Bling Bling
'‘The root of evil is the love of money’
Dilated Peoples1
Niggaz wear shades just to stand on side of me/ Folks say: Take that chain off boy, ya blindin’ me/All day my phone ringin’ – ring ring ring/ Can see my earring from a mile, bling-bling.
B.G. ‘Bling-Bling’
Bling-Bling refers to the gleam that is projected into the eyes of the bystander, or the hater, when rays of light reflect from jewellery and gold. It has risen from rap lingo and has now entered the language of pop culture generally. It refers to a particular form of Hip Hop fashion where someone displays exaggerated wealth, and oversized jewellery is the norm. It’s about proving your place in the world – by boasting, for instance, that the chains you are wearing are worth as much as a major piece of real estate.2
Diamonds worn by everybody that’s in my click/ Man, I got the price of a mansion, ‘round my neck and wrist…
B.G. ‘Bling-Bling’
Chi-Ching
Money has been a recurring theme in the history of Hip Hop – from its roots, where the lack of money was the reality and the driver for success, to present day, where ‘bragging’ about wealth has become one of the mainstays of rap lyrics. It’s such a universal topic that, for example, in 2002 a Swedish Hip Hop radio station featured a programme on ‘Money’ in which the two hosts ranked and ‘played their favourite top 25 rap songs on money – or trap, paper, papes, bones, skins, scratch, scrilla, stacks, flow, chips, cheese, cheddar, back, grips, green, green guys, moolah, loot, looch, loaded, jing, fetti, ends, ducats, dough, dead presidents, cream, c-notes, coins, chi-ching, cabbage, cake, beans, bankroll, Benjamins, big faces, biz-zank, butter…'3
Cash Rules Everything Around Me/C.R.E.A.M./ Get the money/Dollar, dollar bill y’all.
Wu-Tang Clan feat. Reakwon, Inspector Deck & Method Man, ‘C.R.E.A.M.’
Escaping the Poverty Pit
What’s really interesting about the rise of the whole ‘bling-bling’ culture is that, while it points to a widening gap between the ‘haves and have-nots’, there is a whole other political aspect that can be explored through it. Given that the communities from which Hip Hop sprang are, on the whole, at the bottom of the social heap, some of these lyrics can be argued as being ‘aspirational’ (sending out messages of how to achieve a given goal) – in this case, crawling out of the poverty pit.
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid... I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain’t nuthin’ funny / Stop smiling, be still, don’t nuthin’ move but the money / But now I learned to earn cos I’m righteous / I feel great! So maybe I might just / Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive / Then maybe I’ll stay alive…
Eric B. and Rakim, ‘Paid in Full’
‘A number of rap classics read like manuals for the entrepreneurial [business-minded] youngster: The Notorious B.I.G. told of ‘The Ten Crack Commandments’ which outline best practice in the drug trade, whereas E-40 has released an album entitled ‘The Blueprint of a Self-Made Millionaire.’ The business aspect of getting into the music industry…is importantly highlighted by Eric B and Rakim in… ‘Paid in Full’…Living life broke, their talent for rhyming and scratching…along with their contacts at the record company…help them make money off of their music. And not only are they going to get paid – they will get paid in full.’4
In the (capitalist) societies that have bought into the ‘American Dream’ mindset, money is the just reward for the hardworking and the deserving. It is the goal to be aspired to – and is fed by the myth that there is work for all who want to work, and success for all who strive for it. But the fact that those at the lowest levels of the economy are often trapped within a cycle of poverty (as described in Theme A, Topics 1 and 2) is often overlooked.
‘Despite the ‘in-your-face’ style of Hip Hop in presenting America’s ills, America does not respond to Hip Hop as it should… videos…at times show the bleakest of conditions for African-American and Latino youth, with dilapidated buildings, dirty streets, unemployment, incarceration, and violence. The images are disturbing…[and] challenge the myth that anyone, if they worked hard enough, could experience the ‘American Dream’…one would think that America would rally around the youth portrayed in the videos and address the poverty and social isolation from which many Hip Hop artists originate. Unfortunately, America chooses to do very little for the youth and, for the most part, considers the violence and bleakness portrayed in the videos as common, everyday life for black and Latino youth.’5
For those who have fought their way up to a more elevated position through Hip Hop success, it makes their ‘bragging’ understandable. It’s a celebration of achievement; a way of asserting their new-found (and hard fought for) place in the pecking order. And for those unable to share in the greater American vision, the idea of a conspiracy for white supremacy is whispered on street corners – and can, if you’re at the bottom of that pecking order, make a lot of sense.
‘For all its genius, there is something toxic about the way Hip Hop can endorse the image of the black man as criminal, as sexual predator, and as an outsider’… and the gangsta image is used as an example of how ‘the entertainment industry entraps young black men with promises of riches and forces them to disseminate the subliminal messages that are turning black against black.’6
If you can’t beat them, corrupt them.7
If we apply the same microscope to other countries around the globe, the issues that are raised – about poverty-cycles, the morals of capitalism, and distribution of wealth – are clearly visible. In Aotearoa, many will recognise the issues, even if the trappings of the bling bling culture are not so evident here. The same goes for Cuba where, after decades of being driven into the economic dirt by their ‘big-brother’ America across the sea, their culture has suddenly been ‘re-discovered’ again through renewed interest in their music (thanks to Ry Cooder’s ‘Buena Vista Social Club’). South Africa, fresh from its banishing of apartheid, now finds its ethnic groups battling it out for power and wealth.
‘A black and white cloud hangs over my head/ Born and bred/ To be camouflage to be like the living dead/ Born to behave like a blank cheque/ Born to put your own neck/ In the noose/ Born to cook your own people’s goose/… Born into a race which seems defunct/ Are we as a race a people defunct?’8
Whether or not there is truth in these claims of social engineering, the split between the two Hip Hop camps (old-school and hustla) is clearly evident. The culture of ‘bling’ - with its eye on the prize rather than the goal – is likely to continue while our society still views money as the ultimate reward.
Why does special treatment go along with the delivery of art and culture or basketball? Why does the 6 foot 8 inch monster need a car service to go three blocks? Walk your ass those three blocks. (They say) ‘I’m afraid I could be stopped. I could be robbed.’ Well, take that $300,000, stupid-ass platinum chain off your neck, take the diamond out of your ear and walk, motherfu**er.
Chuck D9
- Where does the term ‘Bling Bling’ come from?
- What are some of the other names for money frequently referred to in Hip Hop? How many do you recognise?
- What is the name of Notorious BIG’s song about the drug trade?
- What is meant by the reference to ‘The American Dream’?
- Which musician helped ‘rediscover’ the almost forgotten music of Cuba?
- What are the names of the two Hip Hop ‘camps’ mentioned above?
Extend your thinking
The Hip Hop song 'CREAM' states 'Cash Rules Everything Around Me'.
How true do you think this is in your life? How true is it in the lives of your friends? Family? Country? Does this emphasis on money worry you? Why/Why not? What would you choose to be the biggest influence in your life? In others' lives? How could you make this happen?
