Type to search

Artists Home Flashbox New Music News & Updates Videos

Watch DJ-Producer Alex Parker’s Cryptocurrency Loving Video ‘I Want The Money’

The Romanian artist’s latest single is the first NFT to debut on Elrond Network’s wallet Maiar

Jun 02, 2021

Romanian DJ-producer Alex Parker. Photo: Courtesy of the artist

DJ-producer Alex Parker’s music video for his latest single “I Want The Money” plays up several visuals cues of the cryptocurrency world – there’s a tycoon who resembles Tesla CEO Elon Musk, references to the sub-reddit r/WallStreetBets and a dog (which is a nod to dogecoin). The more intentionally visible signage in an otherwise masochistic video, however, belongs to crypto company Elrond Network.

Parker says he tied up with Elrond to promote their new wallet Maiar, which has led to “I Want The Money” being promoted as a “crypto anthem” and sold as a non-fungible token (NFT) on the platform. While acknowledging that he’d heard of Malta-based Elrond before, Parker mentions that he’d written the track in Los Angeles two years ago. “I was pretty lucky to be just one phone call away from the big bosses at Elrond! So I sent them ‘I Want The Money’ and talked about the creative direction,” the DJ says.

The track also features vocals from American artist HERA aka Alicia Eris, who sings about the hubris that comes with accruing money and material wealth without a purpose, and how one can help others and make the world a better place with it instead. The music video, however, is an all-out party which Parker lords over behind his decks in a scale model city. Directed by Isabella Szanto, the video involved building this entire city, including a bank (and its interiors) and a prison on set. Szanto has worked with Parker on his music videos before, so the DJ was the one ideating all the crypto references. Parker adds, “It’s a Blade Runner x Daft Punk aesthetic over a bass house banger and at the end you get a beautiful wake up to reality reminder! How sweet is that?”

While the reminder, of course, is to help our fellow beings, NFTs and cryptocurrencies have come into criticism for their environmental impact, among other things. Parker, a keyboardist-turned-DJ who launched into electronic music in 2016, extols the idea of an NFT as a collectible that gives people a sense of ownership. “What some may be unable to understand is that art equals value and NFTs are a store of value,” Parker adds.

As someone who performed atop a wind turbine in 2019 (to promote green energy-powered Romanian music festival NEVERSEA), Parker is aware of the eco-charges drawn against cryptocurrencies. He points out that Elrond has a “very energy efficient technology” and hopes that it gets the attention of the likes of Musk. There’s a personal agenda in it for the DJ as well. He explains, “If Tesla switches on Elrond that would mean a high adoption and game over for all the other cryptocurrencies. And me, I want to get into the Neuralink [neurotechnology company owned by Musk] development team and help find a cure for tinnitus, a disease that’s been affecting me and 15 percent of the planet’s population.”

With “I Want The Money” going up for auction soon in the NFT marketplace, Parker promises he wants to “give something back” to the world if things go right with the sale. He adds that there’s a debut album coming up and plans to return to Los Angeles to pick back up on it. “After this I’ll fill up the summer with similar festival bangers in my music catalog and also start with touring,” Parker says.

Watch the video for “I Want The Money” below.

Tags: