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Criolo The Tree of Wealth

Insight

The wealth of ancient histories has been lost.

The collective imagination associates Black and money as different concepts, impossible to be connected. SOMA+ students co-created a music video for Criolo, one of Brazil’s most popular rappers, to his song Pretos Ganhando Dinheiro Incomoda Demais (Black People Making Money Is Disturbing) from the album Sobre Viver and a web app. It is an invitation to debate the relations between ancestry, prosperity and the future.

A group of 20 people of diverse backgrounds sit and stand together on wooden benches in an outdoor setting with lush greenery, smiling at the camera.
A man with curly hair, glasses, and a beard sits in a chair with clasped hands. He wears a blue jacket and looks thoughtful. Behind him are a large screen and a laptop on a stand.
People sit around a large conference table covered with bottles, papers, and laptops, while two presenters stand by a screen displaying a presentation in a modern, industrial-style room.

Idea

Uncover the past to build new possibilities for future generations.

The concept for the music video was devised by SOMA+ students, an educational project developed to expand professional knowledge of Black, Indigenous and low-income students in Brazil across the creative industry. Alongside Criolo, seven students from different regions of Brazil created the narrative using elements of prosperous Black history and discovering lost historical figures to imagine a new relationship between Black people and money.

The minimalist visual for the music video explores the ancestral elements of prosperity, including The Tree of Wealth. In this fable, a girl plants a coin which a tree grows and bears golden fruits to her community, while dealing with powerful people’s greed and their attempts to appropriate the wealth.

The coin and the tree

The coin and the tree were intentionally crafted to operate flawlessly in both 2D and 3D, and seamlessly blend with both the music video and web app.

Poster with two Black women, one facing forward and one in profile, over a dark starry background. Overlaid text in Portuguese reads: “Pretos ganhando dinheiro incomoda demais.” Yellow abstract tree above them.
Black background with a stylized golden tree at the top. Bold white text below reads: Pretos ganhando dinheiro incomoda demais, meaning Black people making money bothers too much in Portuguese.
A man with curly hair and a beard gazes to the side, lit dramatically by warm light. Text in Portuguese covers the image, reading Pretos GANHANDO DINHEIRO DEMAIS incomoda sobre VIVER 2023. Background features patterns and symbols.
A Black woman holds up a coin featuring a tree symbol, with gold circular text in Portuguese surrounding her. The background is softly blurred, and additional text appears at the top and bottom of the image.

The iconography representing The Tree of Wealth is based on Adinkra, symbols from Ghana that represent concepts and messages, and the Flower of Life, a sacred ancient geometric symbol. The position of the fruits in the icon is based on the position of Sirius, an important star for the Dogon people, an ethnic group that lives in the central plateau region of Mali, West Africa. Each of these ancestral elements help the visual direction of the allegory.

A gold geometric symbol with lines and dots is centered over a Flower of Life pattern. Below are three icons labeled: Adinkras, Flower of Life, and Sirius - Dogon People, each with brief descriptions.

The fruits

The Tree of Wealth web app is available to everyone and expands the narrative with ancestral histories, with harvested fruits connecting visitors to projects and Black-owned businesses across Brazil.

Two digital artworks side by side: On the left, a person with an afro merged with a golden tree growing from crowded houses; on the right, the same person faces a lone golden tree in a sunlit field with a town in the background.

Partner brands – Brava.sp, No Front, and Livraria Africanidades – offer lectures on Black history, courses in financial education and entrepreneurship, and books by Black authors. In addition, illustrator Del Nunes created exclusive digital arts and artist Gean Guilherme produced illustrations in a virtual environment, both inspired by the music video.

The ancestors

Queen Candace:
Royal dynasty from Kush and one of the few matrilineal societies in the world.

Akan Empire:
Rich in gold, the Akan people were among the most powerful groups in Africa.

Afro-Brazilian brotherhoods:
Used their profit to help newly freed slaves and organised symbolic coronations of Black kings and queens.

Gainers of Itapuã:
Inventors of Balangandãs, the first jewellery design created in Brazil.

A group of people in vibrant traditional clothing stand in a line on a street at night, participating in a cultural or religious event. The background is dark, with more people gathered behind them.

Impact

Unity is crucial to maintain the legacy created in the past.

SOMA+ students, together with Gana and Mooc agencies, Oloko Records and the artist himself have sown a new narrative of Black wealth.

SOMA+ have been honoured with the Human Rights and Diversity seal from UNESCO and has graduated over a thousand students. Recently, 87% of SOMA+ graduates achieved job interviews and 40% were hired. Also, Criolo’s record was nominated for the Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards.

Seven people stand together smiling in front of a brick wall, with their arms around each other. They are dressed in colorful, stylish outfits and appear to be enjoying each others company.
A stone labeled Somar is connected by blue-lit wires to multiple screens displaying black-and-white portraits and names of various individuals in a dimly lit, industrial room with brick walls.
A woman with braided hair speaks into a microphone to a smiling man in a white jacket and red cap at a lively indoor gathering, while others watch, smile, and take photos with their phones.
An illuminated art installation with glowing white tubes displayed in front of a screen showing the text “Reino Akan” and an image of a person’s face. The background is dark, with dramatic lighting highlighting the exhibit.

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