Who is wearing Rap Star Wiley’s Rolex? What about Tupac Shakur’s Rolex? Rap star Wiley is helping to make wearing Rolex watches popular again with his single “Wearing My Rolex” that is now #2 on the UK Singles Charts. The last rapper to make wearing a Rolex watch so popular was Tupac Shakur who wore a gold and diamond-encrusted Rolex Day Date President until the day he died. Rappers Jay-Z, T.I., Outkast, Nas, Snoop Dogg, and Kanye West have also been seen wearing Rolex President watches although Notorious B.I.G. wore a Two Tone Rolex Datejust (18k/SS).

In 1993 Tupac Shakur was shot in a robbery and what some feel to be an attempted murder by rivals Sean “Puffy” Combs a.k.a. P. Diddy and others affiliated with Bad Boy Records. Although the robbers stole $35,000 of diamond and gold jewelry, they left Tupac’s diamond-encrusted gold Rolex Day Date Presidential. Some feel this was out of respect for a man’s watch. Luxury watches have long been considered part of the 3-part American dream: owning a nice house, a nice car, and a luxury watch. Wearing a Rolex is considered to be part of one’s manhood and thus taking away one’s manhood is considered to be unethical, even in the world of crime and murder. It is purported that, today, Tupac Shakur’s Rolex President has been officially retired and buried with his body as he would have wanted.

So now that Tupac has passed away, who is Wiley and why is he “Wearing My Rolex”? He may be doing in just to follow in the footsteps of Tupac, Biggie, Jay-Z and other famous rappers because wearing a Rolex and rapping about it has almost become a symbol for music success. Credited as the Godfather of Grime music, Wiley has come a long way from his roots as a DJ. Described as “grime-meets-electro,” the single Wearing My Rolex was released under Asylum/Atlantic Records. Wiley has several projects lined up in 2009 alone, including another single entitled Summertime.