Today we are talking on how hip-hop is changing the luxury watch market, Rappers have an impact on listeners, and it has started to transform the brands themselves. Rappers scream out their favorite companies and bustdowns.
As hip-hop has grown
Over the past fifty years, rock has evolved into the preeminent musical force in the English-speaking world. This impact on luxury and style has been unmistakable, and watches are no exception. From LL Cool J’s Gruen Gold Nugget in the “I’m Bad” video in 1987 to Rihanna’s six-figure Jacob & Co. piece at this year’s Super Bowl, watches have acted as a reminder of their wearers’ climbs out of difficult situations and into higher positions.
High-end watches have become a very public passion for some musicians, starting with Drake, Jay-Z, and Future, though there are dozens more collectors who are just as dedicated. This obsession is either displayed on the red carpet or in courtside seats, or it is directly represented in the song itself. And that obsession had as indelible an influence on the luxury watch industry itself as it has on consumers and fans.
The influence that a watch gains from its celebrity wearer can have both positive and negative effects, according to Ryan Chong, Head of Watch Operations at Bezel, an authorized secondary watch marketplace. A fan may crave the exact same piece, even if it is out of their price range, after hearing Frank Ocean rhyme about his Audemars Piguet or Pusha T reference to his Piaget.
For Chong, the real adventure of gathering and learning about that is what matters most. When we are continually exposed to Patek Philippe, Rolex, Richard Mille, and Audemars Piguet in all the songs, those brands quickly become the ones that everyone covets, and you end up completely missing out on everything else the watch world has to offer.
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However, Chong asserts that there are advantages to the rap-inspired demand for expensive watches. “On the plus side, it has elevated watches to a completely new level in terms of valuations and as a stand-alone asset class. Now, we hear people say things like, “I’m buying this AP because it’s going up in value.”
This has opened up a brand-new market for customers who are more speculative than the collectors who had previously purchased the goods to keep and use.
But there’s more to the watch business than plain jane models; genuine pieces kept just as the creator intended. Breaking down parts and frosting faces are trends that frequently reflect the personality of the wearer while also generating virality. Similar to necklaces and pendants, these watches aim for the symbolic jugular by looking as large as their price tags. Some are colorful, others garish.
The trouble is that spending five-to-six figures on such embellishments renders the piece almost worthless in the eyes of traditional jewelers. And while you’ll still see both bustdowns and plain janes on influential rappers’ wrists, in recent years the pendulum has swung back to the factory-set, authentic wristwatch — value that appreciates. Take a Lil Uzi Vert bar from “Shoota,” a cut from Playboi Carti’s seminal 2018 album Die Lit: “Used to want a G-Shock, now I’m walkin’ with a bustdooowwwnnnnnnnnn.”
Now compare that to his fellow 2016 XXL Freshman classmate Lil Yachty, who took a brief moment on 2020’s “Pardon Me” to distinguish his taste: “When niggas be flexin’, naw, this ain’t the same / Promise it’s more for my shit plain / Niggas’ APs be lookin’ like change.”
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According to Vince De La Cerna, a watch authentication specialist at Bezel, “clout and financial appreciation of watches were inversely related for the longest time in the hip hop realm.” “A busted [Rolex] Day-Date acquired all the influence a rapper could ask for, but at the expense of any opportunity for that watch to increase in value over time due to conventional watch market patterns. However, these days, wearing a Grand Complications from Patek boosts your influence and, over time, its value.
Even today, hip-hop’s historical fascination with timepieces doesn’t signify a two-way conversation with powerful organizations. The watch industry continues to be dominated by white people, and authority in this sector is typically isolated and passed down through generations.
Even a few years ago, some of the greatest businesses in the world avoided any relationship with hip-hop culture out of concern that such a surge of outside interest may diminish their reputation or tarnish their legacy. It’s a tale as old as time: outsider culture finds an unexpected point of interest, increases its social capital to folks outside the traditional sphere, and the old guard of that sphere decides to either remain insular or embrace the unknown.
As it stands now, some watchmakers that’ve done the latter and made inroads with MCs have seen the potential of their efforts prove fruitful. It’s why you heard HOV rap about Hublot over a decade ago, or why you see so many celebrities donning an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Rainbow Skeleton, a watch clearly inspired by bustdowns.
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“You think of Richard Mille with Pharrell, and you think of Audemars Piguet with JAY-Z,” claims Chong. “Like many other rappers, they have customized editions that were created just for them. There are companies that actively chose to align themselves with hip-hop, and it has been very successful for them.
Then, regrettably, there are other brands that didn’t want to be connected to it. However, hip-hop has appropriated those names and made them its own. And now, more often than not, their recognition stems from their connection to hip-hop rather than just their own past.
Most people won’t be able to purchase a watch as expensive as Drake’s Nautilus 5740 from Patek or have the opportunity to meet Tyler, the Creator at a Monaco auction. However, neither is necessary for a casual listener who has recently developed an interest in timepieces to eventually locate a model that fits their budget. The flame can start from one MC’s flex.
And the more possibility there is for MCs’ interests to grow into cooperative endeavors with manufacturers, the more they will discover their influence in moving the needle, however gently or unintentionally. The classic buyer profile for the watch industry, which is white, male, and 30+, may eventually look as out-of-date as some watchmakers’ distaste for hip-hop now does.