Confidently (Non)cognizant of Neoliberalism: Kanye West and the Interruption of Taylor Swift

Abstract

Born alongside neoliberalism during the late twentieth century, hip-hop exemplifies capitalist interactions involving stigmatized bodies and success. Kanye West’s interruption of Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) reveals modern manifestations of privilege hidden behind the ease of consumption allocated by competition in a meritocratic free market system. Regardless of the race of the interrupter, outrage at the obvious rudeness would have resulted in societal castigation. Race came in to play because West’s gesture broke a multitude of social conventions. Swift—the first country singer to win a Video Music Award—was interrupted by West, a musical laborer engaged in traditional forms of black critique. ¹ West’s actions, albeit rude, can be understood as a defensive reaction to covert and overt messages of racial privilege evidenced by the selection of Taylor Swift as the award recipient. Championing Beyoncé Knowles, West seized power over the cultural/musical productions under review and interjected a critically conscious discourse of resistance into the neoliberal cultural celebration at hand. Despite being lynched by society at large for his act, West’s aspirations for equity and power were not crushed.² Cognizant of the rules of meritocracy and consumer culture, West continues to master the meritocratic merry-go-round with a pragmatic and relative form of humanism predicated on a simple premise: Neoliberalism is incongruent with democratic enfranchisement, and meritocracy is nothing more than a fantastic lie obscuring the oppressive social realities of the United States.