• Rapper Ja Rule and Herb Rice created The Painted House to help put Black NFT artists center stage.

• Their first project is called "Black is Beautiful" and features art by Nick Davis.

• They reject criticism of NFT marketplaces, arguing they have pros and cons "like any other industry".

On a brownstone stoop in Harlem nestled between New York's Fifth and Madison Avenues, 54 jazz musicians assembled in 1958 for a photograph that would inspire homages for decades to come.

In 1998, nearly 200 hip hop artists crowded onto the very same stoop for a photograph. And in June, 64 years after the original image was taken, dozens of Black NFT (non-fungible token) artists gathered there to do so again.

At the front left stood rapper Ja Rule, who had hits with songs including "Always on Time'' to "Mesmerize" in the early 2000s. He's now aiming to put Black NFT artists center stage with The Painted House, a platform he and his business partner Herb Rice set up after realizing they were often the only Black people at NFT events.

Partnering with NFT launchpad platform House of Firsts, The Painted House released its first project in June. "Black is Beautiful" is a collection of more than 1,000 NFTs by artist Nick Davis depicting the everyday life of Black Americans.

"It captivated me," Rice told Insider. "Growing up, I was very insecure about my dark skin complexion, so when I saw [Davis'] art, it took me back to a place in time when my family used to tell me how beautiful my Black skin was."

Others have the same sentiment about Davis' art, the duo said.

"This represents me," said Ja Rule, recalling people's response to the art. "I don't see too many images with my Black skin on them."

'Ahead of the curve' 

Ja Rule is far from the only celebrity to jump on the NFT bandwagon, given figures from Mark Cuban to Lindsay Lohan have all done so.

He says "smart rappers" are into NFTs because they "like to be ahead of the curve on things – we can keep our ears to the streets."