Rappers and Hip-Hop artists are famous for their songs and fashion, but how can we ignore the jewelry they wear? The huge, flashy jewelry is the center of attraction for rappers and hip-hop artists.
In addition, each of them has his own unique jewelry that creates his identity. All these people have contributed to making jewelry a rap and hip-hop music tradition. But, apart from tradition, there are several reasons why these artists wear so much jewelry.
Rappers & Hip-Hop Jewelry
The jewelry these artists wear can be of various types. Gold, silver, and platinum, along with diamonds, are the materials preferred for this jewelry. The list of jewelry items chosen by these artists will almost always start with the gold chains and often include pendants.
Some other most common types include – dental accessories, sunglasses, shoe grills, wrist watches, bracelets, rings, belt buckles, and many more.
Why Do They Wear So Much Jewelry?
Below are some reasons why these artists wear so much jewelry:
Symbol of Wealth
Being very expensive, genuine gold jewelry is a symbol of wealth. These jewelry items represent the achievements and hard work of these artists. These are also considered as a display and an expression of their joy. Rappers and hip-hop artists flaunt the money they earn with this heavy jewelry. The bigger the jewelry, the more the wealth of the person wearing that piece.
Sign of Virility
Along with symbolizing wealth, these jewelry items are a sign of virility. Flashy jewelry and clothes are part of pop culture and indicate manliness. These bulky gold chains and giant pendants effectively represent masculinity and hence are preferred by rappers and hip-hop artists.
Minimization of Risk from the Legal & Economic Sense
Economically, many of these artists have come from highly marginalized groups with gangster culture. They had to do anything and everything for survival, with a considerable degree of legal risks. Due to the constant entanglements with the police, and the courts, these artists hold their wealth in high-end products and gold. And, with the banks being distrustful of them, jewelry was a good option.
Asset Recovery
For future asset protection, investing cash in the form of gold jewelry was an option chosen by these artists in the past. Even in case of running into legal trouble, the police would have frozen their finances, along with cars and bank assets. But when arrested, they can recover the gold jewelry as is after release. Thus, carrying purchases like gold/ valuable jewelry is a wise move.
Pursuing Self-interest
Rappers and hip-hop artists hold their cash in the form of jewelry to protect their self-interests. Gangsters who obtain their finances illegally prefer the same option of gold to recover some cash as bail money in case of emergency. The gold chains and heavy jewelry ensure the safety of their earned cash. Thus they can prevent their money from being pillaged by the police.
Heritage & Tradition
The rappers and hip-hop artists who belong to specific communities prefer some jewelry such as grills or gold teeth as a part of tradition. These artists wear gold jewelry to pay homage to their history, specifically, the Mayan history. Apart from the Mayans, Ancient Egyptians also used dental accessories made of gold. Therefore, some artists wear gold teeth to honor their traditions and beliefs.
Status Symbol
There’s no need to explain that gold jewelry is preferred as a status symbol. The gold accessories, like the chains, are status symbols and signs of societal pride for rappers and hip-hop artists. By wearing gold jewelry, these artists are showing that they earned money and could afford to buy gold.
Accessorizing
This is another big reason behind gold jewelry and stones. These artists love to set trends with their fashion and accessories, and expensive jewelry is one of the best options to flaunt. Thus rappers and hip-hopers prefer chains, grills, earrings, bracelets, and many more.
Gold chains and other jewelry items ultimately represent rappers’ and hip-hop artists’ fame, overall success, and wealth. If you admire one of these artists or are a big fan of them and want to acquire similar jewelry pieces for yourself, visit Drippy Style today!
