By authenticity, I mean taking a stance based on personal conviction and not allowing yourself to be influenced by mainstream conventions. In hip hop, the motto is "stay true to the game"; that is, being true to yourself and the culture. This includes using your own identifying marks and status symbols, which often clash with mainstream taste. These might be tags on your house wall, 24-inch wheel rims, or even personalized gold medallions.
The boundaries between legality and illegality are fluid in hip hop. Economic success is demonstrated with loud and expressive status symbols whose purchase lacks rational explanation. Hip hop is a culture of emancipation for socially disadvantaged sections of society. Its symbols are correspondingly demonstrative. In this case, it's a 750 white gold chain with a Jacob&Co medallion featuring 48 flawless 0.1-carat diamonds. The "E" is my old tag-E, which I used to immortalize myself with on building walls. In this respect, it reflects my authentic self on several levels.
The necklace is also a statement against the ethos of modesty that was instilled in me from a young age. In Northern Germany, one demonstrates one's status with subtle references to one's cultural expertise and one's connoisseurship of good taste—preferably discreet and unobtrusive. My half-Russian roots haven't always understood this. The necklace is therefore an expression of my inner attitude, which rejects the conventional mainstream and screams "I don't give a fuck" in its face.
Edwin Strauss
