Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1540686
D ang Anh Tuan may not be a household name, but the moniker this Vietnamese immigrant adopted after his 1996 arrival in Houston is. Drop the name Johnny Dang, and you're immediately an insider in the blinged-out music kingdom of global hip-hop stars and rap moguls. But Dang's fame as a jeweler extends beyond that genre. To borrow a music term, he's a crossover talent who embodies the immigrant dreams and possibilities of making it big in Houston; there was even a Johnny Dang Day (November 18, 2023), with a City of Houston Proclamation from Mayor Turner to prove it. Then there is the national renown: inclusion in a major museum show aligned with the 50-year anniversary of hip-hop; "Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry" wrapped its eight-month run at Manhattan's American Museum of Natural History this with the Vietnamese jeweler Johnny Dang, whose Houston workshop's clientele now ranges from Beyoncé to Floyd Mayweather, was booming. 'Even when you're wearing a ring, necklace and watch, grills stand out most,' Dang says. 'It's diamonds in your mouth!'" A G o l d e n A f t e r n o o n a t Johnny Dang & Co Arriving at Johnny Dang & Co's HQ — located along Richmond Avenue west of The Galleria in an area dotted with restaurants, small-retail establishments, and apartment complexes — became the start of a literally dazzling afternoon, dripping in diamonds and other sparkly precious gemstones edged in gold and platinum. After parking behind gilded gates and checked in by discrete and friendly armed guards, we met rising hip-hop star RNB.FOEMOB and his viral Texas video producer Dorian Green of DGreen Filmz. We gawked at groaning cases of baubles, paying special attention to the luscious grillz that are Dang's calling card and took a behind-the- scenes look at the phalanx of gem artists who handcraft creations in the workshop; Dang employs more than 80 artisans and staff in a total of three locations. In a By Catherine D. Anspon. Art direction Michelle Aviña. Photography Antonio Chicaia. past January. The exhibition followed the hefty 2022 Taschen book of the same name by Vikki Tobak, which featured a shout- out to Johnny Dang as well as images of his over-the-top bling, most notably his now iconic, channel-set grillz designed for Paul Wall (who would become his partner in taking the Southern grillz phenomenon to fame and fortune for them both). Also highlighted in Taschen's Ice Cold are Dang's opulent commissions for DaBaby, Quavo, Travis Scott, Big Sean, and Lizzo. In her volume, Tobak says that Dang is "known for creating some of the most memorable teeth adornment of the modern era." Adding to the legend of this grillz master are profiles or name checks on Dang in publications from Forbes and Vice to The New York Times Magazine. In the latter's 2023 article, "Hip-Hop at Fifty: A Brief History of Bling," author Daniel Levin Becker writes, "Paul Wall [appeared] on Nelly's 2005 hit Grillz, an ode to the titular dental jewelry ... Soon after, his partnership Grillz Master Diamond Boyz Johnny Dang Above: Johnny Dang in his eponymous Houston boutique, Johnny Dang & Co. Following page: The jeweler and his signature bling: grillz, links, pendants, and more. 94