In the ever-expanding world where hip-hop bravado, personal mythology, and luxury jewelry intersect, few names have emerged with as much raw cultural resonance and technical bravado as Alex Moss NY. Known for engineering wearable trophies that blur the line between sculpture and status symbol, Moss continues his run of artistic relevance with two jaw-dropping pieces for none other than Drake—a frequent provocateur in pop-rap mythology and a serial collector of symbolic regalia.

Unveiled to the world in May 2025 through an exclusive feature with Hypebeast, the twin creations—a custom “SSS4U” pendant and a surreal, fully iced-out Nokia 3310 chain—are a masterclass in diamond choreography and narrative specificity. Totalling over 150 carats of diamonds, these are not mere flexes. They are modern-day artifacts, frozen in time, serving as both jewelry and a diary entry in Drake’s ongoing saga of legacy, love, and loneliness.

The Ornamental Language of Power

From Tupac’s gold “Euphanasia” medallion to Pharrell’s rainbow-studded BBC pendants, hip-hop jewelry has long functioned as a semiotic battlefield—a space where personal stories are encrypted in metal, and legacy is carved in clarity. Alex Moss understands this language better than most. His pieces are not just commissions; they are co-authored chapters in the mythology of his clients. In the case of Drake—an artist whose brand is deeply tied to iconography and emotional precision—Moss’s newest works tap directly into his psyche.

The two pieces arrive at a cultural inflection point. Drake, coming off the back of his For All the Dogs Scary Hours Edition and swirling rumors of retirement, is in the midst of yet another public transformation. These new commissions speak volumes about that metamorphosis. They are both armor and artifact, coded with sentiment and streetwise flex in equal measure.

The “SSS4U” Pendant: A Diamond-Laden Soliloquy

Design Breakdown: Letters That Carry Weight

At the heart of the “SSS4U” pendant is a simple inscription: “SSS4U”—short for Somebody Special Somewhere 4 U, a phrase whispered in cryptic posts and theorized by fans as referencing both lost love and spiritual distance. Moss translates this emotional vapor into solid weight. The pendant features over 60 carats of emerald-cut white diamonds, each meticulously set into a solid white gold frame with radiant edges and architectural weight. Its overall silhouette leans toward a brutalist style—structured, bold, yet intimate.

Every curve, every facet feels intentional. The letters themselves are puffed and beveled, suggesting volume not just physically, but emotionally. This is not dainty jewelry—it’s designed to hang heavy, both on the chest and in the subconscious.

Cultural Symbolism: When Typography Becomes Testimony

There’s an intimacy to abbreviations in hip-hop, particularly when used by someone as cryptically personal as Drake. Just as “OVO” became an emblem of a sound and a city, “SSS4U” represents something even deeper—a message unsent, perhaps only for the wearer.

Alex Moss reinforces this coded intimacy by letting the stones speak louder than any engraving. These are not diamonds in service of ostentation. These are diamonds in service of memory. Each carat, Moss suggests, is a timestamp. A heartbreak. A shout into the void.

The Nokia 3310 Chain: Iced Nostalgia Meets Conceptual Luxury

Design Breakdown: Bling and Binary

Then there’s the pièce de résistance: an iced-out replica of the Nokia 3310, possibly the most iconic mobile phone of the pre-iPhone era. On first glance, it’s cheeky—a throwback gag given the haute treatment. But beneath the humor lies a meditation on communication and obsolescence. Crafted with over 90 carats of round brilliant and step-cut diamonds, the phone’s matte finish is created through a micro-pavé technique rarely used at this scale. Even the antenna glistens.

Alex Moss didn’t stop at the surface. The chain includes an operable hinge system, allowing the piece to open like a real flip case. Inside, rather than circuitry, lies a mirror—inviting the wearer (and viewer) to reflect on the role this device once played in their life. It’s a sculpture disguised as a stunt, a Trojan horse of philosophical jewelry.

Why a Nokia 3310? A Timeline in Titanium

This wasn’t just Drake choosing a nostalgic item at random. The Nokia 3310 is the ghost of millennial adolescence, the original vessel of texted declarations, Snake II marathons, and midnight confessions. For Drake—a master of time-stamped emotion—the object is perfect. It’s the machine that might’ve once held his first heartbreak message, now encased in luxury forever. The idea of immortalizing obsolescence is as poetically Drake as it gets.

Inside the Atelier: Moss’s Technical Methodology

High Jewelry Meets High Concept

Alex Moss NY operates in the rarefied air of conceptual jewelry. While many designers chase stone weight and celebrity co-signs, Moss chases metaphors. “When I work with Drake,” Moss told Hypebeast, “we start with an emotion or a memory. The jewelry is the final product of that idea’s crystallization.”

Both the SSS4U pendant and the Nokia chain were designed through iterative sketching and 3D CAD modeling, with Moss personally overseeing diamond selection. The pieces were assembled by a team of 12 artisans in New York’s diamond district, each specialist contributing to prong setting, micro pave, and custom gold casting. In total, production spanned six weeks, involving custom molds, laser-cutting, and hand-finishing to achieve the seamless polish Moss is known for.

The 150-Carat Philosophy

To Alex Moss, carat count isn’t just a metric—it’s a medium. “The carats are like brushstrokes,” he says. “When you cross 100, you’re painting with saturation. When you hit 150, you’re composing with weight.”

What separates Moss’s work is how he balances that weight with thematic clarity. These pieces are overloaded, yes—but never confused. Everything has a place. Every gem is part of a larger emotional blueprint.

Jewelry as Biographical Fiction: Why This Matters

The Drake-Moss Partnership: A Timeline

This isn’t the first time Drake has commissioned from Moss. Past works include a diamond-encrusted basketball hoop pendant referencing his Certified Lover Boy era, and a 24K owl medallion emblazoned with Arabic script. But “SSS4U” and the Nokia chain mark a tonal shift.

These are quieter, heavier, more poetic. They don’t scream money as much as they whisper memory. They are artifacts not from a rapper’s catalog, but from a human’s past—fragile, coded, preserved.

Why Jewelry Still Tells Stories in Hip-Hop

In an era where AI can write bars and avatars can sell concerts, jewelry remains stubbornly analog, and thus sacred. It takes time, touch, tools. In this realm, the meaning of a piece is not just in its sparkle but in its silence—in what it doesn’t say.

Drake’s pendant doesn’t decode itself. Moss doesn’t release a press release with citations. Instead, the viewer is invited to speculate. To wonder what “Somebody Special Somewhere” means. To ask who the phone called. To imagine what it’s like to hold 150 carats of unresolved memory around your neck.

The Future of Sentimental Excess

As fashion leans ever more minimal, and digital tokens rise and fall in speculative waves, Alex Moss NY reminds us that there is still unparalleled power in physical storytelling. His jewelry for Drake does not just ice out the surface—it engraves emotion into legacy. These are not chains—they’re chapters. Not pendants—they’re portals.

Drake, always the curator of his own myth, has once again expanded his iconography. And in Moss, he’s found a jeweler not just of form, but of feeling.

No comments yet.