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Hey! I can't get enough of NBA drama right now, I can't even lie. The NBA Top 75 list has sparked plenty of debate in my group chats. Two Los Angeles Lakers teammates had to be separated mid-game. The Philadelphia 76ers and Ben Simmons continue their standoff. And Kyrie Irving's vaccine decision has led to protests outside Barclays Center! It's wild.

In entertainment, most "prestige TV" or high-brow shows are dressed-up soap operas. The only difference is the A-List stars and high-production quality. The NBA is no different, especially with those 8K cameras.

The weekly Trapital Memo keeps you posted on the moves that matter in the business of hip-hop. Today's memo covers a few topics: my Trapital Podcast interview with Zack O'Malley Greenburg, The Weeknd's elevation to stadium status Coinbase's moves with the culture, and Wu Tang Clan's one-of-one album "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" getting bought by a DAO for $4 million.

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new Trapital podcast: Zack O'Malley Greenburg

Zack, the New York Times best-selling author of 3 Kings, Empire State of Mind, and A-List Angels, came on the Trapital Podcast to talk about his transition from Forbes to Substack, hip-hop net worth calculations, his new book We Are All Musicians Now, and our predictions on who hip-hop's next billionaire will be.

Tap into the Trapital Podcast here.

The Weeknd levels up to stadium status

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The"Blinding Lights" singer postponed his After Hours tour from Winter 2022 to Summer 2022 to upgrade his shows from arenas to stadiums. Sidenote - this is one of my favorite music business topics. Venue selection is the perfect mix of economics, artistic preference, and risk tolerance.

The worthwhile shift. The jump from arenas to stadiums is big. Stadiums are often 2-3x the size and cost to rent. Artists need to be sure they can sell enough seats to justify it.

Here's what I wrote in 2018 on Beyonce, who upgraded from arenas to stadiums for her 2016 Formation Tour and grossed $256 million in revenue from 49 shows in 5 months (compared to $230 million from 132 shows in 12 months for Mrs. Carter World Tour). She saved a lot of time in the process:

Similarly, this upgrade gives The Weeknd more time to promote and drop his next album in advance, continue investing in startups, build up XO Records, and more.

The slight caveat for The Weeknd though is the money he may have lost on deposits for the arenas he booked. But the overall number is still a net positive.

The loss of intimacy. Stadium concerts are economical for artists but can be less convenient for fans. They are often in NFL stadiums that are outside city limits. Personally, I've been to several shows in San Francisco and Oakland concerts on short notice. But it takes a LOT more effort to get down to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. I've sent my fair share of "Can't make it but y'all enjoy!" texts when needed.

Drake once said that a lack of intimacy was one of the reasons he doesn't perform in stadiums. But that said, Drake did 8 arena shows in Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center combined! For someone like Drake, who has had multiple leg injuries at this point, stadiums would help him achieve less with more.

The right balance. It will be a great test for The Weeknd, but also for hip-hop stars. There's still skepticism that hip-hop fans will stream your music but they won't show up for your concerts. If his stadium tour sells out across the board, it can continue to pave the way for other artists like him who have the numbers and proof points to maximize their live performance revenue.

Read more about this in Why Choosing the Right Concert Venue Matters.

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Coinbase extends into the culture

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In recent weeks, the cryptocurrency exchange has announced partnerships with the NBA, WNBA, UnitedMasters, and announced an NFT marketplace. The company wants in on the creator economy, but it wants to profit off the same culture that it has struggled to support.

The brand extension. From a pure business perspective, these moves make perfect sense.

Coinbase is the de facto exchange for cryptocurrency. Since announcing the NFT marketplace, the waitlist is longer than the active users on DeepSea, the most popular NFT marketplace at the moment. It's a smart brand extension.

Coinbase is already a step in the customer journey for NFT purchases, so this marketplace captures more value and reduces friction for customers. Plus, both NFT marketplaces and cryptocurrency exchanges charge transaction fees, so the business models are aligned.

Plus, UnitedMasters, NBA, and WNBA all capture the rise of cryptocurrency in Black culture. UnitedMasters is especially popular with hip-hop artists (who can encourage their fans to use the platform). And both the NBA and WNBA have a majority of Black players and a plurality of Black fans. Coinbase will likely lean into hip-hop culture the same way Cash App did. It wants to be the default option for the folks who say "pay me in Bitcoin.

The need for cultural alignment. Coinbase's stock is approaching its IPO peaks, so the markets have responded well. But cultural partnerships like these need cultural alignment. And Coinbase's track record has been questionable at best.

Here's a brief timeline:

• June 2020: a group of Coinbase employees walked out after CEO Brain Armstrong did not initially make a statement in the wake of George Floyd's murder
• September 2020: Armstrong wrote a Medium post that says that the company won't engage in societal and political issues because it is "unrelated to our core mission, because we believe impact only comes from focus"
• October 2020: 60 employees (5%) left the company after Armstrong's remarks.
• November 2020: New York Times reports on struggles that Black employees at Coinbase faced, including racial and discriminatory treatment.

Companies should love Black people the same way that they love Black culture. Coinbase is not alone here, but it's another example of the disconnect. Just because Nas and Snoop Dogg cashed out on its IPO doesn't make it better for the actual employees.

Coinbase @coinbase I'm like the outcast of the new school Spent about three stacks on a Bitcoin, ayy… October 20th 2021 338 Retweets 3,340 Likes

Ah, the Wale lyrics!

The good thing is that Coinbase's partners likely want the same. UnitedMasters, NBA, or WNBA wouldn't have partnered with them otherwise. It could be a great opportunity to have both internal and external cultures aligned.

These challenges may seem less relatively impactful for its NFT launch, but Coinbase could soon become the destination for hip-hop or basketball stars selling NFTs. The more aligned its culture is, the easier that transition will be.

Read more about Coinbase's plans in The Verge​

Wu-Tang's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is Sold for $4M

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Last week, the New York hip-hop group's one-of-a-kind album was sold for $4 million to a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) called PleasrDAO, which is a group of NFT investors. The previous owner was a pharmaceutical con artist who is locked up.

The most valuable album in the world. That's a LOT a lot unpack. The New York Times did a great backstory, but here are the highlights:

• 2007: Wu-Tang and Ditch producer Cilvaringz plan to make single copy of the album as a response to music devaluation. They were inspired by the Renaissance era's high value placed on art
• 2014: announce it would release just one copy of "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin."
• 2015: the album is bought in an auction for $2 million by then-Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli. It was the highest price ever for an album sale.
• 2017: Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud. The U.S. government seized all his assets including this album
• 2021: the U.S. gov't sold album to PleasrDAO, which has bought NFTs for Pussy Riot, Edward Snowden, and more

The original DAO. If we want to be real, Wu-Tang was the original DAO. The way the group did its own legendary projects, impactful solo work, and still had that supportive link.

It's also fitting that this album's new owner, PleasrDAO, is an NFT company. In music, NFTs address many of the issues behind the release of "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin." If PleasrDAO releases the album for public consumption, it should be released in a way that keeps the legacy going.

But before it releases anything, it needs approval from RZA and Cilvaringz, since they still own the rights to public consumption. Otherwise, it will have to wait until 2103!

Read more on Wu-Tang Clan's website.​

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coming soon

Podcast: Sacha Jenkins - the documentarian, film producer, and creative partner at Mass Appeal joined to pod to talk about his latest documentary: Showtime's Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James, the rise of music documentaries, Hip Hop 50, and more. Episode drops on Friday!