From Rick Ross’s yellow diamond chain to its resemblance to Slick Rick’s plate-sized gold pendant and the $24 million pink diamond embedded in Lil Uzi Vert’s forehead, from the early days of hip- hop, jewelry is a big part of the appearance of rap stars in the United States.
at your job Ice Cold: A Hip-Hop Jewelry Story, Vikki Tobak explores this rappers passion for all that glitters. Thanks to her experience in the music industry, this American journalist who rubbed shoulders with the greatest (Mos Def, Jay-Z…) traces the importance and symbolism of these often extravagant pieces in history and culture American hip hop.
For BFMTV.com, Vikki Tobak returns to the history of bling-bling culture, documented in particular thanks to unpublished archive photos and testimonials from rappers like Slick Rick or A$AP Ferg.
In the 1980s, hip-hop became more democratic in the United States. Some rappers driven to the front of the stage win listeners and rack up dollars. They do not hesitate to invest in coins to show off their wealth.
Inspired by successful figures from their neighborhood such as drug traffickers or mobsters, these artists, often of modest origins, see in the purchase of jewelry a way to display their success and social advancement, like a trophy.
“If the hip-hop community is passionate about jewelry, it is because it has always been used to show social status and to express one’s identity on the body. And the street is the podium for rappers, it’s the place where they have to show who they are.” they are for her neighborhood and her community,” explains Vikki Tobak.
This is how the most influential rappers of the moment begin to arrive, such as LL Cool J, Kurtis Blow (the first rapper to sign with a record label and win a gold record), Slick Rick, Eric B. & Rakim or Run DMC again. they come out with gold chains and they are throwing a real fad. Now, when an artist is successful in hip-hop, jewelry must follow.
In the early 1990s, rap established itself as an important cultural genre in the United States and rappers, who were generating more and more money, began to structure themselves commercially in collectives and labels.
The meaning of jewelry is also changing. Leaving the expression of social status, gold chains become a means of showing belonging to a group.
“Labels and collectives start to make their own personalized jewelry, such as Death Rown, No-Limit, Young Money, G-Unit, or the best known of all, Roc-A-Fella”, specifies Vikki Tobak.
For every new artist signed to Roc-A-Fella Records, its co-founder, rapper Jay-Z, offered a $100,000 chain and pendant in the form of vinyl and a bottle of champagne with an R engraved on it.
Converted into a marketing instrument, these new jewels bling-bling they give pride of place to diamond dealers, goldsmiths and setters, such as famed designer Dapper Dan, who are often immigrants and reside in New York’s Diamond District.
In the 2000s, rappers now rise to the same rank as the biggest pop or rock stars. Her increasingly extravagant and unusual jewelry reflects her popularity and wealth.
Embarking on a race for ostentation, the artists exchanged their gold chains for huge necklaces and medallions set with colored diamonds and other precious stones.
Witness Lil John’s “Crunk Ain’t Dead” necklace, whose pendant was listed in the Guinness World Record as the world’s heaviest. And not in vain, this piece made up of 3,756 73-carat diamonds and estimated at more than 500,000 dollars weighs 2.3 kilos.
Medallions also appear in reference to pop culture. Soulja Boy wears a necklace with the image of Mario in its title triple chain gangGucci Mane appears with a Bart Simpson pendant, Tyga appears with a Garfield chain…
But wanting too much to highlight their extravagance, some rappers are envious. As Vikki Tobak points out, “The world of hip-hop is very competitive. Then we see a lot of robbery attempts and artists even lose their lives.”
In her book, the American journalist mentions in particular the case of Pop Smoke, shot to death in February 2020 when individuals allegedly tried to steal jewelry from him, or even PnB Rock, who died in a shooting last September, whom, according to the First elements of the investigation, they would have also tried to steal her jewelry, displayed on Instagram a few hours earlier.
advertising object
If bling-bling fashion has since lost steam in rap, despite an attempt to make a comeback in 2010, especially worn by the trio Migos, jewelry still retains a fundamental importance within hip-hop culture.
But today everything has changed. The prestigious brands, which once made the biggest artists dream, have understood the commercial potential of rap – the most listened to music genre in the United States – and are considering alliances with rappers.
In 2018, A$AP Ferg became the first rapper ambassador for a luxury jewelry brand, Tiffany & Co.
“The jewelry world is really starting to understand the power of hip hop in a significant way. So you see artists like Jay-Z and Beyoncé or A$AP Ferg working with brands like Tiffany & Co. ‘It’s even more interesting when you know back in the ’80s, ’90s, none of these brands wanted to be associated with the hip-hop movement,’ concludes Vikki Tobak.
Source: BFM TV
