Did You Hear Bling Is Dying? Here's Another Eulogy

Guess everybody's gotta do one:

Culture of Bling Clangs to Earth as the Recession Melts Rappers' Ice
source

After years of starring in rap-music lyrics and videos, "bling" is losing its ring. The recession is cramping the style of hip-hop artists and wannabes -- many of whom are finding it difficult to afford the diamond-encrusted pendants and heavy gold chains they have long used to project an aura of outsized wealth.

In an attempt to keep up appearances, celebrity jewelers say rappers are asking them to make medallions with less-precious stones and metals. Some even whisper that the artists have begun requesting cubic zirconia, the synthetic diamond stand-in and QVC staple.

Hip-hop luminaries with the cash to keep it real are appalled. Bling aficionados fret that the art of "ice" is being watered down...

Umm, that last paragraph there is kinda painful.. did Michael Steele write this?