So Crazy Frog is back. Yes, the bizarre naked frog that danced around the mid-2000s has returned in 2021 with a new hit single and promising a brand new album sometime in next year. That's according to a press release that arrived alongside the new single, "Tricky."
In keeping with Crazy Frog's MO, "Tricky" is a Eurodance remix of Run DMC's "It's Tricky." The music video was released last Thursday and has already managed to sucker 1.5 million people into watching it, yours truly included.
Honestly, someone trying to revive a bizarre millennial fad really isn't the worst thing 2021 has done to society. NFTs are much worse, and Crazy Frog is entirely unrepentant for jumping on the crypto bandwagon.
Crazy Frog has already been subject to several "unofficial" NFT launches, which the official Crazy Frog Twitter account has declared to be scams. The real Crazy Frog NFT drops on December 23 on the Metabeats network, which describes itself as "an NFT marketplace and digital reality platform that combines social media, online gaming, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and cryptocurrencies to allow users to interact virtually."
To cut through the buzzwords, Metabeats will let people purchase music NFTs--basically music files that have been declared unique for being associated with a number on a blockchain. There's nothing particularly special about the music file itself, other than you can only listen to it on Metabeats and it has your name on it. Unless you decide to sell it, then someone else will have their name on it. Meanwhile, anyone can still listen to the song on YouTube, Spotify, or any other streaming service you care to mention.
As with most NFTs, you're really paying for the idea of possessing a thing rather than the thing itself.
Which is why people really hate NFTs in general, but especially because maintaining this illusion of ownership requires energy--energy that often comes from burning hydrocarbons that contribute to global climate change.
And as with most NFT announcements, Crazy Frog has been hit with a fair amount of flack. But unlike some, Crazy Frog is leaning into the hate. "Won't cancel the NFTs," promised Crazy Frog after noting he's still the most hated frog in the world even after his 15-year hiatus.
Crazy Frog's NFTs arrive on Metabeats December 23. You can pre-register your interest on Metabeats now, as well as another NFT drop for Gummy Bear on January 1. They're not scams, unless you consider NFTs to generally be a scam. Which, in a sense, they kinda are.