There are so many hip hop jewellery terms that you hear rappers say on their songs and on TV. In this article, you will learn the basics on what these words really mean.

The word "bling" refers to flashy, expensive, diamond-encrusted jewellery that signifies a lifestyle of wealth, luxury and spending bucket-loads of cash. It was first used by the rapper B.G. in his song called "Bling Bling" popularized in 1999. The song was about the luxurious kind of lifestyle that celebrities lived because of the money that they rake in. Recently the word "bling" has also adopted the connotation referring to the perceived vicarious culture of hip hop.

When you hear the word "grills", it would refer to a dental brace that is usually made of gold, platinum
or silver. It's removable, like a retainer, only it's used for vanity purposes. Most of the time, celebrities would have them encrusted with diamonds or crystals to make them shine out even more when they're worn. It was again popularized by a rapper, this time by Nelly with his song "Grillz" in 2005 and after that with Paul Wall's "The People's Champ".

Ice, on the other hand, refers to the materials that are put on the jewellery to make it bright and flashy such as diamonds, platinum, gold and other crystals.

Bling, grill and ice are the three most popular words that refer to the type of jewellery that hip hop rappers and celebrities wear. With the proper definitions in mind, it will be easier to understand the slang words that they use in their songs and on TV shows and interviews.