Grill (jewelry)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In hip-hop culture, the term grills, invented by rapper Yung Phasheezie^{[citation needed]}, refers to cosmetic dental metal apparatus featuring silver, gold, or platinum caps with diamond inlays (usually princess-cut diamonds) jewelled to be worn over the teeth. Grills rose to prominence with Dirty South rappers in the 2000s as a symbol of their wealth and success, but earlier rappers such as Big Daddy Kane, Flavor Flav, and Kool G. Rap also wore them. Horrorcore supergroup The Gravediggaz were well known for their vampiric fang grills in the early 90s. Grills have also been worn by some rock artists from Korn, Brooke Hogan, Marilyn Manson, Avenged Sevenfold and Dir en grey. The video to the 2005 single "Grillz" (by Nelly, Paul Wall, Big Gipp, and Ali) showcases many common styles of grills. Grills can be purchased online or at specialty shops.

[edit] Banned in Texas schools

In 2006, several Texas school districts expanded their dresscodes in order to ban the wearing of removable mouthpieces for etiquette and safety concerns. "We want to instill in them a sense of modesty and community," stated by the school board trustee. "We're preparing them for the work force, and in the work force there are rules." Neighboring districts such as Irving, Grand Prairie, and DeSoto have all banned the wearing of grills on school grounds as well. ^{[1] [2]}

[edit] References

1. ^ Texas School District Bans Grillz. Associated Press (2006-07-11). Retrieved on 2006-07-20.
2. ^ Texas School District Bans Grills. Spin (magazine) (2006-07-13). Retrieved on 2006-07-20.

• Paul Wall's Custom Grills
• "Grillz", a 2005 single by Nelly, featuring Paul Wall, Ali, and Big Gipp. And with remixes added, other notable artists.

[edit] External links

• Brammer, Sherice. "Let me see your grill", The Temple News. April 25, 2006.
• "Up In Their Grills", The Smoking Gun. April 10, 2006. Retrieved July 4, 2006.
• Errett, Joshua. "The $16,000 grin", The Globe and Mail. February 18, 2006. Retrieved July 4, 2006.
• Rosenbaum, S.I. "A mouthful of work", St. Petersburg Times. December 9, 2005. Retrieved July 4, 2006.
• Dental Board Warns of Mouth Jewelry Hazards and also a slightly different archived version here.
• "History of the Grill" on HipHopDX