FAQ

Aku is a young, black boy sporting an oversized astronaut helmet and a confident swagger, on a mission to prove that no dream is too big, and no obstacle is too large.

Aku was created by former MLB player turned artist Micah Johnson. Micah is a self-taught figurative artist who uses strong gestural lines combined with loose brush strokes to create dramatic portraits primarily featuring African-American children. These subjects, which are often inspired by his young nephews, began appearing in Micah’s work ever since he overheard his 4-year old nephew ask, “Can astronauts be black?” After seeing the overwhelming response to his paintings, Micah realized he needed to expand this message to reach a broader demographic and he created an animated character named Aku.

Micah launched Aku as an animated 3D NFT in February 2021 with broad community support from the worlds of crypto & NFTs, art, music and culture including partner Summer Watson and founding Aku Creative Council members Pusha-T and Upscale Vandal. Over the course of Aku’s first year, the team behind Aku grew to include some of the top animation, creative design, technology and community management professionals in any industry. Meet us HERE!

In just his first year of existence, Aku has achieved many great things, including:

Aku Chapters are short animated videos of Aku’s journey. The Aku Chapters started on February 21, 2021 with Genesis.001 aka Chapter I, and concluded on February 21, 2022 with Chapter X. Chapter holders have always been, and will be, rewarded for their belief in Aku. Chapter 4 was airdropped for free if you owned Chapters 1, 2, and 3 at the time. Chapter 8 was also airdropped for free to those collectors who owned Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 (received two Chapter 8's) or Chapters 5, 6, and 7 (received one Chapter 8). Top holders have also enjoyed access to exclusive IRL events, and opportunities to contribute to creative decisions (e.g. creation of Aku’s friend Ady, and co-design of a limited merch drop for Aku World: Miami).

If you would like to purchase Chapters, they are now only available in the secondary market. These chapters can be found on OpenSea or Nifty Gateway.

There are 15,434 Chapters in total across 10 unique Chapters.

Moon Gods are Aku Chapter collectors who own all 10 unique Chapters (or 1 of the 10 physical statues from Genesis.001). Due to Chapter 3 being the bottleneck of the Chapters (lowest number minted, with a mint of 570), there can only ever be 570 Moon Gods. Moon Gods carry special responsibility – as well as accompanying exclusive benefits and access – within the Akuverse.

Akutars are the next part of the Aku movement. Akutars are a collection of 15,000 unique, 3D avatars that dropped in April 2022 on the Ethereum blockchain. Each Akutar provides entry into the ever-expanding Akuverse, where lines are blurred between the digital and physical worlds. Akutar owners have exclusive access to culture-defining experiences, products, and collaborations.