By Etop Ekanem

Binance, the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider has announced that London-based Nigerian musician-artist, Nissi Ogulu, has launched Jigsaw Tribe. The exclusive NFT For Good collection was made available on the Binance NFT marketplace in collaboration with Binance Charity on May 30, 2022. 

The digital art series features a collection of unique pieces exploring the musical heritage of Africa through ancient yet animated instruments, Jigsaw Tribe. It explores the different facets of life and music, each represented as a puzzle piece. 

“With Jigsaw Tribe, my intention is to take you across the continent to discover hand-craftedmusical instruments, in all their colourful glory, that may not be known to the rest of the world. Thepieces also reflect the music tradition of Africa, with its amazing sounds, in a hyper-contemporary and animated artistic expression,” says Nissi. 

This NFT collection comprises of NFTs with various rarity levels and pricing, added value utilities include invitations to live events and art exhibitions to concessions on signed & printed digital art pieces and whitelisting privileges to future NFT drops. 

The exclusive artwork series will be sold in a premium auction on the BinanceNFT Marketplace between May 30 and June 20, 2022. This is the latest collaboration for Binance Charity’s NFT For Good Campaign, an initiative that enables world-renowned creators to convert their art and creativity into meaningful global action targeting social and humanitarian issues. As part of this, a percentage of proceeds will go to The Reach, an Ogulu family initiative that provides 6,000 meals a month for underprivileged people in Nigeria with other ad-hoc community initiatives. 

“Binance Charity’s NFT for Good initiative connects creators, their art, and their cause. Jigsaw Tribe is yet another exciting example of this and it’s beautiful to see the series merging traditionand technology. Having spent many years working in Africa, the region, the people and theirculture hold a special place in my heart. I’m thrilled we’re able to collaborate with Nissi in ahomage to her heritage.” said Helen Hai, Executive VP of Binance and Head of Binance Charity. 

Born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, into a highly creative family, Nissi’s older brother is BurnaBoy (dubbed ‘the African Giant’) and her grandfather is Benson Idonije who was an Afrobeat legend and Fela Kuti’s manager. She credits entertainment business mogul, Bose Ogulu, her mother, who she describes as a “powerhouse,” for her and her sibling’s flair for creativity and innovative thinking. Her sister, Ronami, is also a genius in the world of fashion and creativestrategy. 

As an artist, Nissi has worked with a variety of mediums but found her niche in the world of fine art with her unconventional, contemporarily driven style of paintings and artistic innovativede sign. She has further expanded her deep involvement in the digital realm with her founding of Creele Animation Studios, which creates black and African content with storytelling through animation, music, the metaverse and games. 

“What excites me is the fact that African music and culture are finally getting the renown and success they so richly deserve as being integral to global music and creativity. So, the collection is my artistic take on bringing the continent’s vibrant music tradition and all-around creativebrilliance to the world, this time in an animated way,” says Nissi.

To participate in this charitable auction in support of the Binance Charity, traders need to open a cryptocurrency account on binance.com and bid for the artwork on  https://www.binance.com/en/nft between May 30, 2022 (12:00pm CAT) and end on  June 2 2022 (12:00pm CAT). Trades will be accepted in BNB, the cryptocurrency coin that powers the Binance ecosystem. 

On May 25, 2022, Nissi joined Helen Hai for a live ‘Binance Charity Chats’ on BinanceYouTube,  discussing her eagerly anticipated NFT For Good drop.  

Art Collection includes: 1. AN AFRICAN PLAYGROUND 2. GAN GAN 3. GRIOT 4. HAMMAR  5. MAMA CHIVOTI  6. NZUMARI  7. SWEET TAMBOURINE 8. ZULU HORN  9. TO MY FANS

1. An African Playground: The conga, aka tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba.  Although the exact origins of the conga drum are unknown, researchers agree that it was developed by Cuban people of African descent during the late 19th century or early 20th century. Its ancestors arethought to be the yuka and makuta (of Bantu origin) and the bembé drums (of Yoruba origin). Congaswere originally used in Afro-Cuban music genres such as conga (hence their name) and rumba, whereeach drummer would play a single drum. Congas have become a popular instrument in many forms of Latin music such as son (when played by conjuntos), descarga, Afro-Cuban jazz, salsa, songo, merengue, and Latin rock. 

2. “GanGan”: An instrument in the percussion family that originates from West Africa. This hourglass-shaped drum can be traced back to the olden days and is known by a variety of names including thegangan in Yoruba and doodo in Songhai. They are referred to as “talking drums” because they are able tobe tuned to mimic the sound of human speech in terms of tone and accent such as emotion. 

3. GRIOT: A griot is a West African storyteller, singer, musician, and oral historian. They train to excel asorators, lyricists, and musicians. The griot keeps records of all the births, deaths, and marriages through the village or family generations. Griots today live in many parts of West Africa and are present amongthe Mande peoples (Mandinka or Malinké, Bambara, etc.), Hausa, Songhai, Tukulóor, Wolof, Serer, Mossi, Dagomba, and many other smaller groups. In addition to being singers and social commentators, griots are often skilled instrumentalists. Their instruments include the kora, the khalam (or xalam), thegoje (orn’ko in the Mandinka language), the balafon, the junjung, and the ngoni.  

4. HAMMAR: This horn of the Hamar tribe of Ethiopia is usually played at the jumping ceremonies wherethe women and girls get into a frenzy through their dance, song, and horn blowing as their traditionalritual of strength is being performed. 

5. MAMA CHIVOTI: This instrument is the only one of its kind found in Kenya. It is longer than mostwind or string instruments, made from bamboo, and is similar to a flute with six holes. It is used mostlyas a mellow outro instrument in a musical routine. 

6. NZumari: The Zumari instrument also known as Nzumari of the eastern African coast, South Somaliais a conical double reed of wood or horn and metal having four to six finger holes. In East Africa, thespread of the cone oboe likely started from the island of Lamu and some ethnic groups belongingto the Mijikenda on the Kenyan coast. 

7. SWEET TAMBOURINE: A musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame (wood orplastic) with metal jingles referred to as “zills”. The origin of the tambourine is unknown, but it appearsin historical writings as early as 1700 BC and was used by ancient musicians in West Africa, the Middle East, Turkey, Greece, and India. Tambourines were also used in ancient Egypt.

8. ZULU HORN: An African horn trumpet may be made from the horn of most any animal, such aselephant horns used by the Akan people of Ghana (crafted before legal bans on the use of ivory) or a cowhorn, as in the “side-blow” Ugandan trumpet known as the eng’ombe. A traditional African horn trumpetmay appear more in ceremonial or ritual music than in popular music. Zulu warriors blow antelope hornsknown as kudu horn. 

9. TO MY FANS: A special NFT love letter to Nissi’s fans, emphasizing her journey from child to adulthood and the pieces of the puzzle – the inspirations in her life – which have made her the artist andmusician she is today.