
Guinness Book of World Records Largest Diamond Pendant on Earth
Just kidding!
Amusing WSJ article on the culture of bling. You know, as in “bling bling.” The coining of the term is credited to Lil Wayne (see UrbanDictionary.com). Basic point of the article is that many (not all) in the hip-hop scene have been downgrading their bling wardrobes due to the recession. Not coincidentally, we’re seeing a decline in new rap tracks focused on the topic of having mega amounts of money. A welcome trend.
For 2 years now I’ve been lamenting the fact that at some point in music history it seemed like at least 25% (though at times it seemed like 90%) of the hip-hop tracks I came across was nothing more than some dude rhyming about how much money they have. I mean. Alright already, we get it (the ironic thing is that many of the fringe rappers going on about money probably will end up going broke).
Fortunately, in a twisted kind of way, our friends on Wall St. finally had their own special version of a ponzi scheme unravel, giving the world a personal finance wake-up call. No doubt, though (in the USA anyway), many Americans unwittingly participated in the scheme by blinging their real estate portfolio and buying houses and/or condos they could not in a million years pay for. Thus, bidding up real estate prices for the next guy until one day the not-so-rich people started saying to themselves: ”Hey, wait a minute, I can’t afford this place. Eh. Screw it. I’ll just stop paying.” Which then got the marginally-rich people to start saying to themselves: “Hey, wait a minute, why did I buy a 1,200 sq foot 2BR condo for $1.2 million again? That was stupid! Eh. Screw it. I’ll just stop paying.” And so on and so forth. Nice job.
Ok. Off my soap box and back on topic, recently, the dearth of music tracks about money, bling, and all that has been on the decline. I say good riddance. Hopefully, we can all now get back to making real music. You know, with danceable beats and original lyrical topics. In the mean time, in case times are tight for you, I suggest trying coupons. Seems to be all the rage these days:

Coupons vs. Jewelry Searches on Google
Or, as mentioned in the WSJ article, you could always raise some cash at this site.

Got gold?