In the late 90s, Cash Money Records had the hip-hop game on lock with hit after hit. But one 1999 song by rapper B.G. featuring Lil Wayne did more than top the charts. It changed the English language.
Bling bling, every time I come around your city," Lil Wayne rapped on the Mannie Fresh-produced record. The term he used to describe the sound of a shining diamond became a full-blown song. It blew up, and even before anyone knew what bling was, it had become a part of the culture. Everyone was saying it.
In 2003, “bling” was added to the Oxford English Dictionary. As author Kimberly Latrice Jones stated in the Vault Empowers podcast, Black people have had the most effect on the English language. When we're creating it, it's demonized, and then it's monetized. Jones explained how anti-Blackness treats Black language as unprofessional or remedial until it becomes mainstream.
Linguists have long discussed the nuances and structural rules of African American Language. Today, that language gets co-opted and used against us, like the right-wing abuse of the term “woke” as "Gen-Z Slang."
What is “ghetto” or “hood” when Black people say it is considered “cool” coming out of anyone else. But guess what? We’re the creators of cool. It’s remarkable how Black creative genius has shaped a language we were never meant to speak.