Spotify Island on Roblox launches a new virtual destination for hip-hop listeners • TechCrunch

Since Spotify in Robles, This makes it the first music streaming service to officially exist on a gaming platform. Today, Spotify roll out A new space-themed digital destination on Roblox called Planet Hip Hopsoon there will be up-and-coming female rappers tempeh.

Spotify Island’s new Planet Hip-Hop is Currently living in Robloxwhile the virtual experience aims to provide a new way for a younger generation of hip-hop fans to connect with their favorite musical artists.

As Roblox players explore Planet Hip-Hop, they can collect exclusive virtual goods, customize vehicles in the “Speed ​​Shop,” dance on a floating dance floor, create Soundtrap-powered hip-hop beats, and more.

The futuristic new destination features a lit cityscape perched on an upside-down silver pyramid surrounded by a record-like ring of red planets and floating meteors and other planetary matter.

Image Source: Spotify

“We wanted to create a space inspired by the latest hip-hop era, exploring how contemporary artists and fans are redefining the look and sound of the genre,” said Steven Conaway, Spotify’s senior art director during the presentation.

Conway added that the look of Spotify’s new destination was inspired by a younger generation of hip-hop artists, many of whom are known for having “Internet tech voices.” He mentioned young artists like Doechii, Yeat and Trippie Redd, all in their early 20s.

Image Source: Spotify

Based on listener demand, Spotify chose hip-hop as its second Spotify Island destination, the company wrote in its release. The music streaming platform boasts that hip-hop music generates an average of 44 billion monthly streams on Spotify globally.

Compared to the K-pop themed world of Spotify Island, K-Park, Hip Hop Planet has a lot of new elements and easter eggs and other players to discover. This includes being able to walk and float on buildings – which adds to the experience and makes the Roblox avatar appear to be transported to a low-gravity environment.

Spotify’s associate creative director Edward Yeung explained in the demo that players can also drive a custom car around the ring of the earth, which acts as a drivable path.

Yeung revealed that in the near future, Spotify is turning paths on planetary rings into obstacles.

New items exclusive to Planet Hip-Hop include clothing, emotes and parkour effects. In a few weeks, players will be able to purchase a patchwork bubble jacket and moon shoes for their avatar. Roblox players can collect hearts to buy items.

Similar to K-Park, players must enter an underground portal to access the music artist’s fan experience. This Thursday, September 22nd, Spotify will introduce the first artist on the hip-hop planet, Doechii.

When Roblox players enter Doechii’s underground portal on the hip-hop planet, they’ll be greeted with a swamp kingdom in honor of the rapper’s hometown of Tampa, Florida, and her nickname “The Swamp Princess.”

Image Source: Spotify

At launch, players can swim with alligators, dive underwater and jump on water lilies. While fans can’t interact and ride on alligators/crocodiles yet, this is a feature Spotify will add later.

However, when Doechii’s swamp launches tomorrow, there are a lot of features that won’t be available.

Over the next few days, Spotify will roll out more features for Doechii fans, such as a quiz that players must “convince” Doechii to let them into her “Swamp Coven.”It’s a tribute to her song “Persuasive,” which recently received new music video And remixed with the famous R&B singer SZA. In today’s announcement, the company explained that once players answer the questions correctly, they’ll be invited into a guild and even grow a crocodile tail.

Spotify will also be launching exclusive Doechii devices in the next few days. Players will soon be able to buy crocodile pants and shoes, a crocodile necklace, and a turquoise mullet inspired by her original ”convincing” music videos, star crowns, and more. There will be a feature soon where Doechii will sign your merchandise virtually.

Additionally, over the course of a few weeks, fans will engage in missions such as scavenger hunts where players collect alligator tokens and exchange them for prizes. When Roblox players complete all of Doechii’s missions within the first 72 hours, they will unlock exclusive space glasses.

Image Source: Spotify

Spotify will continue to join Planet Hip-Hop, including collaborations with different hip-hop artists yet to be announced.

In the future, the company will also introduce more vehicle customization options in the “Speed ​​Shop”, as well as new themed vehicles representing future music artists joining the virtual world. For example, fans of Doechii will soon be able to ride the alligator car.