Bling-bling

Bling-bling is a slang term popularized in hip hop culture, referring to flashy, ostentatious, or elaborate jewelry and ornamented accessories that are carried, worn, or installed, such as cell phones or tooth caps. The term was first used in rap by Dana Dane in "Nightmares" on Dana Dane with Fame in 1987, It was popularized by Cash Money Millionaires in the song "Bling Bling" in 1999.

In linguistics terms, bling is either an ideophone or an onomatopoeia, depending on the definition adhered to. The term is intended to evoke the "sound" of light hitting something shiny, especially valuables like silver, platinum, or diamonds. The form bling-bling is a case of reduplication.

During the mid- to late 1960s, toothpaste maker Ultra Brite ran a series of commercials stating, "Ultrabrite gives your mouth...[ping]...sex appeal!" Before the words "sex appeal", a bell sound was heard as a young man or woman smiled. Comedians such as Martin Lawrence parodied the "Ultrabrite smile" by vocalizing the sound effect as both "bling-bling," and "bling-blauw."

Within the film and television incidental soundtrack industry, the use of a glockenspiel playing a single note in broken octaves had long been used as a literal musical translation of the visual effect of the glint of light on, say, a diamond ring. It came to be used as a hackneyed shorthand by TV composers, and especially within low budget TV cartoons, the iconography and sound worlds of which heavily informed early hip-hop culture. The 'B-' of the 'Bling' mimics the lower octave chime, while the '-ling’ similarly vocalises the lighter, less percussive sound of the same note played an octave (or two) higher, as beaten just a millisecond later.

The term was used in this way to describe a gaudy piece of jewelry, for example the otherwise rotten gold-toothed smile and stereotypical pimp jewelry of the character "Jerome" on the television series Martin. Jesse West (known as rapper 3rd Eye) is cited as perhaps the first rapper to use the complete term "bling bling" on Super Cat's 1993 hit "Dolly My Baby (Remix)" – a song that West produced, and also featured Puff Daddy and a young Biggie Smalls in his record debut.

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