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A Jesus piece is a spiritual or religious piece of jewelry that is popular in the Hip-Hop community and depicts the face of Jesus. Many Hip-Hop artists and celebrities, including The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Kanye West among others, have adopted the Jesus piece as a common fashion accessory and have them decorated with many precious gems. Cheaper Jesus pieces have also been sold in other materials including wood and inexpensive metals.
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The Notorious B.I.G.
The origination of the Jesus piece is attributed to Christopher Wallace (The Notorious B.I.G.) and Tito Caicedo, Wallace's jeweler. Wallace paid Tito approximately $10,000 a piece for multiple Jesus pieces that he would give to those he worked with and wear himself. The Jesus pieces were decorated with precious gems, specifically on the hair of Jesus.
Jay-Z
When Wallace died in 1997, his Jesus piece was given to his son Christopher Wallace, Jr. "CJ". Jay-Z would then wear the Jesus piece multiple times for whenever he would record a new album. Two years after Wallace's death, Jay-Z appeared on the December 1999 issue of the XXL magazine with a Jesus piece.
Jacob Arabo partnership
In 2004, Kanye West partnered with Jacob Arabo, a jeweler that outfitted many hip-hop artists with their jewelry. West's personal Jesus piece created by Jacob cost $25,000, was the size of a man's palm and had clear diamonds for Jesus' crown of thorns, yellow and light-brown diamonds as Jesus' blond hair, aquamarines for blue eyes and small rubies for the tears of blood on his face. In an interview with Rolling Stone, West explains complications he had creating the revised Jesus piece by repeating a discussion he had with Jacob.
"I love the way it looks with the blue eyes, but I'll get too much flak for it. I can't explain that blue-eyed shit. I need to do another one. A black one. Because I have socially conscious lyrics and I'm-a get flak."
After experimenting with various colors for the piece's eyes, West decided that the aquamarine blue eyes were best suited for the piece. West then jokingly explained how he would avoid social commentary saying, "I'll say it's the one (Jesus) off my grandmother's wall! It's Grandma's Jesus!"
Takashi Murakami partnership
In 2007, West again created another derivation of the Jesus piece with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, who created the cover artwork for West's Graduation. The Jesus piece was estimated to cost approximately $75,000.