I first heard of crypto rapper CoinDaddy back in the heady days of January 2018, when he was featured in a New York Times article entitled “Everyone Is Getting Hilariously Rich and You’re Not.” A real-life commercial real estate manager–turned–bitcoin millionaire, CoinDaddy dressed in a white faux-fur coat with leopard-print trim, a furry white pimp hat, and Gucci sunglasses. He had some big plans, according to the piece: to shoot videos for tracks called “Lambo Party” and “Cryptomom,” the latter of which was about “all these moms [who] are pumping in their children’s savings accounts.” It was a fun parody of crypto excess. But what, I wondered recently, had become of CoinDaddy since the onset of crypto winter?

Turns out, CoinDaddy—real name: Arya Bahmanyar—is doing just fine, and adapting to the times. “I’ve been in crypto since 2013, so I’ve seen these cycles come and go,” says Bahmanyar, 29, who lives in San Francisco. “I’m not too fazed. Of course, we’re talking larger amounts of money on this recent cycle, but I take it on the chin like everybody else.” His parody songs have become bleaker and, he says, better.

His latest track—premiering exclusively here at BREAKERMAG—is a take on the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” called “I’m Still on Coinbase.” “It’s basically encouraging people to take responsibility and get their private keys off of Coinbase,” Bahmanyar says. “The song has to hit at the right moment in time with the right narrative and with the right enthusiasm.” And given all the recent controversy surrounding Coinbase, there’s perhaps no better time than the present.

Without further ado, take a listen to “I’m Still on Coinbase,” then read our new interview with CoinDaddy.

How has the bear market affected CoinDaddy’s music?
It’s actually better, to be honest with you, because CoinDaddy’s basically like this amorphous blob meme narrative—he goes where the market goes. So let’s say everybody’s positive and jubilant and the price is $20K. Well, you’re going to get a very ecstatic type of music. You’re going to get celebratory music, you’re going to get CoinDaddy has girls and fun and parties. And if you look at the music now, you have sad songs of desperation and hope, and there’s hymns and ballads.

A recent song that I did was called “Bulls on Mars,” which is a parody of David Bowie’s “Life on Mars,” and the whole thing is almost like a dirge for 2018, and how we’ve seen the market go down and we’ve lost some of our good friends. And it’s actually quite clever. I mentioned Nouriel Roubini in there.

Do non-crypto people ever tell you that they like your music, or is it exclusively crypto people?
The weirdest fan story I have is in maybe February of 2018, I went to a crypto awards thing and some mom walked up to me and she’s like, “My son loves your stuff.” I’m like, “You must have me mistaken for someone else.” She’s like, “No, you’re CoinDaddy, right? My son loves your stuff.” I’m like, “How old is your son?” She’s like, “Eight.” So I’m like, “Is CoinDaddy’s target demographic eight-year-old kids?” And if it is, I need to really quickly change the content that I’m putting out.

What’s the gender split of your fanbase like?
Pretty much 80 percent men. There’s some rogue women thrown in there, but I don’t think women are too keen on listening to a crypto rapper drone on about holding their private keys.

You’ve performed live with the rapper Mims. Have you come across any other real-life rappers who are fans?
Yeah, Akon, and then there’s DJ 3LAU.

Akon has heard of you?
In the crypto world, you have what I would call professional networkers. One girl in particular had become friends with Akon, and she was trying to organize us, and a few other people, to do a song together. In her mind, this was one of those Global Citizen–type projects, where she could bring the entire world together. It never ended up panning out.

What do you think of Soulja Boy’s “Bitcoin” song?
I thought it was a song. [Laughs.]

Do you freestyle?
I don’t freestyle. Everything’s written. I wouldn’t even say that I’m a rapper. I say I’m more of a writer or a content creator.

It’s not very hip-hop to call yourself a “content creator,” is it?
It’s not very hip-hop. But then again, I don’t think I’m a very hip-hop type of guy. But if we’ve seen anything, hip-hop’s for everybody.

If times get much tougher, will CoinDaddy develop a substance abuse problem?
I can’t say it wouldn’t happen. As the price has gone down, the songs have become more and more desperate. I had one called “20K,” which is a parody of the Beatles song “Yesterday.” It’s like, “20K, all my troubles seemed so far away/Now it seems the bears are here to stay…”

If you read the YouTube comments, and I hope you do, they’re so funny. People are like, “Stay strong, CoinDaddy!” Who are these people cheering me on? It’s amazing. I love the comments section. I literally have not seen a single negative comment. It’s unbelievable.

So you’re saying everybody loves CoinDaddy.
I’m saying everybody in the comments section loves CoinDaddy. I don’t know about everybody. But certainly the ones that are posting are motivated to do so by hopefully some sort of love or enthusiasm.

What does it feel like to be a living meme?
With great power comes great responsibility.

Photo courtesy of CoinDaddy.

Get the BREAKERMAG newsletter, a weekly roundup of blockchain business and culture.