Originally Released in Collaboration with Luxury Fashion Brand Maison Valentino, the Comedic Book is Being Reimagined as a Collection of Digitally Animated NFTs
Los Angeles, January 20, 2022 — Crypto.com NFT today announced an agreement with comedian and global phenomenon Elsa Majimbo and her manager, co-author, and multi-award-winning creative Mohamed Kheir as well as an illustrator and 3D artist Pepijn Temming for a collection based on the creative trio’s book, ‘The Alphabet for kids & ADULTS.’ Originally released with luxury fashion house Maison Valentino, the bookmarked the first collaboration between a comedian and a couture brand — also serving as Majimbo’s entrance into the high fashion industry. Now, the team is debuting their intellectual property in another new market: the NFT space. “The Alphabet: Collection 1” will be released at Crypto.com/NFT on January 27 and will be the first of several drops on the cryptocurrency platform’s NFT marketplace, each including digitally animated letters inspired by Temming’s illustrations from the book. The collection initiates the first phase in the expansion of The Alphabet Universe into the NFT space, with future plans for community enrichment and engagement to be announced by The Alphabet Universe team.
“I’m so excited to bring our letters to life with this NFT release; when we wrote the original book, I knew that amazing things would come from it,” said Majimbo. “Crypto.com NFT has been so fun to work with. We have a lot in common, including our shared love of Elsa!”
“We’ve been working on this collection and concept for some time now, so to see it come to life is an absolute treat,” added Kheir, who is a partner at Los Angeles-based creative strategy and investing agency Iroko Treehaus as well as a two-time published author and multidisciplinary creative. “This marks the first evolution of The Alphabet Universe, which started with the release of our comedic book, ‘The Alphabet for kids & ADULTS.’ There is so much happening in the NFT space right now, and web3 and the metaverse is the next evolution in digital culture. I’m stoked to be a part of this movement.”
Before even meeting in person, collaborating internationally, the talent and manager duo began working together after Kheir reached out to Majimbo on Instagram — sharing a penchant for
unorthodox business strategy and out-of-the-box creative thought, as well as a sense of humor. A 15-time chess champion, Majimbo’s “long game” career plan has garnered the attention of global media from Forbes, Vogue and The New York Times to topping B loomberg’s list of “Ones to Watch.” The speed at which Majimbo accumulated international accolades is in itself astonishing. Her trophy cabinet includes an E! People’s Choice Award and a YouTube Streamy, and she was also named Entertainer of the Year by both GQ South Africa and Forbes Woman Africa. The constant stream of press, unique projects and activations organized by the pair have quickly expanded Majimbo’s global reach, catapulting her to icon-status almost overnight. In fact, Majimbo and Kheir’s shrewd business acumen was noted by Forbes as “proof that a dream team can exist, beyond the IRL.”
For The Alphabet Universe, the dream team tapped another international ringer — Dutch 3D designer Temming. With all three hailing from different continents, in addition to the Valentino book and Crypto.com NFT collection, Temming has collaborated with Kheir and Majimbo on multiple projects including a music video for Majimbo’s Cautious Clay-produced ASMR song “Snack Queen” and a campaign to promote Kheir’s own comedic book, “Alien of Extraordinary Ability.”
“I’m so excited to finally be releasing this project which we have worked so hard on,” said Temming. “Like so many people in this space, I grew up on the internet — and now, as an artist, I’m extremely excited to see the evolution of digital ownership and the impact this has on our internet culture. I hope you all love ‘The Alphabet Universe.’ It’s been a true passion project.
Crypto.com has been great to work with; new fam vibes!”
“What Elsa, Mohamed and Pepijn have built together from across the globe, so much of which occurred without even meeting face-to-face, is really at the core of what web3 and the metaverse are all about,” said Crypto.com Executive Vice President and Global Head of NFT Joe Conyers III. “The NFT project itself is thoughtful, witty and artistically stunning — and a testament to the power of decentralization.”
About Crypto.com NFT
Crypto.com NFT is a carefully curated platform for collecting and trading non-fungible tokens by creators, celebrities and brands from the worlds of art, design, entertainment, sports and fashion
— including the Aston Martin Formula One Team, BossLogic, Boy George, Heavy Metal Magazine, Lega Serie A, Lionel Richie, Mr. Brainwash, Snoop Dogg and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), among many other high-profile artists and clients. Crypto.com NFT was founded on a principle of sustainability, with artworks minted using a proof-of-stake model, and is powered by Crypto.com — which has committed to becoming carbon negative. More information is available at Crypto.com/NFT. Follow Crypto.com NFT on Twitter and Instagram: @cryptocomnft.
