My Blog: Jay-Z's 'Occupy' Shirt Won't Benefit Protests

Freitag, 11. November 2011

Jay-Z's 'Occupy' Shirt Won't Benefit Protests

'At this time we have not made an official commitment to monetarily support the movement,' rep says.
By Jocelyn Vena

Sway Calloway wearing the "Occupy All Streets" t-shirt
Photo: MTV News

Jay-Z is set to drop a new T-shirt on Friday (November 11) that reads "Occupy All Streets," a play on the name of the Occupy Wall Street movement that has spread all over the country. On the shirt, the "w" in Wall is scratched out in red. Using the same red font, the shirt also throws a big "S" at the end of the word "street," serving as a very graphic visual of the pun.

"The 'Occupy All Streets' T-shirt was created in support of the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement," a rep for Hova's Rocawear told Business Insider. "Rocawear strongly encourages all forms of constructive expression, whether it be artistic, political or social."

However, the rep confirms that none of the proceeds from sales of the shirt will fund the movement, which kicked off in downtown Manhattan in September before spreading across the country. " 'Occupy All Streets' is our way of reminding people that there is change to be made everywhere, not just on Wall Street," the statement continues. "At this time we have not made an official commitment to monetarily support the movement."

On Tuesday night, Jay-Z was spotted wearing the shirt during a Watch the Throne tour stop at New York's Madison Square Garden. He was seen at the show with Russell Simmons, a fervent supporter of the movement, who seemed to approve of the shirt's message, tweeting, "Jay-Z just took #OccupyWallStreet to a whole new level. Wowowowowowoow."

Over the course of the last eight weeks, the rap community has shown interest in the movement by visiting New York's Zuccotti Park. Artists including Kanye West and Talib Kweli have visited the home site for the grassroots movement.

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