Rappers Jewelry: Which Type of Jewelry Rappers Like to Wear
What Jewelry Do Rappers Choose to Wear?
It's impossible to imagine that a small, closely knitted community can play one of the most critical roles in fashion. The Hip-hop community is one of the main driving forces of fashion trends. And one of the eye-catching parts of hip-hop and fashion is jewelry. Hip-hop culture and jewelry are two sides of the same coin; we cannot mention one without the other.
The Guinness Book of World Records is filled with rappers' jewelry. We are not historians, but we know this has been going on from the start of hip-hop culture. If we look back hallway of hip-hop, we will see many iconic moments associated with jewelry because jewelry has been a part of the culture from the start.
Hip-hop culture started in the decade of 1970. There were three main reasons behind starting the hip-hop genre:
- Hip-hop was a tool to tell the stories of less privileged people of color from across America.
- It was a form of celebration.
- It was a sport. Rap battles are a medium to show off lyrical abilities and win over the opponent.
What one wears to the battle allows one to showcase their wealth, status, and overall "flyness" to competition and other audiences. In those times, the essential parts of the fit were jewelry and sneakers. Now, the fit choice is mostly the same; the stakes got more significant, and so is the jewelry.
Hip-hop is the most influential culture in the world, so it is quite handy to know what jewelry they choose and take inspiration from them. Diamond's jewelry is shiny and brings out the artist's personality.
Jewelry in hip-hop culture is made up of diamonds. Besides gold and silver, diamonds are used a lot in hip-hop culture. They even have a term for a jewelry filled with diamonds, "iced out."
Majorly the jewelry is divided into chains, pendants, rings, Grillz, and bracelets. So let's dive into each of them and understand the brief of each category.
6 Jewelry Rappers Like the Most:
Chains
Chains are the most common and go-to rappers’ jewelry. Chains and pendants are the only two pieces of jewelry that everyone can notice. Because of the placement near the face and upper body, there is no way one can miss seeing the jewelry. No matter whom you meet, the chain and pendant will be noticed. Chains directly indicate that the person wearing them is wealthy, they have power, and it gives an impression of popularity and success.
People can miss rings and bracelets, but people cannot ignore chains and pendants. Because of that, chains are the most common piece of jewelry used in hip-hop.
Chains are of many types, but the most important ones are:
- Cuban-link chain
- Rope chain
- Diamond chain
- Mariner chain, a.k.a Gucci chain
Each has its own style, pattern, and impact. Some chains are made with lots of gold, while some are made with lots of diamonds.
Eventually, it all boils down to personal choices and what jewelry best represents you.
Pendants
Pendants are like the playground for rappers. Pendants are the only place where the highest number of customization happens. Every rapper takes a pendant as their canvas to express their thoughts, personality, and whatever they want to share with the world. Because it is mostly customized, and the price of the pendant depends on the size, metal, and number of diamonds used in the pendant. Pendants are also the only jewelry piece with the highest number of diamonds. The cost of pendants varies from around $500 to even beyond a million dollars.
There are so many strange examples of the motifs used as pendants, for example, a logo of the rapper's favorite brand, a name, a cartoon character, an animal, emoji, an alphabet, weapons, a message, a cross, Jesus, their own face and so much more!
A pendant can be anything and everything! That is why pendant is the playground for rappers to experiment with different sizes, shapes, and materials to stand out in the crowd.
Rings
Rings are one of the oldest pieces of jewelry in the world, and it has evolved a lot. It has come a long way from simple metal jewelry to diamond-studded iced-out jewelry. Before the arrival of hip-hop culture, most of the rings were used for the purpose of an engagement proposal. The delicate solitaire ring was the only kind of ring that was famous. The maximum change was done in the quality of the diamond, metal, and number of supporting diamonds. There was no boldness or innovation in it. But after the 1980s, when the culture of hip-hop started gaining traction, the change in the ring started coming, and slowly, the ideas started emerging. Because of rappers, people now think beyond small and subtle rings; now, there are big and bulky rings too. Thanks to rappers, they have upped the ring game. Now there are rings bigger than fingers, filled with diamonds, and heavier than regular rings, and rappers wear them to flaunt themselves.
Grillz
Grillz are one of the most unique pieces of jewelry out there. Although it seems out of the blue, these pieces of jewelry are in existence for centuries now. Grillz are basically any dental jewelry. When you see history, you will realize that people used to have gold or silver teeth to showcase their wealth, social status, and success to people around them. But after hip-hop, teeth decoratives entered pop culture around the 1980s. The hip-hop community took dental jewelry to a new level as well.
As any human being, the face is one of the most attention-grabbing parts of the rapper’s body. So any type of jewelry on the face gives the opportunity to flaunt themselves. From the history of using metal in the place of a tooth, now they have the teeth filled with diamonds. Now the Grillz comes in the detachable form as well, so it gives rappers a chance to try new designs and keep being in the trend. As visible in the picture, the Grillz make mouth iced-out. It shines and can be noticed from far away. Grillz has a niche following in this culture. Wearing Grillz makes people stand out.
Last but not least, Bracelets and watches
Bracelets and watches have been interesting from the start. All the patterns of chains are converted into bracelets; apart from that, there are multiple other designs for someone interested. Watches have been getting upgraded since the start of hip-hop.
Everyone wears a regular watch, but rappers wear customized watches. They choose a watch they like and then give it for customization to add gems and metals. No matter what new jewelry pieces will come into hip-hop culture, one thing is clear; watches are not going anywhere.
To conclude, follow the hip-hop community to be on top of every jewelry trend. As you saw, rappers’ jewelry ranges from small and subtle pieces to big, attention-grabbing pieces. No matter what the rapper chooses to wear, this is for sure that jewelry has been and will always be an integral part of hip-hop culture.
So to answer the question, what jewelry do rappers choose to wear? Let's say a rapper chooses anything and everything that showcases their personality.
You can browse some amazing hip-hop jewelry at Netcarat.