Question 1

What does “grillz” mean?

Accepted Answer

Removable or fixed decorative covers, usually gold, silver or diamond-set, worn over the teeth as jewelry; the "z" spelling is the Southern rap form of "grills."

Question 2

Where does “grillz” come from?

Accepted Answer

Gold fronts and caps were worn by Black New Yorkers and early hip-hop artists in the early 1980s; New York jeweler Eddie Plein is widely credited with turning single-tooth crowns into multi-tooth caps, and Just Ice wore gold fronts on the 1987 cover of Kool and Deadly. The style was carried through the 1990s by rappers from New York, Atlanta and Miami, and the Houston scene, including Paul Wall and the jeweler Johnny Dang, made it a signature of Southern rap; Nelly's 2005 hit "Grillz" with Paul Wall, Big Gipp and Ali brought the "z" spelling to a national audience. Because the song and Southern rap's mid-2000s rise are often treated as the starting point, and because pop stars from Katy Perry to Miley Cyrus wore grills in the 2010s, the form is sometimes presented as a pop trend; the record shows a Black hip-hop and Black working-class style that predates both. Schools in Alabama, Georgia and Texas banned them in 2006, a policing of Black youth style that echoes earlier fights over gold teeth.