Black Bling, Hip-Hop, and Reinforcing Black Power

Hip-hop Jewellery and Culture Take Center Stage at Major Museums in New York and Toronto.

Ice Cold: A Hip-Hop Jewelry History. Photo Credit: Taschen

The good thing about recycling themes is that it opens the doors for broader discussion. For instance, a jovial YouTuber, Jackie “Bronx Baubles,” lights up when discussing Vikki Tobak's take on hip-hop's bejewelled lineage in her book and its eponymous exhibition, “Ice Cold: A Hip-Hop Jewelry History.” Jackie, a Bronx-born native, reminisces about witnessing the birth of hip-hop in her hometown while holding three other books: “Bling: The Hip-Hop Jewelry Book” (2006), co-authored by Gabriel Tolliver and the late Reggie Osse (the latter famously known as entertainment attorney turned podcaster Combat Jack), alongside “Bling Bling: Hip Hop's Crown Jewels” (2005), penned by Minya Oh (aka Miss Info of Hot97 fame), Andrea Duncan Mao, with a foreword by Ludacris, and finally, “The Nameplate: Jewelry, Culture, and Identity,” co-authored by Isabel Attyah Flower and Marcel Rosa-Salas.

The Nameplate: Jewelry, Culture, and Identity. Photo credit: Penguin House

All four books bear an obvious resemblance. Each highlights the same iced-out jewellery, bling makers, and the game’s most prominent figures; granted, Tobak's version features a new wave of younger, flossy, mega-star rappers. While Jackie says she bought the books in 2024, one gets the impression that many readers wouldn't have known, and probably still won’t know, about Ice Cold’s direct predecessors (or The Nameplate) had it not been for Tobak's newest addition.

Ice Cold's author isn't new to the scene; Tobak has been around since the '90s and released two other books: “Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop,” co-authored with Questlove, and “LL COOL J Presents The Streets Win: 50 Years of Hip-Hop Greatness,” to commemorate, you guessed it, the rap genre's 50th birthday.

It's important to tell these stories. With all the momentum around hip-hop’s maturity, it's no wonder the American Museum of Natural History felt compelled to work with Tobak. Held in the Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, the exhibition showcases endless rap bling on loan from several famous faces and/or their jewellers, including Biggie Smalls (Tito Caicedo), A$AP Rocky, Nas, Ghostface Killah, and Tyler, the Creator.

Creating a book of this calibre wasn’t a walk in the park. Putting the exhibition together was probably even tougher. However, we're cognizant that it’s bound to lack depth because it’s not told directly through the lens of Black and Latino historians and journalists. It’s not because Tobak isn’t capable; she can tell the story. It’s just that there’s a line that won’t ever be crossed. Whereas storytellers from the diaspora provide the often painful context, truths, and nuances of identity in the rap game and the various complexities associated with owning bling—be it gold, silver, or diamonds—and what it symbolizes for a community that has travelled through years, decades, and centuries of oppression. However, if the Ice Cold exhibit is bringing in traffic, then Tobak did her job. But would it have been more powerful if she had brought in the other authors of the topic? Combat Jack passed away in 2017, but regardless, it more than likely would have.

While we have seen Fat Joe's bling in person and on a slew of rappers, admittedly, it would be fascinating to see each piece up close on display if nothing else. Sometimes, getting lost in the moment is cool, especially if it's covered in diamonds. “Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry” is at the American Museum of Natural History and runs until January 5, 2025.

Hank Willis Thomas, Black Power, 2008. Lightjet print, 62.2 x 100.3 cm. © Hank Willis Thomas. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

In Toronto, there's a lot of anticipation around “The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century” opening at the Art Gallery of Ontario on December 4. The show doesn’t focus on one aspect of hip-hop but rather an all-encompassing experience featuring the works of 65 artists, including Stan Douglas, John Edmonds, Deana Lawson, and Hank Willis Thomas.

The exhibit is set to be a robust exploration of hip-hop since its early inception. The Culture is curated by a collective of black historians, educators, and storytellers (Tobak co-curated Ice Cold with Kevin "Coach K" Lee and Karam Gill). Still, the ethos of The Culture centers around empowerment and multidisciplinary storytelling and includes paintings, sculpture, poetry, photography, and multi-media installations.

Hip-hop’s origins have been told thousands of times. Ultimately, these two exhibits tap into similar themes from two angles. While Ice Cold is surface-level, The Culture zooms in on rap and the intersection of activism, racial identity, gender, sexuality, and feminism. Bring your kids, friends, spouse, and, hell, your frenemies, too—why not? “The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century” opens at the Art Gallery of Ontario on December 4 and runs until April 6, 2025.