The Inextricable Histories of Jewelry and Hip-Hop, As Seen Through the Bling of Tupac, Slick Rick, Missy Elliott, and Cardi B

It is a rite of passage for many young Black girls to receive their first piece of gold jewelry. It serves as a keepsake of their family, of where they come from, of who they are, and it typically becomes a staple in their own jewelry collections. Many people across the Black diaspora recognize jewelry as a symbol of identity as well as a signifier of wealth and success. While gifting jewelry has been practiced for centuries across many cultures, today, some of the most iconic and coveted jewelry comes directly from the influence of hip-hop culture, inspired both by the genre’s most famous artists and everyday people. Related Articles The recently opened exhibition “Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry” at the American Museum of Natural History in New York (on view through next January) aims to chart this story, unraveling jewelry’s undeniable role in how early hip-hop artists and their audiences chose to present themselves in a world that refused to accept and acknowledge them and how that five-decade legacy continues to impact contemporary fashion, style, and representations of wealth and status, especially in the Black community. Curated by Vikki Tobak, a journalist and author of a book...