Photo by Peter Beste.
Since the beginning of time, if you were a rapper who wanted jewelry, you had to go see Jacob the Jeweler. Dude had the whole industry ditch Rolexes in favor of his signature multicolored watch, which was in fact the ugliest thing since Master P sneakers.
Recently, Jacob was disgraced. Nas bought Kelis a 50K engagement ring, but she got it inspected and discovered that it wasn’t worth more than a Canal Street rope chain. Now everybody else is getting their Jacob ice evaluated, only to find out that they’ve been spending their advances and royalty checks on truck jewels.
Enter Gabriel Jacobs. Displaying unparallelled arrogance and a shameless sense of self-promotion, this 23-year-old jeweler started showing up at every video shoot and party, giving out business cards, and picking up the other Jacob’s lost clients. Now boasting a list of clients that includes Fat Joe’s Terror Squad, Sean Paul, Baby from Cash Money, and 50 Cent, Gabriel the Jeweler is finna become the new ice king.
VICE: So you’re here to take Jacob’s spot.
Gabe: My last name is Jacobs, his first name is Jacob. Two totally different things. He’s competition but I look at him as my idol. I also compare myself to 50 Cent, without getting shot nine times. I’m the 50 Cent of the ice game. Why do all these rappers love you?
My vision is very crazy. I’ll make, like, iced-out Jesus heads, door knockers in your ears, golf balls in your ears, iced-out cell phones. There’s a piece that I want to do for Busta Rhymes. It’s a Flipmode Squad piece that you can put around your neck, but it can also be a belt buckle. You can switch it up. It’s economical if you need a piece and a belt buckle. It’ll cost $350,000, but you’re saving money either way. How hard is it to get rappers to shell out that kind of dough?
It’s hard. That’s why I also do a lot of street dudes. I love dealing with the streets because it’s straight-up cash money. Industry cats are like, “I gots to wait for my check.” Street cats don’t ever bug you like these rap dudes. These rappers, they do all their tours, interviews, and all this other crap and they want to get paid. Well, I provide a service and now I want to get paid. It’s that simple. BUSTA NUT
Gabe: My last name is Jacobs, his first name is Jacob. Two totally different things. He’s competition but I look at him as my idol. I also compare myself to 50 Cent, without getting shot nine times. I’m the 50 Cent of the ice game. Why do all these rappers love you?
My vision is very crazy. I’ll make, like, iced-out Jesus heads, door knockers in your ears, golf balls in your ears, iced-out cell phones. There’s a piece that I want to do for Busta Rhymes. It’s a Flipmode Squad piece that you can put around your neck, but it can also be a belt buckle. You can switch it up. It’s economical if you need a piece and a belt buckle. It’ll cost $350,000, but you’re saving money either way. How hard is it to get rappers to shell out that kind of dough?
It’s hard. That’s why I also do a lot of street dudes. I love dealing with the streets because it’s straight-up cash money. Industry cats are like, “I gots to wait for my check.” Street cats don’t ever bug you like these rap dudes. These rappers, they do all their tours, interviews, and all this other crap and they want to get paid. Well, I provide a service and now I want to get paid. It’s that simple. BUSTA NUT