<P> During the mid - to late 1960s, toothpaste maker Ultra Brite ran a series of commercials stating, "Ultrabrite gives your mouth...(blown kiss)... (bell ting)... sex appeal!" suggesting fresh breath and a brilliant smile . Before the words "sex appeal", a bell sound was heard as a young man or woman smiled . Comedians such as Martin Lawrence parodied the "Ultrabrite smile" sequence (blow) + (ting) "bling" as both "bling - bling," and "bling - blauw ." </P> <P> Within the film and television incidental soundtrack industry, the use of a glockenspiel playing a single note in broken octaves had long been used as a literal musical translation of the visual effect of the glint of light on, say, a diamond ring . It came to be used as a hackneyed shorthand by TV composers, and especially within low budget TV cartoons, the iconography and sound worlds of which heavily informed early hip - hop culture . The' B -' of the' Bling' mimics the lower octave chime, while the' - ling' similarly vocalises the lighter, less percussive sound of the same note played an octave (or two) higher, as beaten just a millisecond later . </P> <P> In the 1993 hit song by Diggable Planets, the song "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" you can hear the female sing "Bling! Bling! Bling! Bling" in the background . The term was used in this way to describe a gaudy piece of jewelry, for example the otherwise rotten gold - toothed smile and stereotypical pimp jewelry of the character "Jerome" on the television series Martin . Jesse West (known as rapper 3rd Eye) is cited as perhaps the first rapper to use the complete term "bling bling" on Super Cat's 1993 hit "Dolly My Baby (Remix)"--a song that West produced, and also featured Puff Daddy and a young Biggie Smalls in his record debut . </P> <P> The term' bling' reached mainstream popularity in 1999, when the song "Bling Bling" by rap artist B.G. featuring the Cash Money Millionaires cracked the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100; the chorus of the song featured a young Lil' Wayne rapping "Everytime I come around your city bling bling; Pinky ring worth about 50 bling bling; Everytime I buy a new ride bling bling; Lorenzos on Yokahama tires bling bling ." Late rapper Tupac mentioned bling in his 1996 song "Fuck Friendz" off his posthumous album Until the End of Time . He goes by saying "Check out my--diamonds bitch everyone gonna blink (bling bling bling)". </P>

Who came up with the phrase bling bling