The History of Hip Hop Jewelry: From Start To Now

A Complete history of jewelry in the rap game, from the very first rapper to sport a gold chain to the iced out pieces of today. Take a tour through history with us.

As rap became a larger affair and and opportunities for higher earning potential presented itself it was just a matter of time. Kurtis Blow gets credit as the first rapper in recorded history to sport gold chains on his self-titled debut album cover. Coincidentally later Blow was also the 1st to certify a gold hip hop record, so yeah more cash more flash.

While $10,000 was a lot for a chain back in the ’80s, Roc-A-Fella members—namely Dame Dash and Biggs —thought nothing of spending $200,000 each with Jacob the Jeweler in there peak, and before Jacob ran into legal trouble. But that's another story for another day.

Over the years we've witnessed not only the evolution of jewelry in hip hop, but the development of the industry itself. In the beginning, hip-hop was a medium for poor ghetto kids, segregated and subjected people of color of the lower income brackets.

It was rooted in activism and resistance, not just partying and materialism, Rap was music for people who could probably never imagine themselves adorned in diamonds and precious metals.
But it's only natural for the have nots to want to well have, even before rap existed kids in the hood idolized there local pimps and drug dealers because of the illusion of success they gave off, partly through their jewelry.

So when a select few were able to climb out of the pits and into the ranks of the rich via rap, they wanted to flaunt it, and they really flaunted it.




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