The practice of wearing lavish jewellery and designer clothes. 

 

Deriving from the slang word “drip’ and like many slang words, its origins have a debatable meaning. Rap group Migos use ‘drip” to refer solely to wearing excessive amounts of decadent jewellery. Normally, chains, rings, bracelets and watches are all worn together for it to be considered drip, rather than just jewellery. Particularly, these accessories should all include precious stones like diamonds, specifically of “vvs” quality, to flaunt abundant wealth. Alternatively, artist Gunna uses drip to refer to wearing high fashion and exclusive brands. Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Off White, Jordan, and Vlone are some of the brands that artists wear as part of drip culture.

 

Along with its questionable meaning, whoever claimed to have coined the term “drip” is up for discussion. One of the first mentions actually goes back to the 2000s, when Ghostface Killah said “Check out the rap kingpin, summertime fine jewellery dripping” in the song “Nutmeg”. While he wasn’t using “drip” in the modern way its used now, Ghostface Killah may have been one of the first artists to use dripping as an adjective to describe wearing copious amounts of jewellery. 

 

However, it wasn't  until 2014 that “drip” was used in rap again. Houston born rapper Sauce Walka credits himself with popularising “drip” in his album “Saucemania”, and then again in 2015 when Sauce Walka released “Drip or drown vol. 1 and vol. 2” as part of his rap group ‘Sauce Family’. Despite claiming to have originated the word, Sauce Walka doesn't have the same immense following of other rappers. In the same year, Famous Dex released “Drip from my Walk” and to many this was their first introduction to the term drip as the song gained popularity and now has 20 million views on Youtube.

 

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Yet it wasn’t until last year that drip was being used by popular rappers. In 2018 the release of Cardi B’s song “Drip” and Lil Baby and Gunna’s song “Drip too hard”,  collectively get 128 million views. In the same year, Migos released their iconic song and video “Bad and Boujee” which accumulated 883 million views. In the video Quavo, Offset and Takeoff each deliver their verses while wearing layers of gold chains. When the camera zooms in on their hands they have large sparkling, gold rings on each of their fingers. Though Migos can’t be credited with originating drip, “Bad and Boujee” generated so many views that it's hard to not include them in the bracket, popularising and introducing many listeners to the concept of drip. 

 

It doesn’t end there. Artists don’t only display their drip in videos, social media plays a key role in developing ‘drip culture’. Here, fans can get a closer look at their favourite artists favourite garms. In September, Gunna posted a video to his Instagram account sporting a glamorous collection of chains, all glittering as the camera flashes. One chain reads “Gunna” in dripping letters, while another is a pink and white diamond chain with an ‘XO’ dangling from it. The 30 second clip has almost two million views. Instagram plays a crucial role in spreading drip culture, posts showing this glamorous style generate a lot of interest online, particularly when rappers customise their drip. Rapper Rick Ross has a replica of his head made into a custom chain, with his face made of gold diamonds, and his beard and sunglasses made of back diamonds. At $1,500,000 (£1,200,000) Rick Ross’s custom chain is also notorious for its immense price. 

 

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Social media allowed drip culture to grow even further, leading to the high fashion brands which had formerly rejected hip hop, looking to work with them. Now, ASAP Rocky can be seen sitting front row at Milan fashion week watching the Prada runway show. The fashion and style associated with an artist is becoming as much a part of their image as their music. Viral rapper Lil Pump marked his love of wearing Gucci with the song “Gucci Gang” and displayed his Gucci suits on Instagram. Alexander Wang is another fashion brand that has embraced rappers, inviting Kanye West, Tyga and Nikki Minaj to the afterparty of their 10 year show. High fashion has become aware of the market that rappers have opened up, the more that these brands are name dropped in songs and worn in Instagram posts by rappers. The more their fans will desire those luxury brands. As its popularity continues to grow fashion will begin to further evolve with the influence of rap artists and drip culture. 

 

Some extent of this can already be seen as drip culture moves away from hip hop. Artists of other genres and celebrities have taken influence, alternative singer Billie Eilish takes influence from drip culture wearing outfits covered in designer logos and accessorised with layered silver chains and rings. Even Kim Kardashian has taken inspiration from drip culture in advertising her new perfume “Diamonds”. As part of the ad campaign, Kardashian and her family each wore ample amounts of white diamond jewellery that totalled $30 million  (£24,000,000). It seems that celebrities have noticed that “drip” is extremely eye-catching, whether it be through wearing a suit entirely covered in Louis Vuitton logos or by adorning themselves in jewellery, drip culture is a captivating look that attracts attention from the public. 

 

The opulent jewellery and high fashion brands of drip culture are growing to be representative of wealth, success, style and celebrity status. Having had arguable meanings and origins, drip culture has gone on to trigger a trend in Hip-hop, and with its glamorous ways and by spreading in popularity through social media has impacted the high fashion world.

 

As drip culture grew more popular throughout 2019 it's likely that 2020 will be an even bigger and more expensive year for the style.