a reward: dedications, CDs offered, meetings, listening in preview to concert tickets.
Cards with different levels of rarity and power will be offered in waves to players and collectors.
Yadeck
The CEO insists on the notion of accessibility.
“We wanted to use the polygon blockchain.
Ethereum fees were too high and we wanted to avoid the only buyers being those with large funds.
Everyone will be able to buy cards and follow the market to understand their value
”.
Thanks to a partnership with the Snep, Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique, Yadeck knows the sales of the artists and will deliver key information for the players.
Each album by an artist will be credited with 1100 cards, with different levels of rarity.
To balance possessions, they will be distributed in waves.
The project, which will be fully launched at the end of 2022, intends to develop on all sides.
“We are going to change the recipe.
There will surely be cards of a different kind that will be added, such as beatmakers - those who compose the instrumentals of rap tracks - or former rappers who are no longer producing.
From 2023, a one-on-one game mode will be offered for the curious, without them having to buy a card.
A mobile application is also under development
.
In the more distant future Paul Wallaert also has the ambition to export his recipe to the rap markets of other countries, notably the United States, masters of the genre, or Germany.
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