NEW YORK
Hip-hop jewelry has gone by many names over the past 50 years. “Bling-bling” crystallized into “ice,” which melted into “drip” as rappers went from adorning their necks with gold chains and knuckles with four-finger rings to decking out their teeth and wrists in diamonds. One-upping your opponent in a rap battle couldn’t be done with lyrical prowess alone. You also had to look fly. As inner-city rappers sought global respect for their street poetry as a reputable art form throughout the ’80s and ’90s, so too did up-and-coming immigrant jewelers who found a commonality in their hustle to attain the American Dream.
At New York City’s American Museum of Natural History, 66 culturally priceless heirlooms are now on display as part of “Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry.” Sean M. Decatur, the museum’s president, told The Washington Post “Ice Cold” was a “natural fit” for the Meister Gallery inside the Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, which has previously hosted three jewelry-themed exhibits. To him, the gems “tell an interesting broader cultural story.”
“When you are from a people who come from a history where the right to express one’s identity was constantly being questioned, challenged and diminished, it takes on special meaning to present yourself in a particular way that is so deeply tied into one’s own understanding of self,” Decatur said of the pieces that reflect Black and Latino diasporic experiences.
Old-school fans will recognize Public Enemy’s ’80s leather medallion featuring its logo of a Black man caught in the crosshairs of a gun sight to raise awareness about police brutality. Aficionados will spot the legendary yellow gold Jesus piece that the Notorious B.I.G. rapped about in his 1997 hit “Hypnotize.” Onlookers can “lean back” and admire Fat Joe’s 14-karat white gold and diamond Terror Squad logo necklace to learn about how hip-hop crews grew into music collectives by the early ’00s.
“Ice Cold” is an extension of hip-hop journalist Vikki Tobak’s 2022 coffee-table book of the same name, which features more than 300 pages of classic photos and heartfelt essays showcasing what “stuntin’” really means to rappers. The author, who worked as director of publicity and marketing at Payday Records in the ’90s, felt it was important for fans and critics alike to see physical representations of hip-hop’s undeniable presence up close.
“The fact that it’s inside of this museum that’s dedicated to the history of mankind, I really saw the magnitude of placing this kind of work in that kind of context and putting all these new eyes on it,” Tobak said.
With cases named after songs such as “Money, Power & Respect” and “U See Us,” the curator emphasized that the jewels don’t necessarily signify decadence. “Ice Cold” shows a kaleidoscopic spectrum of stories — from the time when making it was “all a dream” to memorializing a fallen friend.
“Artists have fully stepped into their power,” Tobak said. “They really understand that what they wear is often just as important as their music. ‘U See Us,’ is named after the Nipsey [Hussle] song, and it’s meant to speak to how all eyes now are on hip-hop for everything — style, fashion, music, politics even.”
Tobak, whose family immigrated from Kazakhstan to Detroit in the ’70s, thinks “Ice Cold” is especially timely as the gatekeepers of couture fashion houses and legacy jewelers have not only welcomed tastemakers such as A$AP Ferg and Tyler, the Creator into the fold, but have also taken inspiration from classic hip-hop chain styles.
“You think about the way that hip-hop has been embraced by the luxury world just in the past 10 years and what it means for jewelry,” Tobak said. “Certain link styles you’re starting to see in mainstream culture. I think we needed this past 10 years to tell that additional layer.”
A$AP Ferg’s finery
Ferg, a founding member of the A$AP Mob hip-hop collective, used to walk past Tiffany & Co.’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue on his way home to Harlem from the High School of Art and Design. “When you don’t have the money to actually buy something, you don’t feel comfortable walking through these stores,” he said. As a teenager, then known as Darold Ferguson Jr., he designed crystal-studded pendants that got his friends robbed due to how realistic they looked. In 2018, Ferg made history as Tiffany’s first hip-hop brand ambassador.
At “Ice Cold,” the “Plain Jane” rapper’s 18-karat white gold and diamond Tiffany T bracelet glistens next to a more sentimental piece — a custom IF & Co. “Yamborghini” necklace. Inspired by the Lamborghini logo, the Ben Baller-designed pendant is made of 14-karat white gold with 65 carats of white VVS diamonds and a custom Hermes link diamond chain to honor the late Mob member A$AP Yams. Ferg said designing and buying chains is “just another extension of your soul.”
“Whenever I buy jewelry, it has a purpose,” Ferg said. “[We’re] not just spending mad bread on things. We’re mimicking our forefathers. You think about Egypt, the gods, King Tut, Mansa Musa — the richest man in the world — Black man. We’re just mimicking who we are. We’re kings and queens.”
Roc-A-Fella Records logo pendant
When Jay-Z raps “got the hottest chick in the game wearin’ my chain,” Roc Nation senior vice president Lenny “Lenny S” Santiago flashes back to the moment he snapped a photo of Beyoncé sporting her husband’s Roc-A-Fella necklace. The 14-karat rose gold and diamond pendant, made by the often name-dropped Jacob “the Jeweler” Arabo, depicts the record label’s iconic logo — a vinyl record with a bottle of champagne and a cursive letter R.
“It represents what Roc was,” Santiago said. “They were getting money, they were buying jewelry, they were popping champagne. That logo became so famous because of what was built. So, forget about what the actual emblem is. It’s what it represents. And it represented independence. When you look at it, you think of the whole Roc-A-Fella to Roc Nation empire.”
Jam Master Jay’s Adidas pendant
Back in 1986, when kids wanted to sport Run-DMC’s signature Kangol hats and tracksuits, Bronx native Santiago said he was more intrigued by the group’s ability to broker hip-hop’s first endorsement deal with Adidas. His sentiment comes full circle at “Ice Cold,” where Jam Master Jay’s 14-karat yellow gold chain with a black enamel Adidas pendant is featured in the exhibit’s entryway case.
Today, he admires how hip-hop artists have used their business acumen to take the B-boy from the streets to the C-suite, with high-profile collaborations between the likes of Pharrell Williams and Louis Vuitton.
“Nobody would have thought [of] that in the ’70s and ’80s when rappers were just wearing thick gold rope chains,” Santiago said.
Nicki Minaj’s Barbie pendant
Indian jeweler Ashna Mehta created Minaj’s 2022 18-karat white gold Barbie pendant encrusted in 54.47 carats of diamonds and bright pink enamel. She said via email the exhibit recognizes “how the tradition of adornment is alive and well in modern times.” The heiress to the Indian-Belgian jewelry company Rosy Blue grew up in New York and Dubai, where she said hip-hop’s irresistible style was fully embraced across cultures.
“The pieces are not just accessories,” Mehta said. “They are historical artifacts of our time. As a woman in this industry, creating for another woman who has carved her path in such a male-dominated field is profoundly meaningful. It’s more than just adornment. It’s a celebration of feminine strength, resilience and leadership.”
Pendants with pizazz
Designer Alex Moss believes his craftsmanship sets a new standard for sophistication. The Toronto native of Armenian descent thinks “Ice Cold” makes a statement that hip-hop jewelry is “art at the highest level.”
“It’s in the same room they’ve had exhibits for Van Cleef, for Cartier, for Harry Winston,” Moss said. “The times are changing. It’s not about 100-year-old jewelry anymore. This is today’s jewelry.”
“Ice Cold” features some of Moss’s most notable pieces, such as A$AP Rocky’s 14-karat gold EXO grenade pendant clock, Drake’s 18K white gold “Crown Jewel of Toronto” pendant with yellow and blue diamonds and Burmese rubies and the bellhop pendant for Tyler, the Creator. The $500,000 14-karat gold pendant and chain has 186 carats in diamonds, 60 carats in sapphires and more than 23,000 handset stones.
“After I put that one out, I think everyone pretty much woke up and said, ‘Who is this kid?’” Moss said.
Pharrell Williams’s grillz
Unlike Moss, who entered the jewelry industry in 2016 without any contacts, 27-year-old grill maker Elan Pinhasov grew up in the family business — Gabby Elan Jewelry. His father, Gabriel, immigrated from Israel in 1990, and over the years, he used his dental training to design more comfortable, custom mouthpieces for the likes of Ol’ Dirty Bastard from the Wu-Tang Clan, Dua Lipa, J Balvin and, most recently, Rihanna. But one particular customer can’t get enough of Gabby Elan designs. “Ice Cold” features two blinged-out grillz owned by Pharrell — a 14-karat white gold set with ruby pavé surrounded by white pavé diamonds from 2006 that Pinhasov estimates cost Williams about $10,000, and a 22-karat yellow gold set with yellow natural pavé diamonds from 2021 for $40,000.
“The [yellow diamond] set I think was originally intended for the Met Gala,” Pinhasov said, noting that the artist wanted bigger stones than those placed in the initial design. “So we have this set [at the exhibit] as kind of like a prototype, and the set that he currently has, has diamonds that are twice the size.”
Pinhasov said his father spent decades making a name for himself in the heart of Brooklyn at Albee Square Mall, formerly a hip-hop hot spot for jewels and rap battles. But the young designer encouraged him to move the business to the Diamond District in October 2018 to keep up with the competition. Having spent summers, weekends and even after-school hours selling gems since 2013, Pinhasov doesn’t see the flashy ornaments as a fading trend anytime soon.
“You can wear the most expensive watch, you can wear the most expensive shoe, any piece of jewelry, but everyone’s first impression is looking at someone’s face,” Pinhasov said. “If they smile and see a magnificent set of grillz, it sticks your attention to that forever.”
“Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry” runs through Jan. 5, 2025. American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York. Tickets for nonresidents from $16 to $28. www.amnh.org.
