Custom hip hop jewelry is the ultimate expression of the hip hop style because it is really all about customization and personal style. Rap lyrics beginning from the 1980s have been customized and improvised to fit the local cultural scene so why not jewelry? In order to understand this type of custom jewelry we need to understand its origins. Because many rappers came from humble beginnings, wearing this type of jewelry was like obtaining a symbol of success. Jewelry has always been a set symbol, but with rap artists, basic jewelry fair wasn’t enough. The jewelry was symbolic as a reminder of how far they had advance and they wanted everyone to know it.
This started the trend of mammoth, over the top iced out jewelry and the re-emergence of jumbo dookie rope chains from the 1980s. Again, this was not about the jewelry being tall and loud unbiased for the sake of showing off. It was rather about being a symbol of the trudge of hard knocks and the trials and tribulations one had to endure to advance the point of success and also to let others know of your accomplishments. The most current produce of jewelry that symbolized this is the custom iced out pendant.
The larger than life iced out pendant is the centerpiece of any hip hop jewelry collection. It is usually a personalized fragment that is a one of a kind manufacture made specially for the person. This receives the most attention as it is usually dwelling to dangle fair at the center torso, the very center of your body. Jewelers are able to accomplish these very unusual designs when it comes to pendants because they have more scale to work with. The get is made to be gargantuan and heavy with any effect you wish with the metal and gemstones of your choice.
It can become quite a creative work of art worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many may capture an ad that aired a couple years ago where Snoop dogg is in a recording studio with many recording artists in their fill private recording booths and he can’t procure his customized pendant so he walks around and stops by David Bowie’s recording booth and motions to David through the soundproof glass asking if he’s seen his pendant. David shrugs his shoulders as if he hasn’t seen it. Then as Snoop walks on in his search David smiles as he slowly unzips his jacket to divulge Snoop’s massive bejeweled personalized pendant resting on his torso. If this isn’t an overt skedaddle for massively personalized and customized jewelry then I don’t know what is. It signifies the heights that this generational attitude has reached as a commercially vital fragment of common culture in all its manifestations including customized jewelry.
Custom made rap pendants also referred to as dog tags incorporate various symbols of masculinity and accomplishment. As in the case of Snoop Dogg, his pendant has his name “Snoop” spelled out in diamond and gemstone studded letters. The originate can be as simple as that or it can incorporate crosses, dragons, dollar signs, skulls and bones, gang symbols and other symbols into the overall obtain. These symbols in various combinations and styles can be designed into one part for a particular artist’s gain expression of individuality remarkable as tattoos can be exquisite works of art crafted as an expression of a person’s past or his/her aspirations.
Custom designed rap jewelry has approach a long plot with original themes and motifs introduced into classic designs but with a modern twist. The skull and bones explore for instance has become quite current in rap culture as well as in the motorcycle gang world. For artists it is a symbol of their toughness in enduring the rough streets, tough childhoods and daily violence that they grew up with. It symbolizes where they came from and reminds them of who they are and so this theme regularly shows up in the different interpretations that are seen in custom designed jewelry. Custom hip hop jewelry can be seen as another primary mode of hip hop artistic expression that is both wearable and conveys instant recognition to the wearer.