Short answer: no single person "invented" grillz, but one Brooklyn jeweler is usually credited with popularizing them in hip-hop, and one 2005 song is the reason your grandmother probably knows what a grillz is. Here's the full story, from ancient teeth-jewelry to the custom pieces we make today.
Moissanite Honeycomb Perm Cut Grillz — a look at where the trend stands today, before we dig into where it started.
Grillz are older than hip-hop... a lot older
Before grillz were a rap accessory, they were a status symbol. Ancient Etruscan women in what's now Italy wore gold dental wire around 700 BC to show off wealth, and the Mayans separately decorated their teeth with jade and precious stones. So the idea of "jewelry for your teeth" has been around for close to 3,000 years. Hip-hop didn't invent it, it revived it.
Who actually made grillz popular?
This is the question everyone's really asking, and the answer usually points to one name: Eddie Plein, a jeweler who grew up in Suriname (where gold dental caps were a normal part of everyday style) before moving to Brooklyn. Working out of his shop Eddie's Gold Teeth in the mid-to-late 1980s, Plein started making custom gold caps and fronts for New York rap artists including Flavor Flav of Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane, and Kool G Rap. He's widely considered the person who took a niche, regional look and turned it into a hip-hop staple, later relocating his shop to Atlanta and continuing to make pieces for artists like OutKast, Goodie Mob, and Ludacris over the following decades.
Who was the first rapper to wear grillz?
There's no single documented "first," but Flavor Flav and Slick Rick are the two names that come up again and again as early, visible adopters. Slick Rick's gold-and-jewel front teeth on his 1988 debut album cover are often pointed to as one of the earliest widely-seen examples of grillz as a fashion statement, not just a dental fix.
Custom Embossed Letter Grillz : a double-cap style close to the simple gold caps worn in the '80s.
How did grillz go from NYC hip-hop to a nationwide trend?
Through the 1990s, grillz stayed strong in New York but also took root in the South, especially Houston and Memphis, where local rap scenes kept the look alive even when it dipped in popularity elsewhere. By the early 2000s, the rise of Southern hip-hop pushed grillz back into the national spotlight.
What made grillz go mainstream?
One song: "Grillz" by Nelly, Paul Wall, Big Gipp, and Ali, released in 2005. It hit number one and is widely credited as the moment grillz jumped from hip-hop culture into mainstream pop culture, and suddenly people who'd never heard of a grillz before knew exactly what one was. Paul Wall in particular became almost as known for his Houston grillz business as for his music, with a client list that grew to include names like Kanye West.
Are grillz still popular today?
Yes, and they've spread well beyond hip-hop. Custom grillmakers have worked with pop and R&B artists across the 2010s and 2020s, and grillz have shown up on plenty of non-rapper celebrities too, crossing into general pop fashion rather than staying tied to one genre. Today, grillz are worn by artists, athletes, and everyday customers who just like the look, which is exactly the world Gold Time operates in.
Custom 12-Piece Two-Tone Grillz Set : how far grillz design has come from the single caps of the '80s.
Where Gold Time fits into this story
Here's the part that matters to us: Gold Time has been making custom grillz and fine jewelry since 1991. We've seen grillz go from a niche jewelry item all the way to the mainstream. While grillz were finding their footing in New York and the South through the '90s and pushing into the mainstream in the 2000s, we were building custom pieces for customers who wanted something made for them specifically, not off a rack.
That's still how we do it. Every grillz piece we make is built to fit the individual person, since designs vary based on dental structure. It's the same principle that's been true of custom grillz since Eddie Plein's shop in Brooklyn. Whether you're after something simple and classic or a fully iced-out bustdown, it's a custom job with a 4–8 week turnaround depending on the design (see our real pricing breakdown for what that looks like by piece count and material), and grillz pricing that starts at $150 and can run past $10,000+ depending on materials and complexity. Not sure where to start? Our guide on choosing the right grillz for your first set walks through gold, diamond, moissanite, and CZ options.
Ready to see what a custom piece would look like on you, or want to talk through karat and stone options? Which style caught your eye, a classic single tooth or a full bustdown set?
