Before Johnny Dang would be seen hanging out
and making custom ice for the biggest names in entertainment including Kanye West, Jay
Z, Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Cardi B and more. Before The King of Bling would clock in over
1.5 Million followers on Instagram, over 200K on YouTube, over 38K on Twitter & more... Before Johnny Dang would get his name dropped
in dozens of rap songs, from award winning artists like Migos, Gucci Mane, Lil Pump,
Chief Keef, and more. The Grill and Rapper Jewelry game existed
before Johnny Dang, in fact historians can trace gold fitted teeth back between 800 and
200BC. With that said, Johnny Dang is the founding
father of bringing Grillz to the mainstream in the 21st century and definitely deserves
his title as The King of Bling. I mean some fan has even had the man tattooed
on their body... Dang is said to be the inspiration behind
Nelly’s 2006 hit song, Grillz, which was the top song on the Billboard charts in 2006
and brought Grillz back to the mainstream. You can actually see Dang dancing around in
the background of the video if you watch closely. Here we are nearly 15 years later and Grillz
have only become bigger and bolder with Johnny Dang leading the charge in creating one of
a kind designs. .
Today he's hanging out with the best of the best and it seems you haven't arrived in the
rap game until you've copped some fresh ice from Johnny Dang. He's now got a team of 50 jewelers in-house
and his 16,000 square foot shop resembles a small palace. Not bad for a guy who came to America from
Vietnam with little more than the clothes on his back and even then, he still didn't
even know what hip hop was. What's going on guys? It's your boy Michael McCrudden back at it
again with another Before They Were Famous, this time on the King of Bling – Johnny
Dang. This video was requested by you guys and we've
been pulling in some major views over the last couple months or so – so thank you
all for your continued support. If you are new to the Fame Gang be sure to
Subscriber, turn on them post notifications. Drop a comment for who we should feature next,
aright, now – let's get into this video. Johnny Dang was born Tuan Dang on November
21st, 1974 in Dak Lak Province, Vietman just before the end of the Vietnam War. Which looks like a pretty picturesque place
but lacks opportunity. He grew up in a small village in the central
Vietnam highlands with his 4 siblings. His father had fought for South Vietnam who
were allies with the American's in the war. 1987 his father fled to America by boat in
search of a better life and told Johnny to learn to make jewelry until the two would
eventually reunite. There he set up a small jewelry shop. The two would keep in contact and Johnny would
realize the major differences between the style and technologies being used in America
versus Vietnam and from afar he was educating himself on the size and opulence American's
had for their jewelry. It would take another 9 years before Johnny,
his mother and his siblings could afford the trip to Houston, Texas to join his dad and
have their chance at the American dream. When he first laid eyes on America he was
in disbelief. He told NBC News: After landing, I couldn't believe my eyes
because I saw a two-level freeway In an old post on Instagram Johnny Dang recalls: https://www.instagram.com/p/ByKAJQWgYxc/
#StartedFromTheBottom. My brother and I did some jewelry in the mall
in 1997 ! ( when I just came from viet Nam ) . I always carried my tool with me Johnny got to work at a flea market repair
stall, earning about $100 per month while living out of his car or when he was lucky,
in a house of 15 people. By 1998, he had his own mall store named TV
Jewelry, not because he had his sights set on fame just yet but because T was his birth
name initial and v was for Vietnam. Around 2000, Dang met rapper and entrepreneur,
Paul Wall. Wall was impressed by Dang’s ability to
make grills which didn’t require the filing of teeth, which was the common practice at
the time, and Wall had the connections and insight in the industry that helped Dang break
into the hip hop scene. And so their partnership began, and continues
to this day. The two teaming up was a perfect match. Paul Wall was ready to embark on a solo career
after working with Swishahouse Records and collaborating with artists like Chamillionaire,
DJ Screw & Mike Jones. He knew everyone in the Houstan rap game and
Johnny, well he needed someone to vet for his work because a lot of people were having
a hard time understanding him. The two started to show up at hip hop nightclubs
like the Coco Loco and Johnny would pay DJ's for promotional shoutouts. His next customers were Paul Walls boys Chamillionaire
Slim Thug and Mike Jones and all of a sudden he had a new line up of clientele. By 2002 business was booming. From the get go, Johnny tried to make things
unique for each of his rapper clients, using things like round diamonds, different colored
diamonds, and various embellishments that would make them look one-of-a-kind. From there it spread via word of mouth. No pun intended. In 2005, Wall had his big break with the release
of his second album,The Peoples Champ. Regularly sporting Johnny Dang Grillz, the
pair were suddenly getting requests from the likes of P. Diddy and Kanye West. Next up was Nelly and his banger appropriately
titled Grillz with Paul Wall spitting a verse and Johnny Dang even got featured in the video. The song his number 1 and the video which
featured more than 70 close-up grill shots, introduced mainstream America to the wonderful
world of mouth jewelry. All of a sudden they were selling more than
400 grillz a day for at least $500 bucks a pop. It wouldn't be long before they were be opening
up a new location. Finding all this new found success he was
happy to show off just how far he came via instagram with a post that read:In VN vs in
USA lollll the American DREAM ! Johnny Dang was never a man to slow down. When opportunity stuck he dedicated 18 hours
a day, 7 days a week to stike while they iron was hot in pursuit of his American dream. Him and Paul Wall cooked up a few other crazy
ideas to get some further media attention surrounding their business. During the 2014 NBA All Star Game in New Orleans
they promised their customers a full refund on any watch they bought a week before the
game. Their team lost and they were forces to shell
out $200K but the free press paid off in the long run. Next up they started making custom grillz
for celebrities outside of the world of hip hop with some unusual choices including Olympic
Swimmer Ryan Lochte and then Kobye Bryant who led USA to a Gold victory also in the
Olympics. From there business took on a whole new list
of clientele. There isn't a celebrity Johnny Dang hasn't
been photographed with and has made a grill for practically everyone in Hollywood. From Katy Perry to Paris Hilton. DJ Pauly D, Shaquel O'Neil, Tony Hawk and
more recentley Jeffree Starr. Johnny Dang & co currently has three locations:
the original, in PlazAmericas formerly the Sharpstown Mall; a bigger store on Richmond
Avenue, close to the Galleria area; and an outpost in Vietnam. He employs about 75 workers 42 of whom are
jewelers. & Dang can now enjoy the perks of his success
mainly overseeing his business. He rarely hand crafts the jewelry himself
these days but when some customers request it, like Travis Scott Johnny Dang get's to
work showing the world he's still got it. A quick google search pulls up a net worth
of $20 Million dollars. He also has a wife and two kids and enjoys
spending as much free time as he can on the golf course... The man is also generous and gives back to
the kid in Texas with regular charity giveaways and helps children in his native Vietnam under
the brand Johnny Dang Charities. Speaking of which, I'll be heading to a NELK
food drive this weekend in Mississauga just outside of Toronto if any of you guys are
in town. Johnny keeps upping his game bringing the
world never before seen grill designs like the famed “invisible baguettes” that he
did for Quavo, earlier this year. We actually talked about that in one of our
Rapper Grillz videos from a couple weeks back. As for the rest of the story, well we are
just gonna have to wait and see because this is before They were Famous. Many name is Michael McCrudden – you guys
requested this video. Be sure to let me know who is next in the
comments down below BOOM!
