[PROPOSAL] AFROCRITIK DAO - FUNDING PROPOSAL FOR NOVEMBER - 2023
I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
DAO Introduction
Afrocritik is Africa’s prime media outfit showcasing African art and entertainment on a global scale, with a diverse portfolio that includes entertainment, arts, culture, and lifestyle.
Cognizant of our diversity and rich multi-cultural uniqueness, we tell African stories through African lens, inviting the world to the luxury that is in Africa. Our mission is to foster a thriving ecosystem for African creators and enable them to flourish within the realm of the emerging web3 landscape and blockchain technology.
At Afrocritik, we recognize the power of communities in driving the adoption of web3 and blockchain technology so we are launching AFROCRITIK DAO as a laboratory for experimentation in the application of web3 and blockchain technology solutions in African culture, art, and entertainment.
Mainly operating as a gateway for traditional creators and artists to experiment and on-board the NEAR ecosystem. Afrocritik boasts of major artistic residency in Africa. Afrocritik today has over a million web impressions, hundreds of thousands of page views, over 80k organic monthly visitors on our website (www.afrocritik.com), 3k plus followers on Instagram and X (formerly twitter) respectively, and about 1k X spaces weekly listeners. We have collaborated with other web2 communities and curated events around the themes of web3 and blockchain technology and its application in the creative industry, especially music.
Over the last two years we have curated several editions of The Listening Party in collaboration with the Rivers State Music Guild where artists and their fans enjoy premium live performances every last wednesday of the month. Through Cast And Banta, a music and web3 podcast we are building a community of web2 musicians willing to onboard web3 as after interacting with our educational program. In partnership with Loozr, Cast and Banta, and Rivers State Music Guild, we also organized a music and web3 listening party and music bootcamp in Port Harcourt with the goal to teach artists about the possibilities of Web3 and blockchain technology as championed by NEAR.
At the last edition of South South Media Week, the largest gathering of tech, media, entertainment and business enthusiasts in the Niger Delta region of West Africa, Afrocritik sponsored Cast and Banta to host a live podcast session with the CTO of Loozr, a web3 and Defi project for creators building on the NEAR Blockchain.
https://twitter.com/castandbanta/status/1652293345144610816?t=gq27Gy4fARg0M7a8jK1wbw&s=19
Why team is best for the funds:
Our team, besides having council members being in the creative industry for several years, has an impeccable track-record of delivering projects and events with results. Furthermore, we have ample experience in web2 (and offline) projects. As a plus, some of us are active members of the Creative DAO.
The core team consists of 3 people.
Samson Jikeme is an experienced entertainment lawyer and media entrepreneur with over 10 years experience in the music industry. He is the founder of Afrocritik DAO.
Douglas Efeeloo is a web3 enthusiast, talent manager and founder of the music and web3 podcast, Cast and Banta. He has worked with afrobeats artists and producers like Tspize, King Stunna, Dr. Barz.
Tammy Halliday is the coordinator of Rivers State Music Guild, organizers of the monthly listening party.He has experience in working with creators, with emphasis on talent and event management.
Achievements and information about the DAO
What has your DAO achieved till now as a community?
- Through the Rivers State Music Guild, we have successfully hosted a monthly listening party with live performances for our community for the past two years. The monthly listening party serves as a launch pad for underground artists to kick start their music career. At the listening party we had a music and web3 edition where we featured Loozr building on Near. Over 100 wallets were created.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdtl2E9Krrc/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==
- Through our music and web3 podcast Cast and Banta we’ve organized a music boot camp where we onboarded over 10 artists into the Near Ecosystem.
https://twitter.com/castandbanta/status/1656270523444207617?t=DuIliX9WnHFP3mO79SC8Gg&s=19
- Afrocritik hosts a weekly X (formerly Twitter) Spaces with over 1k listeners.
https://x.com/i/spaces/1PlKQDBWBlvxE
- Afrocritik has been a major driving force for poets in Africa through it’s collaboration and sponsorship of the Lagos International Poetry Festival.
- We also supported Kaduna Fashion And Arts Exhibition (KAFART)
Funding request.
Genre - Afrocritik DAO falls under the following categories; art, culture, music, film and entertainment.
We also collaborates regularly with writers, poets, film makers, musicians, visual artists and custodians of the African culture with the goal of building a community of creators willing to integrate web3 and blockchain technology into the creative industry.
Impact
Afrocritik DAO impact can be measured in a variety of ways. Some of them; it’s the main platform for artists and entertainers from Africa to experiment with web3 and the tooling provided by the NEAR ecosystem; it has a wide reach in Africa.
Roadmap
This Roadmap is presented for a 1-month period;
Projects that’ll occur in the month:
- Weekly Newsletter
- Weekly X spaces
- Two episodes of music and web3 podcast by Cast and Banta
- Listening Party for underground artists in our community where all artists who desires to participate must create a Near wallet
- Launch of NEAR creators community Port Harcourt in partnership with Rivers State Music Guild and getting all attendees to create a Near wallet
II. PROPOSAL
Project 1: Newsletter
Description: We’ll launch a weekly newsletter titled “Afrocritik DAO TechTalk with Near” to advance web3 education in Africa.
Project 2: X Spaces
Description: We’ll host a weekly X (formerly) twitter spaces tagged “Afrocritik DAO TechTalk with Near” for one month.
The X spaces will feature creators and developers in Creative DAO.
Project 3: Listening Party
Description: We’ll host another of the music and web3 listening for underground artists in our community. At the listening party, all attendees will be onboarded into Near protocol and create a Near wallet.
Project 4: Near Creators Community, Port Harcourt
Description: We’ll launch a Near creators community in Port Harcourt to drive web3 education and the integration of blockchain technology into the creative industry in the Niger Delta region of Africa, Port Harcourt. The community will serve as a hub for everything Near, Creative DAO and Afrocritik DAO in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Budget:
-
Editor for weekly newsletter $500
-
Graphics Design $300
-
X spaces host $400
-
Publicity for the launch of Near
creators community in Port Harcourt $300 -
Listening party for underground
artists in our community $500Total $2,000
3,340 NEAR
Expected outcome:
At the end of the month, Afrocritik DAO will have onboarded at least 100 users with active Near wallets.
Increased awareness about Near protocol as the Blockchain Operating System (BOS) in Africa
With the launch of Afrocritik DAO, creators in Africa will enjoy a smooth working relationship with the Creative DAO and Near Blockchain at large.