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'Obama Effect' Cleaning Up Rap

Common says hip-hop turning more positive

(Newser) - Thanks to President Obama, today’s rap focuses less on drugs, bling, and violence, and the “conscious rapper” is on the rise—at least according to Common. “I don't find as much gangsta talk,” the rapper/actor tells CNN. “You see the whole chain-shining-and-rim era is gone....

Drug Lords' Bling Dazzles Mexican Agency

(Newser) - Amid the ongoing drug wars in Mexico, one small branch of the country's finance ministry has a special job: selling off the jewel-encrusted pistols, armor-plated Hummers, and even wild panthers and lions seized from dealers' bling-tastic mansions. "You realize that the mansions in movies like Scarface aren't exaggerations,"...

Scotland Yard to Grill LiLo in $500K Bling Theft

(Newser) - Scotland Yard is seeking to question Lindsay Lohan as part of an investigation into the theft of some $500,000 in Dior jewelry she wore during an Elle photo shoot in London, reports TMZ. Lohan was featured on the cover. Lohan "kept going on about the jewels, asking if...

Strapped Rappers Don Bogus Bling

They still talk the talk, but their stones are now cubic zirconia clones

(Newser) - Tough times in the hip-hop industry have taken the ka-ching out of bling, the Wall Street Journal reports. Record sales and concert attendance are falling, and jewelers say that more and more of the flashy pendants and chains favored by rappers trying to keep up appearances now contain lower-quality stones,...

Real Housewives' Kelly Hit With Bling Suit

She stole jewelry design, claims former colleague

(Newser) - Headline-grabbing former model Kelly Bensimon has been slapped with a lawsuit claiming she stole a design for a jewelry line that she's been hawking on the hit show Real Housewives of New York City. A former colleague of Bensimon says she created the owl pendant that's the basis for the...

Elton Blings Out iPod for AIDS
 Elton Blings Out iPod for AIDS 

Elton Blings Out iPod for AIDS

Star sells limited-edition Nanos to raise money

(Newser) - For a mere $568, you can own Elton John’s blinged-out iPod Nano—and even better, your money will be donated to a good cause, the Sun reports. Sir Elton has designed an iPod bejeweled with more than 250 Swarovski crystals and loaded with the star’s greatest hits. A...

No More Bling? Even the Jet Set Feels the Pinch

Luxury execs are sitting tight for the most part, while jet set wonders what's appropriate

(Newser) - Not even the super-rich are immune to the present crisis, prompting Christina Binkley to wonder in the Wall Street Journal: "Is this the end of bling?" In a word, maybe. The world, of course, will always have rich people, but they may not want to flaunt it as much...

Pharrell Sets Menu for Fashion Plates

Hip-hop tastemaker boasts luxe jewelry, clothing lines

(Newser) - NERD frontman Pharrell Williams has lent his Midas touch to more than just hip-hop, Erica Kennedy writes in a Paper profile. The multi-tasking taste-maker boasts luxe clothing and jewelry lines, and friendships and collaborations with assorted style icons. "Pharrell doesn't buy something because it's fashionable," says one comrade...

Did You See What the Pope Is Wearing?!?

Benedict brings back vintage papal styles; Catholics wonder why

(Newser) - Benedict XVI is wearing some pretty flashy, and pretty old-school, outfits, and pope-watchers the world over are atwitter, the Washington Post reports. Unlike his predecessor, who “would just wear whatever was given to him,” the current pontiff is reaching into a closet that dates back hundreds of years,...

Heidi's Bling Banged With Copyright Suit

"Project Runway" host's new line sued for copyright infringement

(Newser) - Supermodel and "Project Runway" host Heidi Klum has been sued by a top jewelry manufacturer who claims her new line of bling is a clone of copyrighted designs, reports People. Van Cleef & Arpels argued in papers filed in Manhattan federal court earlier this month that Heidi's jewelry creates...

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