Rapper Kanye West Debuts a New Kind of Diamond Jewelry

The hip-hop community is certainly not shy when it comes to bling. Rappers like Kanye West and Jay-Z have been sporting hefty diamond earrings and necklaces for years. In fact, these performers helped bring men’s diamond studs into the mainstream, and they are now one of the most popular forms of men’s diamond jewelry.

But Kanye West recently took this penchant for all things sparkly one step further, when he had his entire row of bottom teeth replaced with a set of dazzling diamonds. He insists that it is not a grill, a temporary mouth guard sometimes worn by performers, but a permanent replacement. West recently appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show to discuss his latest antics, including a 40-minute epic music video and this set of diamond dentures. “I just thought diamonds were cooler,” he told DeGeneres. As he explained, he needed reconstructive dental work after a car accident several years ago, and he decided to turn it into an unprecedented fashion opportunity.

Whether diamond teeth becomes a widespread trend remains to be seen, however. The LA Times interviewed a dentist, who cautioned would-be trendsetters that having a sparkling smile would mean never eating hard candies like peanut brittle, and not being able to open a beer can with their teeth. Although one has to imagine that someone like Kanye West probably has an assistant to open his beer cans for him, the real question is why he decided to install diamond hardware in his mouth in the first place. So it this all an elaborate Halloween prank? A sign of a man with more money than fashion sense? Or is this the beginning of a bona-fide trend?