Bling-bling

Bling-bling, often shortened to just bling, is "flashy jewelry worn especially as an indication of wealth or status; broadly: expensive and ostentatious possessions" such as grills and designer handbags. The term arose as slang, but grew into a cultural mainstay. Prominent examples of bling-bling include a large cross necklace or Jesus piece.

Etymology

In linguistics terms, bling is either an ideophone or an onomatopoeia, depending on the definition one uses, with bling-bling being its reduplication. Some have attributed the term to rappers that came before B.G., or to the old cartoonish sound effects meant to convey the desirability and or shininess of gold, gems, jewels, money, and more.

Bling became increasingly entrenched within the hip hop movement following B.G.'s release of his lead single "Bling Bling" off of his 1999 album Chopper City in the Ghetto.

The word was added to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary in 2002, and to the Merriam Webster dictionary in 2006. Companies such as Sprint and Cadillac have used the word bling in their advertisements, for instance. On the other hand, in 2004, MTV released a satirical cartoon showing the term first being used by a rapper, followed by several progressively less "streetwise" characters, concluding with a middle-aged white woman describing her "bling" to her elderly mother.

Evolution

The word bling-bling originally referred only to faceted diamonds and other gemstones that glitter intensely. The word only described the glittering effect as such and was intended to emphasize and enhance the already high (material and sentimental) value. Today, the term generally refers to expensive jewelry set with many gemstones and rhinestones (especially necklaces, earrings, and necklaces and anklets), accessories (such as sunglasses, tie pins, and wristwatches), and also glitter-covered cell phones and their cases. Also popular are dental crowns that are gold-plated, silver-plated, chrome-plated, or even set with glittering gemstones (so-called grillz). 

Bling-bling was also long considered a cliché term for the so-called gangster style within the hip-hop and rapper scene, especially in the southern United States. One of the first celebrities to have a tooth encrusted with a diamond was the musician Mick Jagger. The German influencer Twenty4tim released his first single "Bling Bling" in 2022, which landed at number 15 in the German charts for three weeks and is now his most successful music video on YouTube with 17 million views (as of June 2023). 

This expression was popularized with the success of the song Bling Bling, a 1999 track by BG, a New Orleans rapper and member of the Cash Money Millionaires (Lil Wayne, Juvenile, Turk, BG and Birdman).  This term refers to the sound made by chains worn around the neck.

The phrase has been taken up by artists like Lil Jon, Diddy, Cam'Ron, Rick Ross, the arrival of crunk and previously the Dirty South wave, which exacerbates signs of wealth such as money, jewelry, modified cars, and the bling-bling lifestyle.

Among the bling-bling, we find massive gold chains, watches and rings with diamonds, Pimp cups, a sort of trophy, a cup, – like those of Lil Jon, estimated at several thousand dollars –, and grillz, covering the teeth.

The phrase has since been used for anyone displaying a luxurious and ostentatious lifestyle,, ; it is also found in titles, such as the television series Dubai Bling.

The term was subsequently used for anyone displaying a luxurious and ostentatious lifestyle. The term has since acquired negative connotations: Bling-bling is also considered the epitome of excessive jewelry, a display of wealth, and extravagant luxury. In such cases, the word is used derogatorily and stands for decadence and kitsch. An early example of this is the character Mr. T from the series The A-Team. Mr. T was famous for adorning himself extensively with gold and silver chains in the series. 

Bling-bling is also used in modern tabloids to refer to the unnecessary display of glittering jewelry and luxury goods, especially among celebrities, TV stars, and high-ranking personalities. For example, the US magazine Time mocked French President Nicolas Sarkozy, dubbing him "President Bling-Bling."

In other languages

The term has spread to Spanish speaking countries around the world, with Latin hip-hop and reggaeton artists from places like Puerto Rico and Panama. The main nuance is that, in Spanish, it is often stylized and pronounced as "blin-blin". Furthermore, the Spanish word blinblineo also refers to bling and its style. Similarly, in French, "bling" traditionally describes nouveau riche attitudes; such as "wearing expensive suits, stylish sunglasses and conspicuously large wristwatches" or anything that is ostentatious and can be considered of "poor taste". In German, it is usually used as simply "Bling".

The term is traditionally used in French to describe nouveau riche attitudes; such as "wearing expensive suits", "stylish sunglasses" and "visibly large wristwatches" or anything that is ostentatious and could be considered in "bad taste". In France, the expression was used to describe Nicolas Sarkozy by some critics, notably the journalist Nicolas Domenach of the weekly magazine Marianne to castigate the ostentatious display of outward signs of wealth, such as watches or sunglasses from famous brands, chains and other bracelets, belts from brands with logos, his elephant hair bracelet, the evening at Fouquet's on the evening of his election, as well as the holidays on Vincent Bolloré 's yacht,,. This led to talk of the "bling-bling right", inspired by the expression " caviar left ". Nicolas Sarkozy himself later acknowledged errors in the "bling-bling" perception of his style.

Criticism and response

The short film Bling: Consequences and Repercussions explains the troubled backstory of many of the diamonds jewelers often use to make the gaudy jewelry. Explicitly, the film takes issue with the fact that, occasionally, the diamonds were originally blood diamonds, that fuel wars, poverty, slavery, and killings across countries in Africa. Similarly, Bling: A Planet Rock (2007) documents and subsequently contrasts the flashy world of commercial hip-hop jewelry against the significant role diamonds play in the ten-year civil war in Sierra Leone.

From a different perspective, many people consider bling and its aesthetic as empowering, rather than literally and metaphorically likening the expensive chains to slavery.

Sourced from Wikipedia