Songfacts®:

• Johnny Dang, also known as TV Johnny, is a Vietnamese American jeweler based in Houston, Texas. He is known for his custom grills that are made of gold, diamonds, and other precious metals. Dang has made grills for some of the biggest names in music, including Diddy, Kanye West and Beyoncé.
  
  Here, Paul Wall and Drodi join That Mexican OT to flex their wealth and flashy stuff. They're showing off big time with their Johnny Dang grills and chains, wearing that bling with pure pride.
• That Mexican OT (real name Virgil Rene Gazca) is a rapper from Bay City, Texas. He has been active in the Houston hip-hop scene since the 2010s and released his first album, South Texas Project, in 2020. He frequently collaborates with Freeport, Texas-based rapper Drodi.
• Paul Wall is a rapper and entrepreneur from Houston, Texas. He started out hustling grills to local rappers before getting in the booth himself. In 2002, he linked up with Johnny Dang and they turned that grill game into a straight-up business. The two worked in tandem: Wall was all up in clients' mouths, taking molds of their teeth, laying down orders. Meanwhile, Dang was the customizer, turning those molds into some ice-cold, one-of-a-kind mouthpieces.
  
  In 2005, Wall's rap career exploded with the release of his second album, The Peoples Champ. "Grillz," his collaboration with Nelly, Big Gipp, and Ali Jones, topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
• When this song entered the Hot 100, it marked a comeback for Wall. The Houston rapper hadn't visited the tally since "I'm Throwed," featuring Jermaine Dupri, peaked at #87 in 2007. "Johnny Dang" marked That Mexican OT and Drodi's first Hot 100 entry.
• Johnny Dang has been referenced in many other hip-hop recordings, including:
  
  "Fe!n" by Travis Scott ("Take your time, get your light. Johnny Dang, huh-uh. I been out geekin'")
  
  "Betrayal" by Trippie Redd ("Ice us out at Johnny Dang, beat s--t, Liu Kang")
  
  "Flex" by Polo G ("I hit Johnny Dang and mixed the diamonds with the gold tooth")
  
  "Ice Cream Paint Job" by Dorrough ("Prime time clique, we get money, stay iced up like TV Johnny")
• "Johnny Dang" was birthed one day when That Mexican OT and producer TobiAli were chilling' at the rapper's crib. That Mexican OT was pounding out a beat, unaware his producer was capturing the whole thing. Then, out of the blue, TobiAli dropped the "Johnny Dang" beat. "I was like, 'Bet, I need that one. I don't even need you to show me no more. I only want that one," That Mexican OT recalled to Billboard.
  
  The inspiration for the flow came to That Mexican OT while listening to Slick Rick's flow in his 1989 hit "Children's Story."
  
  "You know Slick Rick?," he told Billboard. "You know that tun nun nun nun nu nu nu nu nu nu... It's also from Inspector Gadget, and the 'Children's Story.' 'Once upon a time not long ago...' That flow right there, that's all Slick Rick's flow. That was the whole inspiration for that [lyric], 'Louis Vuitton umbrella when I walk through the rain...' I got the inspiration from Slick Rick."