The History of Grillz
The celebrated accessory dates back long before we were singing about it on the radio.
If you’re a millennial and reading this, I know exactly what you’ve done at least once. Between late 2005-2007, you took a silver gum wrapper, fit it around your top and/or bottom teeth, and pretended you had a set of diamonds in your mouth. Nelly and Paul Wall released their hit song “Grillz” on November 8th, 2005. The song spent two consecutive weeks as #1 on the Billboard Top 100, went certified platinum, and created such a massive cultural buzz that’s still felt around the world today. Nelly released his other well known hit “Air Force Ones” three years prior, so the man clearly had a penchant for making consumer goods popular. But he and Paul Wall weren’t the first to rock the mouthpiece, nor were they the ones to bring them into black culture. That story takes us back all the way to 7th Century Italy.
The mouth jewelry we all know and love started out in a very primitive way. The women of the Etruscan people (an ancient group in Central Italy where Tuscany is today) were discovered to be the first to adorn them. But their excavated remains suggested that instead of having removable sets like we have today, they would actually have their teeth removed, drill holes and fixate a gold band around the teeth, and then surgically place them back into their mouths. Strangely enough it was always a goldsmith that handled these procedures. (Super hard pass on that) But very similar to today, they were worn as a display of wealth. From there we also see them within the Mayan culture. Their differentiated look was to drill small holes within their teeth and fill them with expensive stones - most often jade because while it represented life, regeneration, and the spiritual realm, it also represented wealth and power in this context. It is worth noting that there were quite a few other countries and civilizations that had their own versions, so if you’d like to read a more expansive history lesson about how grillz infiltrated different countries, check out this article on Vice written by Lauren Schwartzberg. In the interest of time, let’s fast forward a few centuries.
Gold and platinum teeth became deeply intertwined within the history of slavery here in the U.S. Slave masters would only give access to dental care to slaves they deemed most worthy and those they didn’t want to lose to more serious health issues. So whenever a slave needed teeth replaced or cavities filled, they would use these precious metals as a substitute. This later become a signal to everyone on and around the plantation where you were in the pecking order.
In the 1980’s, African immigrants from the West Indies brought the idea of grillz to New York. At the time, New York rap was setting the standard to what was cool and had everyone wearing the heaviest, most expensive gold (or fake gold) chains people could afford. When Slick Rick was photographed for his hit debut album, the marketing photos showed him wearing three gold teeth, making everyone feel like they needed gold and diamond teeth too. There is a difference of opinion on exactly who started this trend though. Some believe that Atlanta rappers like Raheem the Dream and Kilo Ali were the ones to really start the meteoric rise of grillz within the black community, especially since so many people were wearing them every year at Freaknik. I know I have quite a few Atlanta and NYC-based readers, so I’ll let y’all fight it out amongst yourselves.
In the late 90’s we also see grill culture continue to grow in Texas. Johnny Dang, a Vietnamese immigrant and the self-proclaimed “King of Bling,” helped further the popularity of the expensive mouthpiece and made it into a massive business once he partnered with Paul Wall. The Texas musician sought out Johnny after hearing he made luxury grillz without having to file down your teeth, an annoying but common practice at the time. This would eventually inspire Paul Wall and Nelly to write and produce their hit several years later, and the rest is history. Over the years, Johnny has created grillz for celebrities like Usher, Meg Thee Stallion, A’ja Wilson, Ja’marr Chase, Travis Scott, Simone Biles, and thousands more. His ~30 year run has been incredibly successful, and with a business that employs 75 people and an active instagram account boasting 3M+ followers, I don’t anticipate that he’ll slow down anytime soon.
Grill culture is still thriving around the world today, especially pockets of Guatemala, Japan, and the UK. All three countries have a number of dentist and jeweler combinations that now have a cult following with people traveling in from around the world to finally get their own pieces created. I personally may or may not be in the process of getting a set of my own, so stay tuned for the final product.
Fascinating! I learned a decent amount about grillz reading this :)
WOW - I had no idea grillz had such a rich global history. I'm really blown away. Thanks for sharing!