Acquisition: Gold Teeth

What you're looking at are six gold teeth crafted from 14 karat yellow gold and VS diamonds by Icebox Jewelry in Atlanta, Georgia.  They adorn my bottom jaw.  I bought them last summer, actually, so they aren't exactly new, but I haven't ever written about why I have them.  Given that this blog is primarily about why I buy stuff, and gold teeth are a pretty unusual thing to buy, I figure there's a story to be shared, here.

The first time I can recall wanting gold teeth was in 1999, when the skateboarding publication Transworld released "The Reason," a video starring the likes of Stevie Williams.  I was 11 years old then and had recently become fascinated by skateboarding and rap music almost simultaneously.  Several times in "The Reason" Williams flashed his golden scowl, and my desire for dental jewelry was born. 

Back then, several obstacles stood between me and gilded teeth.  First and foremost was money.  I didn't have any.  Second was parents.  Gold teeth aren't exactly a mother's idea of what makes a great birthday gift for a preteen.  Third was the crookedness of my teeth, which would soon result in my mouth being outfitted with a different type of metal apparatus. 

In 2004, when I was 15, Mike Jones released his first hit single, "Still Tippin'" featuring Slim Thug and Paul Wall.  Shortly thereafter I can recall seeing the music video on MTV Jams.  It was the first time I'd ever heard that vintage Texas sound, and I was completely mesmerized by it.  To this day I can't say I've ever been more stupefied by a song than I was by "Still Tippin'".  It was getting so many spins in my Walkman that I could recite the entire song from memory.  And with each spin it was another three references to gold teeth.  I very nearly pulled the trigger in 2007.

In 2011, a little known basketball vagabond named Ivan Johnson was signed by the Atlanta Hawks.  Johnson, following a breakout game on TNT, became popular amongst basketball nerds for his fierce demeanor, competitive fire, and frightening appearance--an appearance made complete by a set of gold teeth.  The seed had been planted in my mind once again.

I like gold jewelry.  I like how it looks.  Chains, watches, bracelets, rings... I want all of it.  But I chose teeth because they are the most unique to the hip hop culture I have studied for so many years.  Gold teeth, I think, are the single accessory that most effectively expresses what it is that I am about, that I am a passionate participant in the promotion of a certain art form and lifestyle (key word, participant: observing and admiring have never been enough for me; I need to participate).  I don't know what my gold teeth say to someone else, but what I intend for them to say is "I'm a student of urban culture who most enjoys spending warm summer days in a slowly moving vehicle with some quality rap music booming from the speakers."

Growing up in a place that's 99 percent white I was bullied rather mercilessly over my interest in this stuff.  I was told I was trying to be someone I'm not.  I couldn't realize that certain forms of entertainment were not made for my enjoyment and for that I deserved ridicule, they said.  Peers and elders alike tried to "whiten" my interests.  They couldn't understand how I could possibly have any legitimate passion for urban music, sports, and culture.  I had to be a fraud.

A decade has passed, and so too has this fear-driven nonsense.  But my passions haven't changed much.  So I'm proud it never broke me.  I knew who I was then and I know who I am now.  I refused, and I continue to refuse, to be anyone else.  My gold teeth are an expression of that.  

 

I elected to do the bottom row first, but I don't think it'll be long before I do the top six.  It'll be yellow gold with fangs, just like what I wanted in '99.