The Commodification of Revolutionary Aesthetics and Culture
“I’m like Che Guevara with the bling on, I’m complex.”
On December 18, 2001, a T-shirt made headlines. Rapper Jay Z had released his now-legendary MTV Unplugged album. In the album release video, he sported the image of Marxist leader Che Guevara, along with a diamond chain. “Che Guevara with the bling on” is an identification that would go on to be a significant part of his brand, sparking a years-long juxtaposition between two economic philosophies: communism and capitalism.
Traditionally, Jay Z’s business acumen has been one of his main assets. From his boasts of being a billionaire to his criticism of Occupy Wall Street protesters, Jay Z is a paragon of modern-day Black capitalism. “I smarten up, open the market up/One million, two million, three million, four/In 18 months, 80 million more… Put me anywhere on God’s green earth, I’ll triple my worth,” he claimed on “U Don’t Know.” Coming from a man who once called himself the “black Warren Buffett,” this choice of shirt seemed puzzling.
According to his memoir, Decoded, journalist Elizabeth Mendez Berry confronted him about the T-shirt in a 2003 Village Voice profile. “When someone asked me… I think I said something glib like, ‘I consider myself a revolutionary because I’m a self-made millionaire in a racist society,’” Jay Z reflected. “But it was really that it just felt right to me. I related to the power of [Guevara’s] image.”
After reading Guevara’s work (after the interview), Jay rationalized his wardrobe choice – and extensively, the clash of his capitalistic whims with his upbringing – as an inevitably human trait: “Che’s failures were bloody and his contradictions frustrating. But to have contradictions – especially when you’re fighting for your life – is human, and to wear the Che shirt and platinum and diamonds together is honest.”
Although Jay Z went on to reflect more thoughtfully about his thoughts towards Guevara, one thing is clear. Jay Z did not make the fashion choice because the Guevara shirt had influenced his mindset towards hustler capitalism. Instead, he was merely struck by the image and his own ideals of pro-Black resistance through wealth acquisition. By heroizing a radical leader and profiting off of his image, he was able to sell the aesthetic of revolution while maintaining apolitical individualism.
Jay Z isn't the only public figure to take this approach. The sellable aesthetic of “revolution” is one that Western society more broadly has caught onto. Kim Kardashian, for one, went viral in 2017 after wearing a $770 Vetements hammer-and-sickle hoodie. The hammer and sickle symbolize the deconstruction of the socioeconomic class systems that Kardashian glorifies on her television show, Keeping Up with The Kardashians.
In 2024, we are still falling into the abyss of the “influencer-activist market.” Influencers rake in profits through raising awareness about sociopolitical issues. Pretty infographics about climate change accompany Aritzia-sponsored posts. Many influencer-activists promote themselves under the guise of “activism.” A capitalist system co-opts revolutionary aesthetics for profit while contributing zilch to any concrete movement. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sells a “Tax The Rich” collection as she votes to avoid the railroad strike. Clearly, Jay Z’s point about human contradictions holds a degree of truth to it. I myself type this article on my MacBook Air, made by Apple, which intentionally worked with factories using child labor. In a society that seeks profit over anything, symbols eventually become meaningless.
Avantika Jagdhari is a high school senior from Stamford, Connecticut. She is a co-founder of her school’s newspaper and a recent graduate of NYU’s High School Law Institute program. She is passionate about helping her community and taking initiatives to further political and social justice causes, and aspires for a career in law.