Totally Unofficial Rap-Dictionary (Bi-monthly Posting)
Niels Janssen
----------- The Totally Unofficial Rap Dictionary -----------
This Rap Dictionary is not intended to show the only correct spelling
of words; slang is mostly a spoken language an noone exactly 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.
(n) - noun
(v) - verb
(adj) - adjective
5 % comes from W.E.B DuBois, He believed that African Americans should
try to really educate the top 5% to lead them out of subjugation.
1555 (n) The year the first slaveships arrived in America. "Sayin' 1555
how I'm livin'" -- Public Enemy (Can't truss it).
187 (n) Police-code for homicide. "187" -- Dr. Dre (The Chronic).
22 (n) .22 calibre gun. "22 automatic on my person" -- Beastie Boys (???)
211 (n) the police code for armed robbery.
38 (n) 38 pistol. Ice Cube uses the term "Three eight" in "Summer
Vacation".
40 (n) A 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor. "Use to drink every day,
straight 40's to the head" -- Ice-T. (Ed).
411 (n) Information, from the US phone number for information.
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 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).
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. "Time to get busy at
7-Eleven" -- 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) 2 Ounces of cocaine.
3) (n) On to it.(ie: on the 8-ball , up with the play).
9, 9mm (n) 9 mm gun. "My nine is easy to load" -- L.L. Cool J.
(Mama said knock you out)
911 (n) The US phone number for emergencies. "Now I dialed 911 a long
time ago" -- Public Enemy (911 is a joke).
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).
a (v) Am going to. "I'm a do it like this"
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!!!).
AK/AK-47
(n) Assault rifle of Russian origin, nowadays produced in China.
"My AK-47 is the tool" -- Da Lench Mob (Freedom got an AK)
all that
(adj) in possession of all good qualities.
alpine (n) Stereo.
am (n) the morning, as in A.M. "steppin' to the am" -- 3rd Bass
(derelicts of dialect).
around the way
(n) From the neighbourhood. "From around the way" -- Beastie Boys
(No sleep till Brooklyn).
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
Phrase to seek attention, compare "Check this out".
beam me up, Scotty
(v) give me crack
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).
bird (n) Kilo. "a bird in the hand" -- Ice Cube (???).
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)
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
blunt (n) Marijuana cigarette, herb stuffed cigar, generally phillies.
blunted (v) Under influence of a blunt.
bone 1) (v) To have sexual intercourse.
2) (n) One dollar.
3) (n) Core, soul. "I'm a rock hard trooper to the bone" Public Enemy --
(Louder Than A Bomb)
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
bust this (v) pay attention.
busta (n) Fake person, weak individual. "Busta ass nigga talkin' bullshit"
-- Dr. Dre (???).
butt 1) (n) Bottom.
2) (adj) Not good, lacking.
cap 1) (n) Bullet.
2) (n) Cranium, top of the skull. "Blood's on my gear, from caps I've
peeled" -- Ice-T. (Mic contract).
-cha You. "I'm comin' to getcha" -- Ice Cube (I'm gonna wetcha)
cheever (n) Marijuana. Might be spelled "cheeba".
chill 1) (n) Relax. "Why don't you just chill" -- L.L. Cool J. (Eat em up
L chill).
2) (adj) Mellow.
chronic (n) Incredibly potent marijuana. "The Chronic" -- Dr. Dre.
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).
clock (v) To stay aware of what happens around you.
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)
cold (adj) intensely.
click (n) the West Coast equivalent of "crew".
clockin (adj) disturbed.
compton City in So. Ca. just souf of Los Anjulit.High crime area.
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.
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 (???).
crazy (adj) Besides meaning insane or extremely daring, it is kind of
synonymous with mad.
cruise (v) Driving around, preferably showing off your car.
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.
cypher (n) A circle of brothers dropping science, showing and proving.
dap (n) Sort of high-five type of handshake. "Gimme a dap, I'll
give you one back" -- Ice T. (Ziplock)
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.
def jam (n) a great record.
deuce (n) Two. "About to get loose with the deuce deuce" -- Ice Cube
(Gangsta fairytale II).
devil (n) an enemy, usually white people."the devil made me do it" -- Paris
(the devil made me do it) [??].
dick (n) penis.
dime (v) Fink, rat.
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.
DL (n) Covert, secret, "hush hush", from "on the 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 have sex the doggy way.
3) (p) a form of addressing "whatup dog" not meant to be offensive
4) (n) a friend, "that's my Dog"
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).
dukey robe (n) fat gold chain.
dustin (adj) too high or too drunk.
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.
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).
Elijah Muhammed
(n) Leader of black muslim movement Nation of Islam. "Read the book
how to eat to live, from Elijah Muhammed, is a brown paperback" --
Boogie Down Productions (Beef)
fag (n) Homosexual man. "...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" -- ??? (???)
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 (???).
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.
flay (v) "Flay on the mix", serious old school mixing and scratching.
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-oz. bottle of Olde English 800 malt liquor.
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 can't
wait to get to the free world" -- Convicts (???)
fresh 1) (adj) New
2) (adj) Okay
front (v) Pretend to be that which you are not; act tough.
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.
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".
gaffle (n) To harass. Especially being "gaffled" by the police.
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.
gangs Group of organised criminals.The main gangs in Nothern California
are:
1. Bloods
2. Norte
3. Surenos
4. Crips
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.
gat (n) Gun, from Gatling, inventor of an early machine gun.
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.
ghetto bird
(n) Helicopter."punk ass ghetto bird"-- 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 keramic, 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"
-- HOP (Shamrocks and Shenanigans).
grip 1) (n) Ability on the microphone.
2) (n) money."where's my grip nigga" -- ??
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.
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.).
2) sell out.
homeboy (n) Close friend.
homey (n) See homeboy. "But I wish he could have said it to my dead homey"
-- Ice Cube (Dead Homiez).
honey (n) Person, generally attractive.
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)
hoodrat (n) female, generally sexually promiscuous, and not upwardly mobile
"Homies in the hood labeled her as a hoodrat" -- Domino (ghetto jam)
hooptie (n) Old car in bad shape.
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 Seale.
Mentioned in a few PE songs.
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)
2) (v) on ice - at the morgue.
ill 1) (v) To act weird, as in eating dogfood. "You be illin'" -- RUN-DMC
(You be illin').
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).
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).
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.
James Brown (n) the funkiest and most sampled man alive.
jack (v) To rob someone face to face.
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)
jimbrowsky
(n) See jimmy.
jimmy (n) Penis. "The J, the I, the M, the M, the Y, the J, the I, the M,
it's jimmy" -- Boogie Down Productions (Jimmy)
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 & tell yo bitch to come here".
2) (v) To have sexual intercourse.
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).
4) respect.
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).
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).
khaki Hip-hop clothing.
kill (n) Marijuana. "Crack another 40, smoke some kill" -- Schoolly D.
(Smoke some kill).
[kitty] cat
(n) Vagina.
knocka (n) a pest.
knocking boots
(v) To have sexual intercourse, boots comes from booty.
knuckle up
(v) Prepare to fight.
L (n) another name for blunt.
lamp (v) Hanging out next to a streetlamp. "I'm on the street, cold
lampin'" -- Public Enemy (Cold lampin' with Flavor).
lampin (v) relaxin 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).
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)
lina (n) A line of crank or cola.
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."Dont 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".
Long Beach
(n) City souf of Compton (Rollin' froo da Eass Side souf of
Compton, seez a big ass, and I sez "wort", took a look
at da fays, and da bitch was to da curb!)
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 systems
Louies (n) Louis Vuitton gear.
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.
mad (adj) Extremely, very, a large quantity. "His jeep was pumpin' mad
bass" -- ??? (???).
Malcolm (n) Malcolm X, civil rights activist leader, killed in 1965 at the
age of 39. 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, cest, cheeba,
chronic, dank, doubage, ganja, grass, green, groove weed, hash, herb,
Indo, Lebanon, Mary Jane (mj), pot, shake, shit, skunk, stress,
tabacci, Thai, wacky and weed.
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.
medina 1) (n) Said to be an aphrodisiac. "Funky col' medina" -- Tone Loc
(???).
2) (n) Nickname for Brooklyn.
megablast (n) large breath of crack.
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 fuck with."you move on the Ice and you're going to sleep"
-- Ice T (Ziplock).
nathan (adj) Nothing; nobody.(?)
newjack (adj) New. When referring to an idividual, implies that he hasn't
proven himself.
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".
NOI (n) Nation Of Islam
nuttin' (n) Nothing. "Nine times outta ten, she's givin' up nuttin'" -- N.W.A.
(???)
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.
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. Therefore the (?).
O.P.P. 1) (n) Other people's pussy.
2) (n) Other people's penis.
3) (n) Other people's property.
other level
(n) A higher degree of consciousnessl satisfaction; beyond the average.
"Grip it on that other level" -- Geto Boys (???)
P (n) Partner, friend.
papes/papers
(n) Money. "...and we're getting papers, three months later we run our
own caper" -- KRS One (Love's gonna getcha).
P-Dog (n) Paris. "P-Dog comin' up, I'm staying low" -- Paris (The devil made
me do it).
peace (n) that's what rap is all about for all you mentally challenged.
P.E. (n) Public Enemy.
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)
pen (n) Penitentiary, in other words jail.
phat (adj) Great, addictive.
phat pocket
(n) A person who has a lot of money
pie (n) Vagina.
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. "Homey don't play that" -- In Living Colour.
play ball
(v) To play basketball. "Got a pair that I wear when I'm playin'
ball" -- RUN-DMC (My Adidas).
play someone
(v) To fool someone. "No friends 'cause you dissed 'em too, no money,
no crew, you're through. You played yourself" -- Ice T. (You played
yourself)
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.
pop (n) popular.("Must have been dreaming 'cause this aint pop" -- Cypress Hill)
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)
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?)).
pump (n) Pump of a pump-action shotgun "Sawed off shotgun, hand
on the pump" -- Cypress Hill (Hand on the pump)
punanee (n) Japanese for vagina.
punk (n) a stupid, usually irritating person.
pussy (n) vagina.
rab (n) short for rabbi."Told a Rab get off the rag" -- Public Enemy (Wel
come to the Terrordome) [1991]
raw (adj) showing the pure essence of pure hip hop.
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
rush 1) (v) Bogard, physically assault.
2) (v) After taking drugs , one often gets a rush
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.
sell out
(n) Doing something purely for the financial gain, Selling your soul.
"Should Ice Cube sell out? You say hell no!" -- Ice Cube (???).
show and prove
(v) Demonstrate.
sike 1) (n) dupe
2) (interj) i duped you.
sister (n) Woman of the same group; friend.
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.
slab, the 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).
slammin (adj) dynamic.
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.
slippin 1) (adj) on the downward trend.
2) (v) not paying attention "yeah I caught that fool slippin and
I smoked him" -- ??
smoke (v) Killing someone.
snap (n) a form of verbal jestering.
sneakers
(n) Sportswear shoes. "I wear my sneakers but I'm not a sneak" --
RUN-DMC (My Adidas).
spliff (n) Jamaican marijuana cigarette.
spray (v) Firing a round of bullets. "Pulled out the uzi, cruised by and
sprayed him" -- Ice Cube (Gangsta's Fairytale).
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)
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.
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 (vt) over-patronize.
tax (vt) beat up or down physically.
thang (n) Thing; "your own thang": your own way.
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.
tight (adj) A state of mind, feeling really good at the moment.
trill (adj) Rough, street-wise person; "Trill ass nigga" -- Underground
Kingz (???).
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.
uncle L.
(n) L.L. Cool J. "Like uncle L. said, I'm rippin' up shows" -- Public
Enemy (???).
uzi (n) Israeli semi-automatic gun. "Hold it, rock! Miuzi weighs a ton" --
Public Enemy (Miuzi weighs a ton).
wack 1) (adj) Negative: crazy or weird.
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).
wax (n) Record album(s). "And we put it on wax, it's the new style" --
Beastie Boys (The New Style).
wet (v) Kill someone. As in wet from blood when someone is sprayed.
"Now I gotta wetcha" -- Ice Cube (I'm gonna wetcha)
wildin (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).
word (n) Biblical (John1:1). "logos": truth.
y'all (n) Short for "you all". Also sometimes used for "you", singular.
yo (interj) the shout that gets the most attention.
Some rap geography:
Al B Square Mall
Mall in Brooklyn - Bizmarkie
Bronx
New York district.
Bay Plaza
Movie theatre in the Bronx - Nice and Smooth.
Compton
Los Angeles district. This is where the gangsta style was born.
Farmers Boulevard
(New York) Home of L.L. Cool J.
Felt Forum
New York boxing arena, many prominent New York City boxers
have boxed there.
Medina
Second most holy city of Islam; Nickname for Brooklyn.
Moneyearnin' Mount Vernon
Shabazz, 4th ave, 3rd street. One of the worst corners in
Mount Vernon - hood hang out, dealers, addicts and Shabazz-
Betty Shabazz ownes a very small fast food place. Heavy D.,
Pete Rock and CL Smooth - 77 hillside straight up columbus hill
make a left in Mount Vernon.
Philly
Philadelphia.
Queens
New York district. RUN-DMC are often referred to as the Kings
from Queens.
South Central
Los Angeles area. A very important place for gangsta rap.
Origin of a lot of rappers.
Union Square
Kid n play
Whitestone
Movie theatre in the Bronx - Diamond D.
White castle
Hamburger chain; open crazy late, some fine hoods there.
They at least have it in New York and Chicago. "From here to
White castle" -- Beastie Boys (Hold it now))
TODO:
Etymology of the words is often missing yet very interesting, just
like a quote from a song that uses a word. Too many questionmarks.
Wishlist:
ice (n) Diamonds or jewelry with diamonds in it. "Hands smothered
in ice." -- Ice-T (Bitches 2)
fix (n) Junkies all need their fix ( from movie 'Tresspass')
SA (n) ese = spanish slang for homeboy(?)
LBC (n) Long Beach Crips(?)
Nucker (n) "You call your nigger nucker" -- ("If it wasnt for the
rapping" -- Digital Underground)
ghackis or gackey (?) (n) "Wearin ghackis, mob while ya ryhme, little fag tried to sag" - Eazy-E "Real Motherphuckkin' G's"
switch (n) "Rollin' in my fo' with sixteen switches" Dr. Dre, Let Me Ride
" And if I hit the switch, I can make that ass drop" Ice Cube,
Good day.
dutchmasta (n) "slit a nigga back like a Dutchmasta killa" -- Wu-Tang
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
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 diction
ary.He has collected most of the words within The Unofficial Rap Dictionary!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
---> Jax! April 1994 <---
email : nie...@sci.kun.nl
Eddy Munster
R.Mann
! - `Scooby Do were the f**k are you' Cypress Hill
Black Sunday
forgot the track??
also the b side of uk 12" lick a shot, theres
a track called `Scooby Doo'
What does it mean????
!! - `Shortie(s)' - A tribe called quest
Latest ablum..
on numerous tracks
What does it mean????
Sorry my memories failed me today????
Rav the funky injun
(((((((((((((((VVVIIIiibbBBEESSS))))))))))