Hip Hop Culture: Iced Out.. When Is It Too Much Jewellery?

It’s always been a thing for Hip Hop artists to be flashy and show the hottest and newest things out there, from copping garms to cars. But what is a rapper if he hasn’t got a piece of ice?

I’m down for looking nice, I’m not the type to be copping jewellery, but if I was, I’d just buy me a simple chain, diamond stud earrings, watch and that’s it. But when it comes to rappers, jewellery is a symbol of status and success. A lot of rappers feel the need to fork out a lot on money on buying chains and flashing them out like they’re safe and trust everyone around them.

The only rappers that I can think of right now that don’t really wear chains are Jay-Z, Kanye, Eminem, Drake, Common.. there are more, but I can’t remember. They know that a great chain doesn’t make a great artist, it’s the music and the hard work that makes the the artist. But when will other rappers realise this?

Looking back on Hip Hop, rappers kinda kept it simple with ice in the 90s, with rope chains, two-fingered rings and brands such as Adidas, Fila, Nike etc, such Run DMC (above) and Big Daddy Kane. Moving on further down within the life of Hip Hop, more rappers started copping chains, symbolising reputation, fame, status and the image that they portray.

But as Hip Hop gets older, it seems that the number of chains a rapper has goes up. Not only that, jewellery starts to become bigger and even more ridiculous. I respect rappers who buy a chain with hard earned money and keep it simple, but does you haves to get to get dumb chains around yo neck or wear the whole jewellery store on you?

The worst culprits for having too much ice or stupidly huge chains are the newer and younger rappers (who I like to call ‘kindergarten rappers’) of today’s generation.

Skool Boy, a rapper that I’m not gunna bother listening to, has to win the award for THE MOST STUPIDEST CHAIN EVER KNOWN TO MAN (below), sporting a multi-coloured diamond incrusted Kellog’s Frosties cereal box chain. I bet you by now, you’re thinking “I shoulda never brought his CD, this is what they do when you give these young n***as your money!”

Alot of people see chains as a symbol of respect in the Hip Hop community. Really and truly, I don’t even class these kids as ‘Hip Hop’, but just as rappers. Those that I respect in Hip Hop would be those like 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, J Dilla, Slum Village and the list can go on. The younger generation seem to be gassed by rappers who ain’t all that but got a stupid chain that weighs their whole neck down. When will these kids learn that ‘a great chain doesn’t make a great artist, it’s the music and the hard work that makes the the artist’?