--- title: "Of Course the Guy Behind Fyre Fest Is Selling NFTs Now" description: "It shouldn't come as a surprise that Ja Rule, rapper and grifter behind the Fyre Festival fiasco, is trying to get into the NFT game." date: "2022-02-23" modified: "2022-02-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/fyre-festival-nfts-not-scam" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Future Society" - "NFTs" tags: - "fraud" - "nfts" - "the digest" --- # Of Course the Guy Behind Fyre Fest Is Selling NFTs Now ![It shouldn't come as a surprise that Ja Rule, rapper and grifter behind the Fyre Festival fiasco, is trying to get into the NFT game.]() *\Image: Trevor De Haas/Futurism\* ## NFT Fest It shouldn't come as a surprise that Jeffrey "Ja Rule" Atkins, formerly famed as a rapper but now probably better known as one of the key grifters behind the [Fyre Festival fiasco](), is trying to get into the NFT game — which arguably tracks perfectly, given the [current scamified trajectory of the NFT market](). The musician-turned-blockchain guy has launched a new project called Club Cards, an NFT trading cards game, [*The Verge* reports](). Collectors daring enough to buy into the venture can also register for giveaways, including an all-expenses-paid trip to a Ja Rule concert in New York City. 22-year-old college graduate Paul Hawron went on one of those trips in January, oblivious at the time to the rapper's disastrous failure to get a would-be music festival off the ground back in 2017, stranding hundreds of attendees in FEMA-like conditions. "I forgot he was like an investor part of that until I told one of my friends about the trip," Hawron told *The Verge*. "And they’re like, ‘Is Ja Rule the Fyre Fest guy?’" ## Con-cert What was initially sold as a luxury music festival in the Bahamas back in 2017, spearheaded by Ja Rule and self-styled entrepreneur Billy McFarland, the Fyre Festival quickly turned into one of the most high profile and public cases of fraud in recent memory. But the rapper has seemingly moved on from his troubled past. According to Hawron, Ja Rule was "really nice" and "really genuine." Hawron, interestingly, is himself a realist when it comes to NFTs. "With all the NFT stuff, most of it will eventually be worthless," Hawron told *The Verge*. "They’re just kind of riding a trend that isn’t sustainable." So far, only a couple of hundred people — who have taken to call themselves "Rascals" for some reason — have joined the Club Cards community. It's unclear how much Ja Rule is actually involved in the venture beyond incessantly tweeting about the project. Meanwhile, others are still dealing with the aftermath of the Fyre Festival. McFarland was sentenced to six years in federal prison back in 2018 after a court [found him guilty]() of "engaging in multiple fraudulent schemes and making false statements to a federal law enforcement agent." Ja Rule remains free — although he is facing [more than a dozen Fyre Festival-related lawsuits](). But that doesn't appear to have stopped him from embracing the NFT trend. And who knows — maybe this time it isn't a total scam. **READ MORE:** [Ja Rule’s NFT fans aren’t worried about another Fyre Fest]() \[*The Verge*\] **More on NFTs:** *[Prominent NFT Marketplace Shuts Down Almost All Sales for Fraud]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()