Bling - bling - wikipedia Bling - bling `` Bling Bling '' redirects here. For other uses, see Bling Bling ( disambiguation ). `` Bling '' redirects here. For the Marvel Comics character, see Bling ( comics ). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( April 2011 ) Bling - bling jewelry 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 referring to the sound effect of tinkling bells that was used on cartoon shows to demonstrate the shininess and desirability of gold coins, money, jewelry or gems when they were displayed on - screen. It was later popularized by Cash Money Millionaires in the song `` Bling Bling '' in 1999. Contents 1 Origins and popularization of the term 1.1 Mass usage 2 In other languages 3 Criticism 4 See also 5 References Origins and popularization of the term 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. The use of the phrase became popular, as seen in the skywriting advertisement over this New York summer resort destination of Southampton in 2006. During the mid - to late 1960s, toothpaste maker Ultra Brite ran a series of commercials stating, `` Ultrabrite gives your mouth... ( blown kiss )... ( bell ting )... sex appeal ! '' suggesting fresh breath and a brilliant smile. 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 '' sequence ( blow ) + ( ting ) `` bling '' 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. In the 1993 hit song by Diggable Planets, the song `` Rebirth of Slick ( Cool Like Dat ) '' you can hear the female sing `` Bling ! Bling ! Bling ! Bling '' in the background. 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. The term ' bling ' reached mainstream popularity in 1999, when the song `` Bling Bling '' by rap artist B.G. featuring the Cash Money Millionaires cracked the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 ; the chorus of the song featured a young Lil ' Wayne rapping `` Everytime I come around your city bling bling ; Pinky ring worth about 50 bling bling ; Everytime I buy a new ride bling bling ; Lorenzos on Yokahama tires bling bling. '' Late rapper Tupac mentioned bling in his 1996 song `` Fuck Friendz '' off his posthumous album Until the End of Time. He goes by saying `` Check out my -- diamonds bitch everyone gon na blink ( bling bling bling ) ''. Mass usage While the specific term bling was first popularized in the hip hop community, it has spread beyond hip hop culture and into mass culture after the original Hot Boyz chart - topper `` Bling - bling '' became popular. This is similar to the meteoric rise of hip hop music itself, which has led to its most popular artists becoming mainstream pop music icons. `` Bling '' 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. In 2004, MTV released a satirical cartoon showing the term being used first by a rapper and then by several progressively less `` streetwise '' characters, concluding with a middle - aged white woman describing her earrings to her elderly mother. It ended with the statement, `` RIP bling - bling 1997 - 2003. '' In 2005, the rapper B.G. remarked that he `` just wished that he 'd trademarked it '' so that he could have profited. Like many cases of once - exclusive vernacular that becomes mainstream, the views of the originators towards the term have changed significantly over the years. On VH1 's Why You Love Hip - Hop, rapper Fat Joe stated, `` rappers do n't call jewelry bling anymore, we just call ' em diamonds. '' In other languages The term has also spread to Spanish : rappers use the term in Latin hip - hop and in reggaeton from Puerto Rico and Panama, although it is usually written and pronounced `` blin - blin ''. The Spanish word blinblineo is also used to refer to bling - bling style. The term is used in French traditionally to describe 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 `` Bling ''. Criticism The short film Bling : Consequences and Repercussions, shot by Kareem Adouard and narrated by Public Enemy frontman Chuck D, explains how diamonds ( a staple of bling fashion ) occasionally originate as blood diamonds, fueling wars, poverty, slavery, and killings in Africa. Bling : A Planet Rock ( 2007 ) documents the flashy world of commercial hip - hop jewelry against the significant role diamonds play in the ten - year civil war in Sierra Leone, West Africa. The movie follows three hip - hop personalities : Raekwon ( Wu - Tang Clan ), Paul Wall ( maker of diamond grills ), and Reggaetón artist Tego Calderón as they visit the capital of Freetown to meet the community and survey the devastation caused by the diamond mines. See also 2000s portal Hip - hop culture Braggadocio ( rap ) Grill ( jewelry ) General Affluenza Camp Commodity fetishism Conspicuous consumption Status symbol International Chav References Jump up ^ Ultra Brite TV commercial ( 1969 ). ( 1 ) Jump up ^ Goldie Blumenstyk ( February 6, 2004 ). A Brush With History. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Vol. L, No. 22. Jump up ^ `` Bling Etymology ''. Hiphopmusic.com. 2003 - 04 - 26. Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 15. Jump up ^ `` MTV : Bling Bling - Video ''. Creativity Online. 2004 - 07 - 13. Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 15. Jump up ^ Hauser, Thomas ( 2005 - 01 - 09 ). `` How bling - bling took over the ring ''. London : The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2008 - 01 - 11. Retrieved 2007 - 03 - 27. Jump up ^ `` Blin blin ''. Diccionario Libre. Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 15. Jump up ^ Crumley, Bruce ( 2007 - 12 - 20 ). `` Sarkozy 's ' Bling - Bling ' Presidency ''. Time Magazine. Retrieved 2008 - 01 - 21. Jump up ^ `` Bling : Consequences and Repercussions, short film narrated by Public Enemy Chuck D on Conflict Diamonds and Bling fashion ''. WGHfilms.com. 2009 - 03 - 02. Archived from the original on 2009 - 03 - 02. Retrieved 2012 - 06 - 14. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bling-bling&oldid=830672296 '' Categories : Hip hop fashion African - American culture English - language slang Jewellery Reduplicants Words coined in the 1990s 2000s fashion Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from April 2011 All articles needing additional references Talk Contents About Wikipedia Dansk Deutsch Español Français 한국어 Italiano Nederlands Português Svenska తెలుగు 3 more Edit links This page was last edited on 16 March 2018, at 07 : 49. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who came up with the phrase bling bling
Answer: Jesse West (known as rapper 3rd Eye)