I also wanted to make sure to show the evolution of the jewellery styles from simple gold to bigger gold, to dookie ropes to Cuban links, to specific pendants like Kanye’s Murakami Jesus piece and on and on.South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands (USD $) Then of course hip-hop artists who were known for certain pieces, like LL Cool J with his nameplate ring, Biz Markie’s dookie ropes, Cam’ron with his spinning globe, The Roc’s chain and so on. Jewellers like Tito Caicedo, Jacob the Jeweller, Eddie Plein, Avianne, Eliantte, Ben Baller and Greg Yuna. There were certain rappers and certain jewellers who evolved the hip-hop jewellery world so they had to be included. And because Taschen has such a high bar for photography, we had to make sure the photography captured the story and the artists in a very beautiful way.

Hip-hop is a culture of remixing and customization and I really wanted to celebrate that in this book. I started from there by thinking about the curation for this book.

VT: The art of adornment is part of our shared human history and taps into our deep need to show up and show out. (Image credit: TBC) W*: What were your criteria for inclusion in this book? How did you make your curation? Lately, I’ve been so happy to see the rise of women rappers collecting jewellery and especially watches - Kash Doll, Megan thee Stallion, Latto and Cardi B’s watch collection is amazing and the women are really stepping into their power with jewellery.

The culture is truly amazing and a continuum of sorts. Then you start to see Gucci Mane come in and elevate the jewellery game and the rise of the South/Atlanta jewellery movement. When folks like Pharrell started using coloured gems and collaborating with Jacob the Jeweller we saw a door open to more experimentation with materials such as enamel, and nods to anime and cartoon culture. Then in the early 90s Biggie had jeweller Tito create his Jesus piece setting off a trend, then Jay-Z and Diddy got hip-hop into platinum and diamonds alongside the rise of grills culture with early pioneers like Eddie Plein. There are so many milestone moments in the jewellery game: you start with the street culture that the rappers were looking to in the beginning, then as hip-hop artists started to ascend you had artists like Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Biz, Roxanne Shante wearing all the big gold truck style jewellery. VT: Hip-hop’s love of jewellery builds on a history of visual cues as status. (Image credit: TBC) W*: Are there any defining jewellery moments which stand out as turning points to you? And with hip-hop’s intersection with luxury goods now a given, there’s an even deeper story to be told of how the culture stepped into its power. Setting the tone of street culture, African aesthetics and the historical connotations were really important.įrom there, we celebrate the artists who so beautifully express themselves through jewellery and the jewellery subculture that emerged as hip-hop was rising to power. That’s where I wanted to start as the foundation for this story. With hip-hop jewellery, it’s almost impossible to separate the gemstones from the bigger narrative of politics, identity and race, and historical complexity.

Artists use jewellery to express their individuality, their identity, allegiance to neighbourhoods, crews, brotherhoods, label affiliations and so on. Hip-hop took that dialogue and, with a clarity of vision and Black diasporic history, elevated all the way to global dominance - unapologetic, charismatic, and dripping in street savvy. Vikki Tobak: Hip-hop jewellery is so much bigger than conspicuous consumption and I really wanted this book to celebrate something bigger than just bling. Where do you begin when exploring this relationship? (Image credit: TBC) Wallpaper*: Jewellery's role in hip hop has helped define a strong visual identity over the decades.

Nyc hip hop jewelry