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Totally Unofficial Rap-Dictionary (Bi-weekly Posting, part 1/2)

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Niels Janssen

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Sep 14, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/14/95
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I N T E R N E T ' S T O T A L L Y U N O F F I C I A L

R A P D I C T I O N A R Y

Hi,

This is the first part of the bi-weekly posting of the Totally Unofficial
Rap Dictionary to alt.rap. It is extracted from the WWW version accessible
at:

http://www.sci.kun.nl/thalia/rapdict/dict_en.html

This Rap Dictionary is not intended to show the only correct spelling
of words; slang is mostly a spoken language an noone exactly knows how to
spell things. A word might mean something other to you than displayed
here; that is because all words and corresponding meanings have been
put in the list on a "goes until challenged by someone" basis.

I have followed the English rules, writing out words fully. Most verbs
are usually written differently, though. Take for example "cruising",
which will usually be spelled like "cruisin'", or "brother" which is
often seen as "brotha". Some starting with an "f" are often written
with "ph", like "phat" or "phunky". And what to think of a thing like
"Doowutchalike"?

Where possible I have added a source in the form

"<line>" -- <artist> (<song> [year])

to show in what context the word can be used. Note the _a_, I don't
mean _the_ source, since that would take ages of debating. ;-)

Note that in slang or dialects the grammar is not strongly typed, so
nouns can be verbs etcetera. Slang for gun and penis is almost always
interchangable.

Wherever you encounter "(?)" I am not sure about whatever I am saying there.
"???" means that I don't have that particular piece of information. If you
know more than I, please let me know.

Please help making this list more complete. If it wasn't for the help of
the UseNet alt.rap community, this list wouldn't be one percent of its
current size. Feel free to use or to contribute to this list. I don't
want anyone (including myself) to use this list for financial gain, though.
Also I would like to thank Patrick 'Tricky' Atoon for starting this
dictionary. He has collected most of the words in this Totally Unofficial
Rap Dictionary!

-- Numbers --

1 and 2
Turntables. "DJ behind the 1 and 2".

1-2 checker
1) Checking the MIC.
2) Checking the scene.

10%
See 5%. "Ten percent took a loss" -- Boots of The Coup.

107.5
(n) A NYC radio station that helped bring hip-hop to the radio.

1200
(n) The Technics SL 1200 is regarded as the best turntable for
DJ'ing. The reason for this is its very, very high torque. If
you hit the start/stop button, the platter will reach top speed
within a 1/4th revolution. Not many turntables can match that.
"My DJ you know 1200's he's using, I don't!" -- Schoolly D.
(I don't like rock 'n roll)

1555
(n) The year the first slaveships arrived in America. "Sayin' 1555
how I'm livin'" -- Public Enemy (Can't truss it).

187
(n) Californian penal code number for homicide. The police in
California uses the penal code numbers as shorthand on the radio.
Eg. in Oregon the code for homicide is "163.005", different
from California. "187" -- Dr. Dre (The Chronic).

2 to 4
(n) The duration of a imprisonement sentence, two to four years in
jail. "Hit with a 2 to 4 is difficult" -- Mobb Deep (Survival of
the fittest [??]).

20
(n) See twenty sack. "I'm an addict for sneakers,
20's of buddah and bitches with beepers" -- NAS (?? [1994]).

211
(n) Police code for armed robbery.

213
1) (n) The area code of Long Beach.
2) (n) The name of a group with Snoop, Nate Dogg and Warren G.
This group was separated when they all got big. "Way back
then 213 was the clique" -- Warren G (This DJ [1994]).

22
(n) .22 calibre gun. "Twentytwo automatic on my person"
-- Beastie Boys (Rhymin' & stealin' [1986])

24/7
(n) All the time, from 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

25 with an izl
(n) 25 years to life sentence. "25 with an izL" -- Snoop Doggy
Dog (Murder was the case).

30
(n) A firearm.

357
(n) A .357 Magnum pistol. ".357 break it on down" -- LL Cool J.
(.357 Break it on down [1987]).

38
(n) .38 pistol.

380
(n) A handgun. "Unpacked and I grabbed my three eighty cause where we
stayin', niggaz look shady" -- Ice Cube (Summer Vacation [??]).

40
(n) A 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor. "Use to drink every day,
straight 40's to the head" -- Ice-T. (Original Gangster [1991]).

411
(n) Information, from the US phone number for information.

5% Nation
5% Nation -- A group which started as an offshoot of the NoI. They
teach that any large group of people, and more specifically, the
African American nation, can be divided into three groups, the 85% =
basically the ignorant masses which need to be led, the 5% = the
people with true knowledge of self whose job it is to lead the masses
and fight against the 10%, the 10% = people who have partial knowledge
of self and use it to gain power and wealth by exploiting the 85, also
referred to as "bloodsuckers of the poor". The chosen percentages are
what they feel that the percentages are within the black community.
These numbers are neither universal (all though these groups do exist
within any large group) nor unchangeable. "That'll be the day the
five percent eat swine" -- Dred Scott (???).

5 0
1) (n) A police officer, from the series Hawaii Five-O. "Five-O
said 'freeze', and I got numb" -- Public Enemy (Bring the
Noise).
2) (n) A 5.0 liter Ford Mustang, which is used as a police vehicle
in some areas.

5000
(interj) A farewell bidding, from "I'm outta here", which evolved
to "I'm Audi", and to 5000 after the Audi 5000 car,
which got recalled and is a rare sight nowadays. "Yo, we outta
here, 5000, G!" -- Ice Cube and Flavor Flav (I'm only out for
one thang [1990]).

502
(n) California police code for drunk driving. "Fuck the police and
a 502" -- N.W.A. (8-ball [??]).

64
1) (n) A 64-ounce bottle of malt liquor. "40's are no more because
now I'm drinkin' 64s" -- Grand Puba (Three Men at Chung King)
2) (n) A 1964 Chevrolet Impala. "Jumped in the 64"
-- Cypress Hill (???)

7-11
1) (n) All-night convenience store, which was originally open from
7am to 11pm when other stores were closed. "Takin' care of business
at 7-11" -- Beastie Boys (High plains drifter).
2) (n) From the dice game called craps, rolling a 7 and then 11 wins.

8-ball
1) (n) Old English 800, a popular beer in the hood.
2) (n) An eightball is literally, in drug terms, an eight of an ounce.
There are twenty-eight grams in an ounce, and hence, three and one half
grams in an eightball. In places where an eightball is less than three
and a half grams, the laws of supply and demand have constricted the
quantity in favor of a popular price.
3) (n) On to it. Ie: "on the 8-ball", up with the play.

808
1) (n) The bassdrum from a Roland TR-808 drum machine, which is now
a popular sample.
2) (n) The police code for disturbing the police. Refers to the sound of
bass from stereos.

85%
See 5%. "Why? That's most asked by 85" -- Ladybug of Digable
Planets (???).

86
(v) To kill a plan or action. In the restaurant lingo it means that
you are out of a particular item - "We're 86 on the gravy!".

9, 9mm
(n) 9 mm gun. "My nine is easy to load" -- L.L. Cool J.
(Mama said knock you out [1990])

9 to 5
(n) A job where you work from 9:00 am till 5:00 pm. "While your
were at your job working nine to five, the Beastie Boys were at
the garden cold kickin' it live!" -- Beastie Boys (No sleep
till Brooklyn [1986]).

911
(n) The US phone number for emergencies. "Now I dialed 911 a long
time ago" -- Public Enemy (911 is a joke).

950
(n) The Akai S-950, a widely used rackmount sampler. A nice piece
of equipment that allowed the producer to "stretch" the
sound wave so that the sample could be sped up or slowed down
without changing the pitch. It was made popular by the Bomb Squad
who used them to stack samples thus giving their tracks the dope
sound. From the Alkaholiks (The next level [1994]).

98 Oldsmobile

(n) A very limited make of Oldsmobile, usually considered to be their
best make of car, year after year. A real status symbol. "My 98 is
tough to chase" -- Public Enemy (You gonna get yours [1987]).

97.1
(n) HOT 97, A CHR-turned-hip hop station in New York.

98.7
(n) WRKS KISS FM, a NYC radio station that helped bring hip-hop to
the radio.

-- A --

a
(v) Am going to. "I'm a do it like this"

Ac
The Acura Legend, a brand car. "I'm the Mack in the Ac, all
paneling" -- Notorious BIG (Unbelievable [1994]).

afro
1) (n) Hairstyle like the Jackson Five had, much hair and round like
a ball.
2) (n) Person with an afro. "Don't laugh hoes, I'm down with The
Afro's" -- Ice Cube (I gotta say what up!!! [1990]) (note that
Cube refers to a rap group).

AK/AK-47
(n) Assault rifle of Russian origin, nowadays produced in China.
The letters stand for Automatic Kalashnikov. "My AK-47 is the
tool" -- Da Lench Mob (Freedom got an AK [1993])
(originally from NWA (Straight out of Compton)).

all that
(adj) in possession of all good qualities.

alpine
(n) Stereo set.

am
(n) The morning, as in A.M. "Steppin' to the am" -- 3rd Bass
(The cactus album).

A&R
(n) Refers to Artist and Repetoir execs in record companies they are
hooked up with an artist to help put out an image and distribute the
artists albums. "First of all, who's your A & R, a
mountain climber who plays an electric guitar?" -- Wu Tang Clan
(Protect ya neck [1994]).

around the way
(n) From the neighbourhood. "From around the way"
-- Beastie Boys (No sleep till Brooklyn [1986]).

axe
(v) Ask. "Gave her ten dollars, then she axed me for some more"
-- Schoolly D. (P.S.K. (what does it mean?) [??]).

ay yo trip
(interj) Phrase to seek attention, compare "Check this out".

-- B --

baggin' up
(v) To laugh real hard at something.

Banger
(n) Someone associated with gangs and murder.

beam me up, Scotty
(interj) Give me crack.

beamer
(n) Expensive European car: BMW, status symbol. Used by Tribe Called
Quest on Low End Theory.

bean
(n) Also called a head.

beef
(n) And argument or discrepancy with another individual or group
of individuals. The following citation is from the book Juba to Jive:
the dictionary of African-American slang, by Clarence Major. Beef n.
(1930s-1940s; 1960s-1970s) an "old" word dating back to
general criminal use in the thirties. For young black in the
sixties and later it meant roughly the same as it had earlier: a
complaint or argument; a disagreement in progress.

bend
(n) A prostitute. "She was more than just a bend" -- Grand Puba

Benz
(n) Expensive European car: Mercedes Benz, status symbol.
"I used to get no play, now she stays behind me, 'cause I said I
had a Benz 190" -- N.W.A. (I ain't the one).

being [down] with something
(v) Favouring something, thinking the same way. "Howie Tee, are you
with me?" -- The Real Roxanne and Howie Tee ((Bang zoom) let's
gogo).

BG
(n) Baby gangster, as opposed to OG. An OG has shot somebody, a BG
has not shot anyone yet. "I quit school cuz of recess, you
fuckin BG" -- Snoop Doggy Dogg (Pump Pump).

bird
(n) Kilo. "A bird in the hand" -- Ice Cube (A bird in the hand
[1991]).

bitch
1) (n) Prostitute; girls call each other "What's up, bitch?"
Doesn't necessarily have to be negative. Doesn't have to mean females
either. "Cause some of y'all niggas is bitches too" -- Ice T
(Bitches 2 [1991]).
2) (v) To curse or nag about something.

bite
1) (v) To copy lyrics from other people. "I know you down south are
biting my lines, and if I catch you boy, your ass is mine" --
Schoolly D. (Gucci time)
2) (v) To steal

black book
1) A small book carried by graffiti artists for others to
do work in.
2) A book to carry phone numbers in.

Black Panther movement
(n) This movement was founded in Oakland, California by Huey P. Newton,
H.R. Brown and Bobby Seale. Fought for the rights of black in the late
1960's and the early 1970 with fire arms.

blend
(n) See marijuana.

blunt
(n) See marijuana. Marijuana cigarette, herb stuffed cigar,
generally phillies.

blunted
(v) Under influence of a blunt. "Made a little record for
the blunted to chill with" -- Cypress Hill (Hand on the pump)

bone
1) (v) To have sexual intercourse. "Your aim is to bone" --
Tribe Called Quest (Classic example of a date rape).
2) (n) One dollar.
3) (n) Core, soul. "I'm a rock hard trooper to the bone"
-- Public Enemy (Louder Than A Bomb)
4) (v) To bone out, as in leaving. "I'm a bone outta here".

booty
1) (adj) Not good, lacking. "The beat was fly, but them lyrics were
booty" -- ??? (???).
2) (n) Bottom.
3) (n) Biblical, as in pirates booty or treasure. Since booty is stolen
treasure, it could be good or bad. Often used in the negative today.

bozack, 'zack
(n) Scrotum.

Brass Monkey
1) (n) an alcoholic concoction available in liquor stores. "Drinking
Brass Monkey" -- Beastie Boys (Brass Monkey [1986]).

break to
1) Comes from the Biblical term "selah". Comes from music,
"on the break", but for hip-hop refers to the break in the
record that is created by the DJ. "Beats and breaks".
2) (v) transport onesself to, often quickly.

break off
(v) Marijuana is sometimes sold as little blocks. So, breaking off some
means to share the good stuff with others. "Break ya off something"
-- Cypress Hill (???).

brother
(n) Man of the same group; friend. In the Bible you will read
"brethern", which is used in the same meaning.

bucket
(n) Old car in bad shape. "So I moved on an old car, it was a
bucket, but fuck it, it had to do" -- Ice-T. (Midnight [1991]).

buckwilding
(v) To get buckwild means to have sex, see also wilding.
A "buck" is a young, unbroken horse that cowboys try to master
at a rodeo. "Get buckwild with the white freaks, show 'em how to
really work the white sheets" -- Body Count (KKK Bitch [1991]).

buddah
(n) See marijuana. "I'm an addict for sneakers,
20's of buddah and bitches with beepers" -- NAS (?? [1994]).

buddy
1) (n) At the start of De La soul's "Buddy" video, Prince Paul
makes a statement to the effect that "Buddy means body."
2) (n) Sexual partner. A bit more than a friend.
3) (adj) Something that appears okay at first, but is actually a
cheap imitation; a knockoff, ripoff or fake. Said to be from
"Buddies" which are shoes that look cool but fall apart
real quickly. "Get that buddy shit out of here" -- (???).

bumrush
(n) Crash the gates of a show with a pack of people, in the hope to
get in without having to pay. "Yo!Bum rush the show"
-- Public Enemy. (Yo!Bum rush the show) [1987].

bunk
1) (adj) Unpleasant, bad.
2) (n) A load of bunk: a lot of nonsense.

burner
1) (n) A large piece of graffiti usually involving many colors.
2) (n) gun.

bust this
(interj) Pay attention. "But bust this!" -- Ice-T (Bitches 2
[1991]).

bust slugs
(v) To fire bullets. "And bust some slugs for South Africa"
-- Heather B. with BDP (Seven MC's)

busta
1) (n) Fake person, weak individual. "Busta ass nigga talkin'
bullshit" -- Dr. Dre (Rat-a-tat-tat).
2) (n) A snitch, a person who tattle-tales.

butt
1) (n) Bottom.
2) (adj) Not good, lacking. "Get yourself some toilet paper 'cause
your lyrics is butt" -- Tribe Called Quest (Low End Theory).

butter
(adj) Well liked, smoothed out. "It's like butta, baby, it's like
sugar, honey" -- Kwame (??).

buyaka
(n) Jamaican, resembles the sound of gunshots.


-- C --

cat
1) (n) Vagina. "Sprung on the Cat" -- Sir Mixalot (Sprung on the
cat [1992]).
2) (n) Person. Used in the 70s. "You cant take the jungle out of
the cat" -- Jeru Tha Damaja (Frustrated Nigger [1995]).

cap
1) (n) Bullet. "I'm a pop a cap in him" -- Julius in the movie
"Pulp Fiction"
2) (n) Cranium, top of the skull. "Blood's on my gear, from caps
I've peeled" -- Ice-T. (Mic contract [1991]).

caveboy
A white person. Derived from the theory that early white man lived in
caves.

-cha
You. "I'm comin' to getcha" -- Ice Cube (I'm gonna wetcha [1993])

cheever
(n) See marijuana. Might be spelled cheeba. "Some call it
cheeba, some call it weed" -- Schoolly D. (Saturday night)

chill
1) (n) Relax. "Why don't you just chill" -- L.L. Cool J. (Eat
em up L chill [1990]).
2) (adj) Mellow.

cholo
(n) A word for lowrider in East LA hispanic slang.
"Vatos, cholos, call us what you will" -- Kid Frost (La Raza
[1990]).

chrome
(n) Gun. "Now I gotta follow him home with the chrome" -- Ice
Cube (Robin hood).

chronic
(n) See marijuana. Incredibly potent marijuana. "The Chronic"
-- Dr. Dre.

cipher
(n) A circle of brothers dropping science, showing and proving.

claim
1) (v) To say one allies oneself with a gang or set.
2) (v) To claim membership in a gang.
3) (v) To say something that is not necessarily true.

click
(n) the West Coast equivalent of "crew".

clip
(n) Gun or holder of bullets to load a gun with. "My AK-47 holdin'
50 clips" -- Da Lench Mob (Freedom got an AK [1993]).

clock
(v) To stay aware of what happens around you.

clocking
(adj) Disturbed.

cock
1) (n) Penis.
2) (n) Vagina. "She was giving up the cock" -- Ice Cube
(Gangsta's Fairytale)
3) (v) To pull the hammer of a gun. "Cock the hammer, it's time for
action" -- Cypress Hill (Cock the hammer [1993])

coconut
(n) A hispanic person trying to be white. Compare with oreo.

cold
(adj) intensely. "Stone cold rhymin'" -- Young MC (Stone cold
rhymin').

come correct
(v) To represent the real, to do something the way it should be done.
"When I'm on the mic, I come correct" -- Beastie Boys (Sure shot)

coochie
(n) Vagina.

cool
(adj) Okay.

coqui 900
(n) A drink of some kind. ("Coqui 900" -- Schoolly D.)

CPT
Compton in the fone book. Call it CPT for ease of use. "Claimin' they
are from the CPT" -- N.W.A. (Compton's in the house [1990])

crib
(n) Home. "Black Ceasar at the crib" -- Public Enemy (Burn
Hollywood Burn [1990])

crack a brew
(v) Open a beer. "Crack another 40, smoke some kill" --
Schoolly D. (Smoke some kill)

cracker
(n) Originally a term from Reconstruction time (1870) to mean southern
men. Now it means white bigot, from whip-cracker or slavedriver.
"Got a little problem with the redneck cracker" -- Ice Cube
(The Predator).

crazy
(adj) Besides meaning insane or extremely daring, it is kind of
synonymous with mad.

Cronkite
(n) News, after the newsreader Walter Cronkite. "Grand Puba and
Studd Doogie droppin' Cronkite" -- Grand Puba (A little of this).

cruise
(v) Driving around, preferably showing off your car.

crunk
(adj) Hype, phat. "Tonight is going to be crunk" -- ??.

creep
(n) To sneak up on someone.

crew
(n) Group, band.

cut
1) (n) A record, the latest hit
2) (n) A recently received haircut.
3) (v) Cutting wax: scratching a record. "Rip the cut!" --
Just Ice (Back to the old school) [198?]

cuz
1) (n) homeboy or homegirl.
2) (n) cousin.


-- D --

dank
(n) See marijuana. "Go on and hit the dank"
-- Too Short.


dap
1) (n) Sort of high-five type of handshake. "Gimme a dap, I'll
give you one back" -- Ice T. (Ziplock [1991])
2) (n) Dignity and Pride, old slang (think 70's here).

dead presidents
(n) Money. All American dollarbills have a former president of the
United States on them. "I'm all for dead presidents to represent me"
-- NAS (The world is yours [1994]).

deep
1) (n) A unit of measure. "It was a crew four deep"
-- D-Nice (??).
2) (n) A hip hop clothing manufacturer (X-Large).
3) Heavy in the hippy sense of the word.

def
1) (adj) Okay. "But you still think our music is def, right?"
-- De La Soul (Brain washed follower).
2) (adj) the standard of excellence.
3) Some more info on def: comes from the expression "Death O.J."
but I think first used on record in "Rapper's Delight". As Nelson
George defines it:"In "Rapper's Delight" the term "Death OJ" is used.
In current slang "death" means something good, while "OJ" is a refer
ence to a big car: Erstwhile football star and all-around adman O.J.
Simpson does Hertz commercials featuring Ford and Lincoln Mercury
cars. If we add "death" to Ford and Lincoln Mercury cars (leaving out
any disrespectful reference to Pintos), we come up with the "Rapper's
Delight" character driving off in a Lincoln Continental."
From _Buppies, B-Boys, Baps & Bohos: Notes on Post-Soul Black Culture_
by Nelson George.

Def Jam
1) (n) A great record.
2) (n) One of the first big labels for rap artists, founded by Rick
Reuben, led by Russel Simmon.

delf
(n) "Delf" was quoted for the first time by Parrish Smith when
EPMD's last album was released in 1992. It was in a Source interview
and it's about the same as "self" like going for delf (self).
"Release yo delf" -- Da Method Man (Release yo delf).

deuce
(n) Two. "About to get loose with the deuce deuce" -- Ice Cube
(Gangsta fairytale II [1993]).

devil
(n) an enemy, usually white people. "The devil made me do it" --
Paris (the devil made me do it) [??].

dick
(n) penis. "Mister Big Dick, who do you think you are?" --
Schoolly D. (Mr. Big Dick).

dime
1) (n) Ten dolar bag of marijuana.
2) (n) "To drop a dime", to fink. The term has probably descended from
the time when phone calls were 10 cents, and is related to the notion
of moving gossip quickly, as one would drop a dime into the phone to
make a call.

dip
(v) Dipping is what a car with a hydraulic suspension does. "Set
trippin', fo' dippin'" -- Ice Cube (Friday [??]).

dis
(v) Insult or thwart in a social manner. "Challenge BDP, you'll get
dissed, expect it" -- Boogie Down Productions (Part time sucker).

DJ
(n) Disc Jockey. "My DJ Derek B is best" -- Derek B. (Get down).

DL
See down low.

do
1) (n) Hairdo.
2) (v) Having sex.
3) (v) Killing someone.

dog
1) (v) To tear something up like a dog would do.
2) (v) To insult someone in front of his friends.
3) (v) To have sex the doggy way.
4) (p) a form of addressing: "Whatup dog?", not meant to be
offensive
5) (n) a friend, "That's my Dog". Road ~: West Coast gangsta
for friend.

dome
(n) A person's big head, skull, gun against your head.

dope
1) (n) Narcotics.
2) (adj) Great, addictive.

dopeman
(n) Seller of narcotics. "If you see somebody getting pussy for
crack, he's the dopeman, dopeman" -- N.W.A. (Tha Dopeman)

double deuce juice
1) (n) 22 oz of cold 45 ml beer.
2) (n) Colt 45 (the Billy D. juice).

dough
(n) Money. "Don't you know when the dough get low, the juice go"
-- Mobb Deep (Survival of the fittest [??]).

down low
(n) Covert, secret, "hush hush", derived from low profile.

dukey robe
(n) fat gold chain.

dusting
(adj) Too high or too drunk.

dutchmasta
(n) Dutchmaster is a brand of cigars. Sometimes when rolling a serious
blunt, the tobacco is removed from a cigar and replaced with marijuana.
"Slit a nigga back like a Dutchmasta killa" -- Wu-Tang Clan
(???).

drawers
(n) Pants, underpants.

drive-by
(n) A gang form of execution; armed with guns they drive by their
victims, take a shot at them, and drive off. "With your
drive-by's it took time to getcha, but now I'm gonna wetcha"
-- Ice Cube (I'm gonna wetcha [1993])

drop science, drop knowledge
(v) To demonstrate wisdom. "I'm droppin' science" -- 7a3
(coolin' in cali) [1988]

Dropping a Dime
(v) Informing.

duckets
(n) Money, from "ducats": coins. He's gettin' juiced for his
duckets" -- N.W.A. (I ain't the one).

-- E --

Elijah Muhammad
(n) Elijah Poole, a Georgia-born ex-factory worker who founded
the black muslim movement Nation of Islam in Detroit in 1930, also
known as Honorable Elijah Muhammad. "Read the book how to eat
to live, from Elijah Muhammad, it's a brown paperback" -- Boogie
Down Productions (Beef [1990])

ese
1) (n)(Hispanic) Used to address someone in the first person.
"Hey, ese".
2) (n) See homeboy.

-- F --

fade
1) (n) the hairdo (see high top fade).
2) (v) Means to not listen to, erase, or get rid of (exterminate).
Has mutated into various other meanings as well as has most
other hiphop lingo.
It (the phrase) started from actually pulling down the fader
on a mixer, which of course, results in not listening to
whomever was on at the time. So Ice Cube wants you to listen
to him always and not fade him or turn him off... "You can't
fade me" -- Ice Cube (You can't fade me).


fag
(n) Homosexual man, short for faggot. "...and I thought it was a gag,
when I thought it was a girl, it was nothing but a fag"
-- Schoolly D. (Saturday night).

fat
(adj) Rich like butter, really good, extremely well put together.
"ATCQ be putting together some fat beats" -- ??? (???)

federal
(adj) Something of exceptional quality or of an extreme nature. Used
throughout E-40 tapes, probably Bay Area in origin.

finger on the trigger
(n) Someone with the ~: someone prepared to shoot if necessary. "I
got my hand in my pocket and my finger's on the trigger" --
Beastie Boys (Posse in effect [1986]).

fix
(n) Heroine.

flava
1) (n) Flavour
2) (n) Flavor Flav, Chuck D's right hand man in Public Enemy.

Flavavision
(n) The glasses of PE's Flavor. "Don't worry, Flavavision ain't
blurry" -- Public Enemy (Don't believe the hype).

flay
(v) "Flay on the mix", serious old school mixing and scratching.

flex
1) (v) To show one's mettle, flexing one's muscles, showing one's
arsenal and readiness to put it to use, letting one's pugilistic
prowess be known. To strike someone, or to get up in someones face for
intimidation. "I use my nine when suckas start to flex"
-- Ice Cube (Man's best friend).
2) (v) Scratching, from flexing of the wrist. Rakim used to talk
about Eric B being on the flex.

floss
(v) Move in and out of something. "Floss the NSX" -- DJ Quick
(Dollars and sense).

fly
(adj) Attractive, beautiful. "Put on the Bally shoes and the fly
green socks" -- Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh (Ladidadi).

forty dog
(n) 40 ounce bottle of Olde English 800 malt liquor. "Forty dog,
one love" -- Nas (One love [1994]).

freak
1) (v) Dance in a provocative way.
2) (v) Have sex.
3) (n) Person who practices the above things; sexually aggressive
female (never missing a beat).

free world
(n) Free from incarceration; the world outside of prison. "I really
miss my free world" -- Convicts (??? [1991]).

freestyle
(v) Freestyling is when an MC flows with lyrics right of the top of
his or her head. It is inpromptu and spontaneous and only the most
creative rhymers can do it well. It is also a kind of competition
between MC's because you have to be good to bust a good freestyle.
It helps to keep MCs on their toes too, because its is like practice.
"We gonna do a little freestyle for y'all, and it go like this"
-- Schoolly D. (Cuttin' and scratchin')

fresh
1) (adj) New
2) (adj) Okay

front
(v) Pretend to be that which you are not; act tough. "You can't
front on that" -- Beastie Boys (So what'cha want [1992]).

fuck
(n,v) This is the most powerful word in the American English language.
It can be the very best or the very worst. You might enjoy
getting your brains fucked out, but then again you might not.

funk
1) (adj) Malodorous.
2) (n) The essence of being, as in faking the funk.

funky drummer
(n) Famous drumtrack by Clyde Stubblefield, James Brown's drummer.
Often used in hiphop.

furilla
(adj) Contraction of the phrase "for real"; something known to
be true. "On the furilla, my nigga, just call me Scarface" --
Geto Boys (Scarface [1989]).


-- G --

G
1) (n) Anything that starts with a G. E.g. God, Gangsta, Girl, Guy.
As in "Whatup, G?".
2) (v) To have sexual intercourse. E.g. Sir Mix-a-Lot's self titled
EP has a song called "Let's G".
3) (n) Money, from Grands or thousands. "I clock G's while you
clock Z's" - EPMD (???).

gaffle
(n) To harass. Especially being "gaffled" by the police.

gaffled
(adj) Past tense of "to gaffle". The state of being messed
up; a misfortunate condition.

game
1) (v) Wooing. "Cause I'm gamin' on a female that's gamin' on
me" -- N.W.A. (I ain't the one).
2) (v) In the game, whatever the game might be. A game is some way
to make money or advance oneself, or just a game.

gang
(n) Group of organised criminals. The main gangs in Northern California
are:
1. Bloods
2. Norte
3. Surenos
4. Crips

gangbang
1) (v) To commit crimes in a gang.
2) (v) To to have sex in groups.

gangsta
1) (n) A gangster or criminal.
2a) (adj) In the way of a gangster.
2b) (adj) A style of rap that evolved in South Central, Los Angeles.

ganja
(n) See marijuana. "My medicine is the ganja"
-- Nas (??? [1994]).

gank
(v) Same as skank, ie to hurt, steal from, or diss in some way.

gasface
1) To show someone a sign of disrespect.
2) Make stupid face towards someone you don't like. "The same people
that got gasfaced last year" -- 3rd Bass (No master plan, no master
race [1991])

gat
1) (n) A very small, easily concealed gun used by government spies and,
of course, gangsters.
2) (n) Hip-Hop Clothing Co.

get busy
1) (v) Have sex.
2) (v) eat "Ya mama is so big and fat that she can get busy with
22 burritoes, but times are rough, I seen her in the
back'a taco bell with handcuffs" -- Pharcyde (Ya Mama)

get/give head/skull
(v) Receive/give fellatio.

get/give props
(v) See props.

G-funk
(n) Gangsta funk. Examples: Snoop Doggy Dogg, Warren G & Nate Dog.

ghetto bird
(n) Helicopter. "Is it a bird? Yep. Is it a plane? No." --
Ice Cube (Ghetto Bird) [1993].

glock
(n) Manufacturer of guns. People usually mean the 9mm glock, which can
hold up to 19 rounds. The gun is made of plastic and ceramic, so it has
a futuristic `feel' to it.

grill
1) "Guard your grill": protect yourself, grill stands
for your face, Protect your face from getting punched.
2) Front of a car. "I got the skill, I'll bust ya in the grill"
-- House of Pain (Shamrocks and Shenanigans).

grip
1) (n) Ability on the microphone.
2) (n) money. "Where's my grip nigga" -- ??

-- H --

hawk
1) (v) To look at something.
2) (v) To stare down someone.

Hennessey
(n) Brand of Cognac. "Take this Hennessey!" NAS -- (??).

herbalz
1) (n) Marijuana, comes from herbs. "Herbalz in my mouth"
-- 3rd Bass (Herbalz in my mouth).
2) (n) Semen (mentioned in an interview once by 3rd Bass).

[to be] high
To be intoxicated by a drug of somekind. Reported other terms for it
are: blazed, blunted, bombed, charged, juiced, skunked, stressed,
toked. "I want to get high, so high" -- Cypress Hill (I want
to get high).

high-five
(n) Greeting where you slap hands together in the air, as opposed
to low-five, where you slap hands at waist height.

highside
(v) To ignore or disrespect someone by not acknowledging their
presence. "Bitches get mad cause we highside" -- Big Mike
(Smoke 'em and & choke 'em [??]).

high top fade
(n) Haircut high on the top, fading down to close cut on the sides
"Livin' in fear of my shade or my high top fade" -- Public Enemy

hip-hop
(n) In Jamaican ska era, 60's, a DJ would spin and cut the wax and a
MC would sing or shout or dub poetry over it. That's the roots of
hiphop which were brought to New York City by Kool DJ Herc, but
hip-hop or rap was created in New York City.

ho
1) (n) Hooker, prostitute, from whore. "She ain't nothing but
another ho, according to the system" -- KRS-One (Exhibit D.
[1990]).
2) (v) To sell out.

ho cake
(n) Vagina.

hold the fort down
(v) To represent where you are from. "If so hold the fort down
and represent to the fullest" -- Nas (One Love [1994]).

homeboy
(n) Close friend.

homegirl
(n) Female equivalent of homeboy. "Homegirls, see a guy
you like? Just grab him in the biscuits... and doowutchalike" --
Digital Underground (Doowutchalike [??]).

homey
(n) See homeboy. "But I wish he could have said it to my dead
homey" -- Ice Cube (Dead Homiez [1990]).

honey
(n) Person, generally attractive.

Honey Dip
(n) pretty young ladies with golden brown complexions.

hood
(n) The neighbourhood, usually a poor community.

hoodie
(n) T-shirt with hood attached to it.

hoodlum
(n) A criminal; drugdealer, car thief, stick up kid. "Hoodlums and
hustlers and bangers with Jheri-curls" -- Ice T. (Lifestyles of the
rich and infamous [1991])

hoodrat
(n) female, generally sexually promiscuous, and not upwardly mobile
"Homies in the hood labeled her as a hoodrat" -- Domino
(ghetto jam)

hook
(n) A hook, used in load of songs, is an aspect of popular or
commercial music that "grabs" people and makes it easy to like
like or remember the song. For example, the riff from "Son of a
Preacher Man" used in Cypress Hill's "Hits from the Bong is
an example of a hook. "Check out the hook while I drop crazy
rhymes" -- ??? (???).

hooptie
(n) Old car in bad shape.

hottie
(n) A very attractive female. "This hottie got a body and I wanna
get naughty" -- Sir Mixalot (Sprung on the Cat [1992]).

housenigger
(n) Person who blindly follows simple-minded people. In slavery days,
you had house slaves and field slaves. The house slaves were "well
behaved" and were "rewarded by being allowed to work in
the "big house" close to the master. The field slaves were
"rough" and only suited for field work. Thus the people were
divided and pitted against themselves, instead of the common enemy.

Huey P. Newton
(n) Founder of the Black Panther movement along with H. R. Brown and
Bobby Seale. Mentioned in a few PE songs.

hype
1) (n) Statements made about something before that thing comes out,
especially wild statements guessing about the things nature (whether
positive or negative). For example, record companies will often put
many advertisements out before a record comes out. Before Public
Enemy's album came out there was much negative hype in the media.
"Yo Harry! You're a writer; are we that type? Don't believe the
hype..." -- Public Enemy (Don't believe the hype).
2) (adj) Cool. "Too damn hype" -- Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
(??? [1988]).

-- I --

IBWC
The Intelligent Black Womens Coalition, a group that Yo-Yo is
the founder(?) of.

ice
1) (n) Diamonds or jewelry with diamonds in it. "Hands smothered
in ice." -- Ice-T (Bitches 2 [1991]).
2) (n) On ice - at the morgue.
3) (n) Drugs.

ill
1) (v) To act weird, as in eating dogfood. "You be illin'"
-- RUN-DMC (You be illin' [1986]).
2) (adj) negative.

Impala
(n) Type of popular low-cost car made by Chevrolet in the seventies.
The car is popular with low riders, especially the 1964 model. '63,
'62 and '65 models are also sometimes used. 64's seem to be a Mexican
thang, and 63's a black thang, but this is of course just a
generalisation. Ice Cube's car in "Boyz 'n the hood" was an
Impala. "Knew her from the back of my homeys Impala"
-- Ice Cube (You can't fade me [1990]).

in [full] effect
Present and taking place.

in the house
Present, here. "Compton's in tha house" -- N.W.A. (Compton's
in tha house)

Indo
(n) Marijuana from Indonesia. "Indo smoke" -- Mr. Grimm
(Indo smoke).

-- J --

jam
1) (n) song, cut, track. "This is the dope Jam!" -- Public Enemy
(night the living baseheads) [1989].
2) (n) The sweet stuff - like honey.

jammy
1) (n) Penis. "All the fly ladies are on my jammy" -- Beastie
Boys (The new style [1986]).
2) (n) Gun. "Pulled out the jammy aimed it at the sky" -- Beastie
Boys (Paul Revere [1986]).

James Brown
(n) the funkiest and most sampled man alive.

jack
(v) To rob someone face to face. "Lets see who the fuck ima jack
today" -- Ice Cube (Robin hood).

jenny
(n) Vagina.

jet
(v) Leave.

Jheri-curls
(n) Wetlook, curly hairstyle. "Hoodlums and hustlers and bangers
with Jheri-curls" -- Ice T. (Lifestyles of the rich and infamous
[1991])

jimbrowsky
(n) See Jimmy.

Jimmy
(n) Penis. "Never sleep alone because Jimmy is a magnet" --
Beastie Boys (3 Minute rule [1989]).

Jimmy hat/cap
(n) Condom.

jock
1) (n) Crotch. Being on someone's jock means trying to get involved
with someone for his money or his status etc. The best definition can
be found on Ice Cube's "Kill at will" in the full version of
the song "Get off my dick and tell yo bitch to come here".
2) (v) To sweat someone.

Jones
(n) A craving for something. It is said to come from Jones Alley in
Manhattan where junkies used to live. E.g.: "Baseball Jones":
needing baseball, "love Jones": a dire craving for someone,
"Jonesing for some MJ": wanting some marijuana. I got a love
Jones for your body and shin tone" -- Method Man & Mary J. Blidge
(You are all I need [1994]).

juice
1) (n) Having hydraulics.
2) (v) To squeeze the juice out of something. "You can't juice Ice
Cube, girl" -- N.W.A. (I ain't the one).
3) (n) "To have juice means you kiss and lick a lot of booty" --
KRS-One (Blackman in effect [1990]).
4) respect.

-- K --

kani
(n) Oversized hip-hop clothing.

kangol
(n) A brand of hat. LL Cool J used to wear this along with other east
coast rappers. It has a kangaroo on the side, but brothers wore them
with the 'roo in front. "Went back in, I forgot my Kangol" --
Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh (Ladidadi).

KDAY
(n) Radio station that broadcasted from Crenshaw in South Central LA,
and was devoted to local underground Hip Hop. The musical director of
KDAY was Greg Mack, and he single handedly turned NWA from an unknown
group to superstars. It signed Dr. Dre and DJ Yella in 1983 to
broadcast their own Mix Show, as the Wreckin' Crew. "It (KDAY) was
percieved as a Rap station cause we played rap no one else would"
(Greg Mack, as interviewed by Brian Cross in the book "It's not
about a salarie"). KDAY was sold in 1990, and was turned into a
business network. The defunct radio station symbolizes to a lot of
rappers coming out of LA area the shutting down of black voice in
America. "This is K-Eazy E, wassup y'all this is Greg Mack, Mack
Attack" -- Eazy-E (Radio [1988]).

key
(n) Kilo, often used in conjuction with cocaine. "Dope, like a pound
or a key" -- N.W.A. (Tell 'em what your name is).

khakis
(n) Hip-hop clothing, brown/tan colored pants. "Wearin ghackis,
mob while ya ryhme, little fag tried to sag" -- Eazy-E
(Real Motherphuckkin' G's).

kicks
(n) See sneakers.

kill
(n) See marijuana. "Crack another 40, smoke some kill"
-- Schoolly D. (Smoke some kill).

[kitty] cat
(n) Vagina.

knocka
(n) A pest. "Leave Flavor Flav alone, knocka" -- Public Enemy
(Cold lampin' with Flavor [1988]).

knocking boots
(v) To have sexual intercourse. When two people are in a horizontal
position their feet will bang together. "Bring your friend, I
likes you two's I'll knock the boots, the sneakers and the house
shoes." -- Digital Underground (Flowing on the D-line).

knuckle up
(v) Prepare to fight.

-- L --

L
(n) Another name for blunt.

L train
(n) The late train. "I'm on the L train going insane" -- The Roots
(Silent treatment).

'lac
(n) Short for Cadillac. "Macks drive 'lacs" -- Big Mello [1993].

lamp
1) (v) To hang out next to a streetlamp. "I'm on the street, cold
lampin'" -- Public Enemy (Cold lampin' with Flavor).
2) (v) To relax while others panic.

lay pipe
(v) Having sexual intercourse. "Cause a nigga like me'll lay plenty
of pipe" -- Ice Cube (I'm only out for one thang).

leather Tuscadero
(n) Female equivalent of The Fonz that appeared on Happy Days.
"Now he's zipped up like leather Tuscadero" -- Ice Cube
(We had to tear this motherfucker up).

lina
(n) A line of crank or cola.

llello
(n) Cocaine, crack; it is a Spanish word, and the double l's are
pronounced as "y"'s. The bitch came back with a bag of
llello" -- Ice Cube (Once upon a time in the projects)

loc
1) (n) Term used for local person.
2) (n) Crazy one, from the Spanish "loco", often used for friends
or locals in a positive way. "Don't you know I'm loco?" -- Cypress
Hill (Insane in the brain) [1993]
3) (n) Lock or locks, as in Jheri-curls, but always pronounced with
the long o as in "go".
4) (n) Sunglasses. Inside Ice Cube's "Kill at will" album he
advertizes locs as sunglasses, in the inside cover.

Long Beach
(n) City south of Compton. "Rollin' from the East Side south of
Compton, see a big ass, and I say 'word', took a look
at the face, and the bitch was to the curb!" -- N.W.A.
(8 ball (remix) [1988])

lowriding
(v) Adjusting the suspension of a car to get it closer to the
ground. Since it is illegal to drive that way, people have hydraulic
systems to adjust the height of the car while driving, making it
bounce.

Louies
(n) Louis Vuitton gear.

-- M --

Mac 10
(n) A gun. "The Mac 10 is in the grass and I run like a cheetah with
thoughts of an assassin" -- Nas (??? [1994]).

Mack
1) (n) Pimp.
2) (v) Being a pimp. "Mackin' is a game and everybody's playing
it" -- Ice Cube (Who's the mack)
3) (n) The Mack, an early 70's Blacksploitation film shot in Oakland,
CA.
4) (n) Ladies Man "I love the ladies and they love me right back,
now who's the Mack" Ice T.
5) (v) To steal.

mad
(adj) Extremely, very, a large quantity. "His jeep was pumpin' mad
bass" -- ??? (???).

madhatter
(n) soemone who sells drugs.

Malcolm
(n) Malcolm X, civil rights activist leader, gunned down at the age
of 35 at the Audubon Ballroom on the north edge of Harlem in New York
in 1965 as he spoke to hundreds of followers. He represented the
largely urban North. Member of Nation of Islam until 1964. Wrote many
texts, interviews, notes and speeches from 1950-1963, of which some
can be considered racist. Renounced these points of view in his last
year.

marijuana
(n) Dried leaves and flowering tops of the pistillate hemp plant that
are smoked in cigarettes for their intoxicating effect. Other reported
words for it are: bammer, bomb, brown, bud, buddha, cheeba,
chronic, dank, doubage, ganja, grass, green, groove weed, hash, herb,
Indo, iszm, Lebanon, Mary Jane (mj), pot, sess, shake, shit, skunk,
stress, tabacci, Thai, wacky and weed.

mark
(n) A sucker, a target for gaffling and crime. "You mark-ass busta,
you betta raise up" -- Dr Dre (Dre)

MC
(n) Probably Jamaican, in which case it comes from the TV game shows,
Master of Ceremonies (although the term existed before TV). Could
also stand for Microphone Controller, Mic Checka. "The term,
MC, stand for Master of Ceremonies" --- A Tribe Called Quest
(Midnight Marauders).

medina
1) (n) Said to be an aphrodisiac. "Funky col' medina" -- Tone
Loc (Funky cold medina [1989])
2) (n) Nickname for Brooklyn.

megablast
(n) Large breath of crack. "Oh please, oh please, oh please, just
gimme just one more blast" -- Public Enemy (Megablast).

MLK
(n) Martin Luther King, civil rights leader, shot april 4th, 1968.
He represented the largely rural South.

money
(n) See brother, nigga.

motherfucker
(n) Respectless person with no attitude.

move on
(v) To mess with. "You move on the Ice and you're going to sleep"
-- Ice T (Ziplock).

MPV
(n) The Mazda Multi Purpose Vehicle, favored by groups because of
their large seating and cargo capacity. "Dedicated to MPV's, phat"
-- Wu-Tang Clan (Can it be all so simple [??]).


-- N --

nappy dugout
(n) The dugout is the dug-in bench at the side of a baseball field
where players wait until they are up to play. Nappy comes from
"taking a nap", sleeping. So, the nappy dugout is a hole where
you stick something when you're sleeping. To be short, a vagina.
"Giving up the nappy dugout" -- Ice Cube (Giving up the nappy
dugout [??]).

nappy head
(n) A person who is not yet fully awake. "Keep your heads nappy"
-- Fugees (Nappy Heads [1994]).

nathan
(adj) Nothing; nobody. "(girls) they don't get nathan but
penetration" -- ??? (???).

newjack
(adj) New. When referring to an idividual, implies that he hasn't
proven himself. "He was a newjack hustler" -- Ice-T (Newjack
hustler [??]).

nigga
(n) Curseword used originally by white people, taken over by black
people as a name to show their proudness, and take off the edge;
positive: "my nigga": my friend. I don't want to be called
yo nigga" -- Public Enemy (Yo nigga).

nina
1) (n) [neenyah] Spanish for girl of 5 years or less. Chica is a
teenage girl.
2) (n) [neenah] 9mm. Mixture of correct Spanish pronounciation of the i
and NYC or Southern dialect ponounciation of the final -er as -ah of the
word "niner". My nina -- Dr. Dre (The Chronic).

nino
(n) Spanish term for godfather, as in Nino Brown.From the movie
"The Godfather". Also Nino Brown in New Jack City.

NOI
(n) Nation Of Islam. "Elijah is alive, Louis Farrakhan, NOI" --
Ice Cube (Enemy [1993]).

nucker
(n) A stupid person. Possible a combination of Numb Skull/Fucker,
or maybe derived from knuckle head.
"You call your nigger nucker" -- Digital Underground
(if it wasn't for the rapping).

nuttin'
(n) Nothing. "Nine times outta ten, she's givin' up nuttin'"
-- N.W.A. (???)

Nyquil
(n) Cold medicine that basically puts you to sleep, so you won't
stay up all night coughing. "Knock ya out like Nyquil" --
Ice Cube(?)

-- O --

O.E.
(n) Short for Old English, a kind of malt liquor. "Coolin' on the
corner with a bottle of O.E." -- Beastie Boys (Time to get ill
[1986]).

O.G.
1) (n) Original gangster, which you are considered to be when you have
killed someone. "O.G. Original Gangster" -- Ice T. (Original
Gangster).
2) (adj) True; original.
3) (n) Someone who is true to the game, who never sold out.

O'Malley
(n) An Irish name, pointing to the traditionally strong represented
Irish in the LAPD. "Gonna put a slug in captain O'Malley"
-- Cypress Hill (We ain't goin' out like that).

one-time
(n) Police officer. "One-time tried to come in my home..."
-- Cypress Hill (How could I just kill a man). The lyrics don't
indicate that he is talking about a cop at all, just some punk who
broke into his house and tried to steal his gun.

oowop
(n) Two Philly blunts rolled together. From Nas (One Love [1994]).

O.P.P.
1) (n) Other people's pussy.
2) (n) Other people's penis.
3) (n) Other people's property.

oreo
(n) Black person who wants to be white. An oreo is a type of cookie
black on the outside with white cream filling inside. "A message to
the oreo cookie" -- Ice Cube (Turn off the radio [1990])

other level
(n) A higher degree of consciousness satisfaction; beyond the average.
"Grip it on that other level" -- Geto Boys (On that other
level [1992]).

ox piece
(n) Home-made type of gun that people make in the prisons.
"I heared you blew a nigga with an ox for the phone piece"
-- Nas (One love)

-- P --

P
1) (n) Partner, friend.
2) (n) Pussy. "The P is free" -- BDP (The P is free)

papes/papers
(n) Money. "...and we're getting papers, three months later we run
our own caper" -- Boogie Down Productions (Love's gonna getcha).

parlaying
(v) West coast slang for partying or having a good time.

Pat Duke
(n) Patty Duke, an old sitcom television show. "On the stoop doing
the Pat Duke" -- Ol' Dirty Bastard (Don't you know [1994]).

P-Dog
(n) Paris. "P-Dog comin' up, I'm staying low" -- Paris (The
devil made me do it).

P-funk
(n) Music of the George Clinton time period. Examples: Parliament,
Funkadelic.

peace
1) (n) That's what rap is all about for all you mentally challenged.
2) (interj) Farewell bidding.

P.E.
(n) Public Enemy.

peeling
(n) What comes off when peeling a cap. "The bigger the cap,
the bigger the peelin'" -- Ice Cube (Steady mobbin' [1991])
Note that Cube is paraphrasing a Parliament line, where GC says
"The bigger the headache, the bigger the pill", but the way he
says it, "pill" comes out sounding like peel.

peeling caps
(v) Killing someone by shooting him, shots to the head often
disfigure it in such a way that the cranium is "peeled back".
"One wrong move and your cap's peeled" -- Ice T. (O.G.
original gangster).

peep
(v) Check this out (as in peep this).

peeps
(n) People. "To all my peeps who didn't make it" -- Nas
(The world is yours [1994]).

pen
(n) Penitentiary, in other words jail.

Penelope
(n) Police -- E-40 (???).

phat
1) (adj) Great, addictive.
2) (adj) If a girl was phat, she had Plenty o' Hips And Thighs,
in other words PHysically ATtractive; old slang. Think 60's or
early 70's here.

phat pocket
(n) A person who has a lot of money

pie
(n) Vagina.

piece
1) (n) A firearm.
2) (n) A work of graffiti art (short for masterpiece).

pig
(n) Police officer. "pig" as a synonym for policeman
has been around for about two hundred years (according to
"Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional
English"). It did, however, disappear in the late nineteenth
century (or, as the dictionary says "go underground" though
I'm not sure what they mean by that) and reappear in common usage
around 1960. I know that during Prohibition speakeasies who had
bribed the local police to not bother them were called "blind
pigs" (The Blind Pig bar here in Ann Arbor actually used to be
such a place). I suspect that the term has been used to mean any
kind of unpleasant person since humans started domesticating
the things....

play
(v) To go along with. "I don't think so. Homey don't play that"
-- Homey the Clown in "In Living Colour".

play ball
(v) To play basketball. "Got a pair that I wear when I'm playin'
ball" -- RUN-DMC (My Adidas).

player
1) (n) Someone who is "true to the game", ie. someone who never sold
out. "To Chuck, Flava and Griff... You're true players" -- Ice-T
(M.V.P.'s).
2) (n) A kind of playboy, so a player is good at picking up honeys.
3) (n) "Players" is a black-oriented adult men's magazine.

player hater
(n) One who despises or speaks ill of another because of their stature
or ability.

play yourself
(v) To reveal a weakness, as in poker when you played your cards
too early. "No friends 'cause you dissed 'em too, no money,
no crew, you're through. You played yourself" -- Ice T. (You played
yourself)

PO
1) (n) Police officer.
2) (adj) Piece out.
3) (v) Pissed off, angry.

point blank
1) (adj) At close range.
2) (adj) Right now, right here, in your face. Used when someone is
trying to prove a point or something.

po-po
(n) The Police.

posse
(n) A group of followers or fans. This doesn't necessarily mean a
gang. "They got too, too, too much posse" -- Public Enemy
(Too much posse)

pot
(n) See marijuana. "Must have been drinking,
'cause this ain't pot" -- Cypress Hill and Sonic Youth (Mary Jane).

power U
(n) Vagina. "I got the good power U" -- Method Man & Mary J. Blige
(You're all I need [1994]).

primo
(n) A first-class joint. See marijuana.

project gold
(n) Huge gold hoop earrings.

props
(n) An abbreviation of "propers" or proper respects. A show
sits on physical and non-physical props. At an award ceremony the
winner gives props: "And I would like to thank...".

P.S.K.
(n) Park Side Killers, Philadelphia gang of which Schoolly D. used to
be a member. "P.S.K., we're makin' that green" -- Schoolly D.
(P.S.K. (what does it mean?)).

psych
1) (n) Dupe. Check out 70's basketball commentary. Dr. J and
especially Nate Archibald used to do dribbling moves to psych out
opponents. Psych as in psychological head trips they threw.
2) (interj) I duped you.

puff la
(v) To smoke marijuana. "La" is short for lazy, or weed.

pump
(n) Pump of a pump-action shotgun "Sawed off shotgun, hand
on the pump" -- Cypress Hill (Hand on the pump)

punanee
1) (n) Vagina.
2) (n) Sex, this is used more commonly.

punk
(n) A stupid, usually irritating person.

pussy
(n) Vagina.

-- R --

rab
(n) Short for rabbi. "Told a rab get off the rag" -- Public Enemy
(Welcome to the Terrordome[1991])

raw
(adj) Showing the pure essence of pure hip hop.

real McCoy
(n) The orignal, not a fake. One real McCoy was a late 19th century
boxer who fought under the name Kid McCoy and was so good that other
fighters adopted the name, whereupon he had to bill himself as
"the real McCoy". Or, it was Scotch whisky, made by A. & M.
MacKay of Glasgow. In the UK the saying is "the real MacKay".
Another idea is that the expression came from heroin originating
from Macao (Dictionary of Cliches, pg.215). Yet another explanation
is the American scientist Eligah McCoy, who had several inventions
well known throughout the African American community in America. If
you owned anything during those days, you wanted it to be "the real
McCoy".

really doe
(interj) Wrong spelling of "Really though", used to emphasize a
point. Ice Cube (Really doe).
reck
(n) To accomplish something.

reefer
(n) See marijuana. (1920s-1960s) Marijuana
wrapped in cigarette paper, may be a variant of Mexican "grefa"
(Juba to Jive, pg. 380).

represent
(v) New big hip-hop word. Means just what you think it means.
"Represent!" -- NAS (Represent[1994])

rip
(v) Old street slang - to steal, stolen, to take agressively.

rock
1) (n) Crack.
2) (v) To have sexual intercourse.
3) (n) Biblical. Alcatraz, Jamaica...

rock star
(n) Crack addict

roll
To hang with a given person/crowd. "I'm rollin' with the new
jack crew" -- Ice-T (Newjack hustler [1991]).

roll up
1) (v) To gang up on a given person.
2) (v) arriving on a scene.

R.T.D.
Rough, tough and dangerous: a bus that travels in the ghetto is called
R.T.D. because people are getting robbed or mugged on a regular basis.

rush
1) (v) Bogard, physically assault.
2) (v) After taking drugs , one often gets a rush

-- S --

SA
(n) Wrong spelling of the Mexican word ese, which means dude.
"SA's cool, don't fuck with them boys" - Ice Cube (Really Doe).

sagging deuce
(n) A lowered Cadillac car.

school
(n) A specific era in hiphop history. There have been many discussions
about the difference between the "Old School" and the New
School". One accepted view was put to words in alt.rap by Charles
L. Isbell:

All of time can be divided pretty easily this way:

- Everything before "Run DMC" (Run DMC)
- Everything before "It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back"
(Public Enemy)

It gets harder after that, but *maybe* you'd have to label
parallel movements with stuff like:

- Everything before "Straight Outta Compton" (NWA) and Amerikkka's
Most Wanted" (Ice Cube) for the West Coast Gangsta Movement
- Everything before "3 Feet High And Rising" (De La Soul) and Low End
Theory" (A Tribe Called Quest) for the Jazz/Bohemian Movement

Others seem to think we're about to enter the Everything
before "93 'Til Infinity" (Souls of Mischief) era for the
Ascendency of Hieroglyphics, but I'll reserve judgement on
that.

There are also several dark moments: MC Hammer ushered in
the HipPop Era and Vanilla "No I really used to be rich;
May I take your order?" Ice ushered in something
unspeakable (Snow, if nothing else).

Hmmmmm, here's a way to pass the time: what are the key
moments/movements and what albums/artists best represent
them? How have they influenced the direction of rap?
Making no value judgements, I'd have to say that the four
most influential hiphop moments/movements are the ones I
listed above and for obvious reasons.

Scooby Doo
1) (n) The cartoon character.
2) (n) A blunt. "Scooby Doo, where the fuck are you?" --
Cypress Hill (???).
3) The B-side on Lick a Shot (US).

scope
1) (v) Look at something. "Scope that bitch"
2) (v) Stare down someone.

scrap a lick
(v) As in "can't scrap a lick", meaning, can't put up a fight,
has a poor fighting ability. From Dr. Dre (Fuck wit Dre day).

screw
(v) To play a hip-hop record at a slower speed, said to accentuate
the bass and facilitate mixes with ballads. Also screw mixes, get my
screw on. Originated in the late 80's, when Fresh Records released
12" singles at 45 rpm. Many DJ's missed the speed designation and
mistakenly played it at the slower 33 rpm speed. Many listeners began
to intentionally request those records (esp. Mantronix's "Fresh is
the Word") at the slow speed. Now done with CD players with
variable pitch (or vinyl).

sell out
(n) Doing something purely for the financial gain, Selling your soul.
"Should Ice Cube sell out? You say hell no!" -- Ice Cube
(When will they shoot? [??]).

sense
(n) An abbreviation of the word "sinsemellia", which is a form o
marijuana that has no seeds, because it
is isolated from male pollen during te blooming process. Instead
of making seeds, the marijuana plant makes more THC, hence this
"sense" is more potent, and generally better than standard
ganja.

set
1) (n) A denomination of one of the larger gangs, a set is not
necessarily friendly with other sets in the same gang.
"Baby girl asked me what set am I claiming" - Sir MixaLot
(Rapper's Reputation)
2) (n) The group of songs in a concert by a specific performer.

set tripping
(v) Killing someone in your own gang, but who is in a different set.
i.e. a different street but in the same gang.

shife
(adj) See mark or newjack. A rookie or one who
purports to be more than he is. "And he knew he was shife, he knew
he was hype" -- Bust Down (Nasty bitch (intro) [1993]).

shimmy
(n) booty. "Shimmy shimmy ya!" - Ol' Dirty Bastard (Shimmy shimmy ya [1995]).

sholda than show
Surer than sure.

shookone
(n) Individual who acts like he is tough, but when things get hectic
or tense, he gets scared and acts like the punk he really is. They
have been shook up by the reality and are labeled shookones.

shorty
1) (n) Little person.
2) (n) Female, like baby or honey. "I got myself a shorty, I got
myself a forty" -- Wu-Tang Clan (Method Man).

shotty
(n) Shotgun.

show and prove
(v) Demonstrate.

sike
See psych.

sister
(n) Woman of the same group; friend.

skirt
(n) A female.

skitzing
(v) Acting stupid, always assuming something.

skunk
(n) See marijuana.

skeezer
(n) See freak. "If you wanna know what a skeezer is, it's a girl
who's on my jock cause I'm in showbiz" -- LL Cool J. (???).

skill
(n) General ability; ability on the microphone.

skins
1) (n) The wall of the vagina. "She likes to bend over and then
she spreads the skins" -- Brand Nubian (Slow down [1990]).
2) (n) Condom.

slab
(n) The ground; to lower a car to the slab: to lower down.
"I'm breaking em down to the slab" -- Rage (The chronic).

slamming
1) (adj) Dynamic.
2) (adj) Something really good/attractive. "And may I say, may I
say, that, that outfit you got on is slammin'" -- L.L. Cool J
(MrGoodbar).

slang
(v) The act of selling drugs.

slanted-back
(n) A Caddillac Seville, because of the slanted trunk of the earlier
models.

slap skins
1) (v) Slapping hands together.
2) (v) Having sex. Slapping skins, hitting skins, getting skins, etc.
Skins being the skin of the opposite sex.

sleep [on]
(v) Ignore.

slipping
1) (adj) On the downward trend. "Cause you're slipping!"
-- Boogie Down Productions (You're slipping).
2) (v) Not paying attention "Yeah I caught that fool slippin' and
I smoked him" -- ??

slow your roll
(interj) Slow down whatever you are doing. "Slow ya roll like your
leg was broken" -- Kurupt (For my niggaz and my bitches [1993]).

smashing
(v) See slapping skins.

smoke
(v) Killing someone. "Right then, I knew I had to smoke his ass"
-- N.W.A. (Gangsta gangsta).

snap
(n) a form of verbal jestering. Also French and English speaking
Africans especially in Dakar and Paris say 'oh snap' in two contexts.
1) 'oh snap' if you get bagged on (snapped on) and 2) meaning
'oh shit' as in 'I didn't know' or 'I forgot something'.

sneakers
(n) Sportswear shoes. "I wear my sneakers but I'm not a sneak"
-- RUN-DMC (My Adidas).

SP-12
(n) The E-MU SP-12 (or SP-1200), a high-end sampling drum machine for
rap music production. These pieces of equipment came out around 1985
and 87 respectively. The SP-12 did not have an internal disk drive,
but EMU saw the problems since it only worked with a Commodore
diskdrive. So they made the next model with an internal drive.
Incidentally Ced-Gee of Ultra-Magnetics was the first person in
hip-hop to use this machine which has become one of the most sought
after pieces of equipment to date. So much that EMU has reissued the
SP-1200. "Just me, a mic, and an SP-12" -- Young MC (Album
Filler).

spliff
(n) See marijuana. Jamaican marijuana cigarette.

spray
(v) Firing a round of bullets. "Pulled out the uzi, cruised by and
sprayed him" -- Ice Cube (Gangsta's Fairytale).

squab
(n) Shortened form of "to squabble"; to fight, physicallly
confront. "Quick to squab, always down for the job" -- E-40
featuring Suga T (Sprinkle me [??]).

squeeze the trigger
(v) To shoot a gun. "Yo homeboy,squeeze the trigger!" -- Ice T.
(squeeze the trigger) [198?]

stake
(v) Making money, often used in conjunction with paper, i.e.
"stakin' paper".

steel
(n) Pistol. "Finger on the trigger with my hand upon the steel"
--Cypress Hill (Hand on the pump)

stilo
(n) Pronounced as "steelo", is a term that like a lot of other
hip-hop terms originated in New York City. It is Spanish, and it means
style.

step off
(v) Back away from a confrontation.

step to
(v) Engage a confrontation. "So don't step to me 'cause you boys
'll get wacked" -- Ice-T (Power).

step up
(v) See step to.

stupid
1) (adj) Creative.
2) (adv) Very. "Evil's got the funky beat, a stupid dope loop"
-- Ice-T (Fried chicken [1991]).

strapped
1) (adj) Strapped in: armed.
2) (adj) Rich.

stunt
1) (n) Sexual act.
2) (n) A person who performs stunts.
3) (n) To pull a stunt, to try something difficult.

sucka
(n) person easily duped.

Swayze
(n) I'm out of here, I'm ghost. From the movie "Ghost" which
features the actor Patrick Swayze.

sweat
1) (vt) over-patronize.
2) (v) Worry, as in "don't sweat it".
3) (v) Harrass or scrutinize. "There's one or two narcs in the area
that's sweatin' me" -- Digital Underground (Sex packets).

swing
(n) To have sexual intercourse (Grand Puba).

swing low
(n) To have oral sex (Kool Moe Dee).

switch
(n) Your average toggle switch. Low-riding drivers use them to
control the hydrolics or any other electrical device in their
cars. "Rollin' in my fo' with sixteen switches"
Dr. Dre -- (Let Me Ride).

-- T --

tag
1) (n) A persons graffiti nickname.
2) (v) The act of writing graffiti on an object (tagging up).

Tanqueray
(n) A brand of distilled English Gin, used to make cocktail drinks. It
was recently popularized by several rap and also by a very creative
advertising campaign in the US, featuring and elderly white man named
Mr. Jenkins: "Mr. Jenkins doesn't understand all the Hip-hop lyrics
at his friend's record release party, but he understands gin and juice
very clearly." is the line that was used. "My homey Dr. Dre came
through with a gang of Tanqueray" -- Snoop Doggy Dogg (Gin and
Juice [??]).

tastey
(n) A fly honey.

tax
1) (vt) Beat up or down physically.
2) (v) to take away something after you kick a sucka's ass."and Ima
tax that ass like the government" -- BDK (Pimpin ain't easy).

thang
(n) Thing; "your own thang": your own way.

thai stick
(n) See marijuana.

three-wheel motion
(n) Ride upon three wheels with a low rider car. You can see it in
videos for "Ain't nuthin but a G thang" and Today was a
good day". One of the back corners of the car is really close
to the ground and the opposite corner is picked up off the road.

throw-up
1) (n) A non-complex piece of graffiti usually involving only
two colors.
2) (n) To tag your graffiti on something ("Watch my back as I
throw up this tag").

tical
1) (n) Emphasis, like an exclamation point at the end of a sentence.
"Let's go uptown and hit the spot kid, tical"
2) (n) See marijuana. "Smoke a bag of tical" -- Method Man (???).

tight
(adj) A state of mind, feeling really good at the moment. Straight,
legitimate, all-good.

tip
1) (n) Penis (Get off my tip).
2) (n) Q-Tip from a Tribe Called Quest
3) (n) The end, the fullest. "To the tip!" -- Schoolly D.
(Mr. Big Dick).

Tipper Gore
Tipper has become a synonym for narrowmindedness. She had to do with
the committee that decides which CD's get the "Parental advisory"
stickers. "You gotta be high to believe that you can change the
world with a sticker on a record sleeve" -- Bodycount (Freedom
of speech [1991]).

toy
1) (n) A poor or beginner graffiti artist.
2) (v) To purposefully write over another graffiti artists work
(toy someone out).
3) (n) A sucker.
4) (n) Short for Trouble On Your System.

trap
(v) to sell drugs.

trill
(adj) Rough, street-wise person; "Trill ass nigga"
-- Underground Kingz (The Southern way [1992], also on Too hard to
swallow [1994]).

tripping
1) (v) Literally making a misstep, figuratively doing something
wrong.
2) (v) Responding to the effects of narcotics.
3) (v) Freak for any reason. "Don't start tripping, or we'll go
toe to toe" -- ??

truck jewelry
(n) big gold jewelry.

TTP
Tree Top Piru, a notorious Compton Blood set, associated with DJ Quik
(addressed to MC Eiht) "Westside Trees sprayin' all tha fleas"
-- DJ Quik (Dollaz+Sense [1995]).

twenty sack
(n) An eight of an ounce of marijuana. See
marijuana.


-- U --

uncle L.
(n) L.L. Cool J. "Like uncle L. said, I'm rippin' up shows"
-- Public Enemy (Shut 'em down).

uncle tom
(n) A black man who wants to be white. From the book Uncle Tom's
Cabin.

USG
(n) United States Ghettos (Onyx).

uzi
(n) Israeli semi-automatic gun. "Hold it, rock! Miuzi weighs a
ton" -- Public Enemy (Miuzi weighs a ton).

-- V --

vato
(n) East LA hispanic slang, meaning homeboy. "Vato, cholo, call us
what you will" -- Kid Frost (La Raza [1990]).

vexed
(v) Very angry.

vmb
(n) Video Music Box, a NYC hip-hop video music show.

-- W --

wack
1) (adj) Negative: crazy or weird. Mostly this is meant
2) (adj) Positive: extremely good.
3) (v) To kill someone. "So don't step to me 'cause you boys'll get
wacked" -- Ice-T (Power).

watching Andy Griffith
(v) refers to masturbating. Martin Lawrence (You so crazy).

wax
1) (n) Record album(s). "And we put it on wax, it's the new
style" -- Beastie Boys (The New Style [1986]).
2) (v) Synonym to tax as in "wax his ass" from the black popular
"mop up the floor with your ass".
3) (adj) Describing refinement as in 'waxed, buffed and simonized'
from the Mister Magic radio show.

wet
1) (v) Kill someone. As in wet from blood when someone is sprayed.
"Now I gotta wetcha" -- Ice Cube (I'm gonna wetcha)
2) (v) Excite a female.

WHBI-FM (105.9)
(n) The first radio station in New York that had a hip-hop show
(Mr. Magic, the Awesome Two, Afrika Izlam). The station later
changed its call letters to WNWK-FM.

wheels of steel
(n) Turntables. "My DJ Code Money on the wheels of steel"
-- Schoolly D. (Gucci time).

who ride
1) (v) To get buckwild. "The darkside where the real G's
who ride" -- Macadoshish from Thug Life (Don't get twisted [1994])
2) (n) The who ride is the act of getting wild and crazy, like a riot
or an assassination, or any wild activity.

wigga
(n) A white man who wants to be black, from "wannabe nigga".

wilding
(adj) Acting recklessly.

wild thing
(n) Sexual intercourse. "Hey you two, I was once like you and I
loved to do the wild thing" -- Tone Loc (Wild thing).

willy
(n) Penis.

word
(n) Biblical (John1:1). "logos": truth.

word is bond
(interj) Saying this means that what you are saying is absolutely
correct, and you do not have to put up money to prove it, you just
say it. "Cause I'm frontin' in my ride, and my word is bond"
-- LL Cool J (The boomin' system [1990]).

wreck
(n) To accomplish something.

-- Y --

y'all
(n) Short for "you all". Also sometimes used for you,
singular.

yo
(interj) the shout that gets the most attention.


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email : nie...@sci.kun.nl
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