The New H.N.I.C.: The Death of Civil Rights and the Reign of Hip Hop

Glossary of Hip Hop Terms

The ATL: Atlanta baby mama drama: controversy surrounding parenthood battle rap: a competitive hip hop song be down: to be committed beef: a disagreement, an argument Bentley: a playa’s car of choice bitin’: to imitate, to copy bling bling: possessing abundant jewelry , the brilliant sparkle of a diamond blow up the spot: to take over, to bring attention to bring it on: go ahead and do it brothas: Black men Bucktown: ghetto section of Miami, Florida cake: money capped: to get shot cappin’: to engage in a competitive game of verbal wordplay, the dozens cat: a man, dude cheese: money chitlin’: historical Black vaudeville circuit Chocolate City: urban city centers with a major Black population, Washington , D.C. choppin’ up game: to explain a situation Chronic: highly potent marijuana clowned: (to get clowned): to be ridiculed come up: to succeed; (came up): achieved success coonin’: to engage in stereotypical behavior crunk: to get things going, to bring energy to a situation cut: a song, also a track The D: Detroit the dirty South: the southern United States dissin’: to disrespect dope connect: a drug connection, dealer down for the cause: committed to political action down for whatever: committed to flexibility 155 Glossary of Hip Hop Terms dropped: released to the public droppin’ some knowledge: articulating meaningful information drops an intellectual bomb: to say something of immense significance fetti: money flips the script: to change flossin’: to show off, to flaunt flow: verbal articulation; one’s rap style fo shizzle my nizzle: “for sure my nigga,” hip hop slang from the jump: from the beginning, at the outset fronts: to give a false representation; also gold or platinum jewelry placed over the teeth, as in “gold fronts” the game: life, a particular walk of life gators: alligator shoes gettin’ money: to aggressively make money ghetto fabulous: Black style in excess get into my groove: to do things my way having love: to respect hate, to hate on: to hate, the haters: jealous , envious people; enemies; see playa-hatin’ hip hop culture: the music, clothes, lifestyle, and politics of hip hop hip hop heads: true hip hop fans; aficionados homies: friends, comrades ice: diamonds irregardless: black modification of “regardless ,” to the second degree illest: the best, the top, jackleg: an amateur jeffin’: see coonin’ keepin’ it real: honesty, to be honest despite consequences mad lyrical skills: the ability to rap with great precision MC: microphone controller mo’ money mo’ problems: the more money you get, the more problems you accumulate mozzarella: money muthafucka: modern spelling and pronunciation of “motherfucker,” meaning may vary from positive to negative , according to context nigga: modern hip hop appropriation, spelling of “nigger” old school: traditional, old fashioned on point: to be correct on some new shit: a new way of thinking on some other shit: to be a nonconventional thinker paper: money phat: empowered pimped: stylish; pimped out: highly accessorized GLOSSARY OF HIP HOP TERMS 156 playa: a hip, stylish individual playa-hatin’: jealousy, envy the playas ball: annual gathering and award show for pimps props: to acknowledge, recognize punk: a weak person R&B: rhythm and blues, “rap-n-bullshit ” rep: to represent representin’: to be representative of rocked the house: to excite an audience rocks: to sound good; also crack cocaine rollin’: driving or riding the scene: the place, environment of a situation scoop, scoop me up: to pick up scrilla: money sell-out: to compromise for money or social acceptance shinin’: to show off, like flossin’ signifyin’: see cappin’ sucking on that glass dick: smoking crack cocaine spittin’ rhymes: to rap spittin’ sixteen bars: rhyming in standard hip hop song format squab: to fight, to squabble my steez: my style street credibility: to be accepted as valid thug life: the ethos and lifestyle of a thug, made famous by Tupac tight verse: a particularly nice lyric track: a song, or the street where a prostitute displays herself tricking off: to adorn true heads: see hip hop heads underground: nonmainstream vine: a suit wack: terrible, sad, dismissable walk the track: to put on display whip: a car the wrong nigga to fuck wit’: the wrong person to bother GLOSSARY OF HIP HOP TERMS 157 ...