The Annals of Luxury: Bling Goes Bust

No doubt wishing that they hadn't spent all that money doing you know what, many rappers and their followers no longer have the cash for flash. Those gaudy necklaces and brazen adornments are too costly, reports the Wall St. Journal.

"The recession is cramping the style of hip-hop artists and wannabes – many of whom are finding it difficult to afford the diamond-encrusted pendants and heavy gold chains they have long used to project an aura of outsized wealth," says the Journal.

Rather than forsake their flamboyant folderol altogether, some celebs are quietly asking their jewelers to use cubic zirconia and less precious metals and stones.

"Hip-hop luminaries with the cash to keep it real are appalled," the Journal adds.

And you think you have problems?

If you want to know who's flush and who's flat broke, read all about it here.