Rap slang is the road vocabulary that UK and US rap carried from native corners into group chats in all places. Blud means mate, opps are enemies, no cap means no lie, guess means OK and wsg is brief for “what’s good”. Most of it reaches TikTok years after it was first mentioned in a stairwell in Hackney or on a block in Chicago, and the meanings drift a little bit each time it travels.
The phrases beneath are cut up by the place they arrive from. London’s are rooted in Multicultural London English and dirt. America’s come largely from African American English and the entice and drill scenes of Atlanta and Chicago. A couple of, like opps, belong to each now.
The place UK rap slang comes from
Linguists name the way in which many younger Londoners converse Multicultural London English, or MLE. Researchers on the College of York hint it to the early Nineteen Eighties in boroughs like Hackney and Lewisham, the place Cockney met the Jamaican Creole introduced by Windrush-era households and later picked up phrases from Yoruba, Bengali, Turkish, Arabic and dozens of different languages. The tabloids known as it “Jafaican”. Linguists say that’s improper: few MLE options could be proved to be Jamaican, and many of the grammar is home-grown. The slang is the place the Caribbean affect exhibits most.
Grime gave that vocabulary a microphone within the 2000s, and UK drill gave it a darker edge within the 2010s. Its greatest crossover second got here from a comic. Michael Dapaah’s character Roadman Shaq carried out a freestyle on Charlie Sloth’s Fireplace within the Sales space on BBC Radio 1Xtra in August 2017, and the clip grew to become Man’s Not Scorching, a quantity three hit that put “the ting goes skrrrahh” within the mouths of main college pupils and, briefly, Jeremy Corbyn.
UK slang phrases and what they imply
Blud means mate or bro, and is used to deal with a pal: “you good, blud?” It comes from “blood”, within the sense of household, and sits near “bredren”, the Jamaican pronunciation of “brethren”. City Dictionary recorded it by 2003, and it was on a regular basis London speech by way of the 2000s. TikTok gave it a second life within the 2020s as a meme phrase, normally geared toward somebody performing misplaced: “blud thinks he’s on a movie set”. It’s not a swear phrase, although it will probably sound impolite within the improper tone.
Bruv, brudda and fam do the identical job as blud. Bruv and brudda come from “brother”. Fam, brief for household, is used for shut buddies as a lot as kin.
Mandem means a gaggle of males, your folks or crew. It comes from Caribbean English, “man” plus “dem” (them). The feminine model is gyaldem. Jessie J used mandem in her 2010 single Do It Like a Dude, an early signal of the phrase transferring from the property into the charts.
Man can even exchange “I” or “me”, as in “man’s not sizzling” (I’m not sizzling) or “man’s drained”. It is among the clearest grammatical options linguists level to in MLE.
Wagwan is a greeting that means “what’s happening”. It comes from the Jamaican “wha a gwan” and is commonly texted as wag1.
Ends means your neighbourhood or space: “he’s not from my ends”. In drill it will probably carry a territorial sense, the patch a gaggle claims.
Peng means engaging or glorious, used for an individual, meals or trainers. A peng ting is a lovely particular person.
Ting means a factor, an occasion or, usually, a woman or companion. “The ting goes skrrrahh” is Huge Shaq describing the sound of a gun, which is a part of why the road was humorous.
Naked means rather a lot or very: “naked individuals had been there”, “that’s naked lengthy”.
Lengthy means tedious or an excessive amount of effort: “queuing for that’s lengthy”.
Peak means unhealthy luck or a nasty scenario: “you missed the bus? That’s peak.” One idea hyperlinks it to the crush of peak-time journey on the Tube.
Gassed means excited or overhyped, generally in a means others discover an excessive amount of: “he’s gassed about his new whip”.
Whip means a automotive. UK and US rap share it.
Creps are trainers.
Wasteman is somebody ineffective or unreliable, a waste of time.
Enable it means go away it or cease: “permit it, man, it’s not that deep”.
Innit began as “isn’t it” and now tags the top of just about any sentence, no matter grammar: “we’re going later, innit”. You get me (texted ygm) does the same job.
Calm means positive or no drawback. Dun know means in fact or positively.
Hyperlink means to satisfy up: “let’s hyperlink later”. It may well additionally imply seeing somebody casually.
Chirps or chirpse, means to flirt or chat somebody up.
Vexed means aggravated or indignant, one other Caribbean import.
Transferring mad means behaving wildly or out of line.
Yute means a teenager, from the Jamaican pronunciation of “youth”.
Feds means the police in UK slang, borrowed from US rap, the place it initially meant federal brokers. Outdated Invoice is the older London equal.
Roadman describes a younger man immersed in road tradition, the tracksuit-and-man-bag sort the web likes to parody. Dapaah’s Roadman Shaq is the best-known send-up.
UK drill took this vocabulary and added phrases from its personal world, a lot of it about rivalries, police and violence. The language researcher Tony Thorne has compiled a drill glossary of round 250 phrases, partly as a result of police and prosecutors have used drill lyrics as proof in court docket, a follow critics say criminalises younger Black artists for what they write.
Opps: the phrase each scenes share
Opps are enemies, rivals or anybody working in opposition to you. The phrase is brief for “opposition” or “opponents”. “Opposition” had been utilized in rap since a minimum of LL Cool J in 1985, however the clipped type “opp” belongs to Chicago drill: Chief Keef used it in his 2011 monitor John Madden, and the phrase unfold with drill because the sound travelled from Chicago to Brooklyn and London. UK drill adopted it wholesale, and by 2018 the US rappers Playboi Carti, Lil Durk and Cardi B had been utilizing it on Twitter.
TikTok has since softened it. On-line, an opp generally is a rival, a hater within the feedback or a pal who ate your chips, and the phrase usually seems in jokes about animals being “the opps”. Naughty by Nature’s 1991 hit O.P.P. used the identical letters for one thing else completely, which is why “down with O.P.P.” nonetheless turns up in searches for the trendy phrase.
US rap slang and what it means
No cap means no lie, for actual. Cap means a lie, and calling one thing cap means you don’t consider it. The roots return to “capping”, the ritual alternate of exaggerated insults amongst Black Individuals within the Forties, which is how “cap” got here to imply stretching the reality. Future and Younger Thug’s 2017 monitor No Cap pushed the phrase into the mainstream.
Wager means OK, deal or agreed: “see you at eight?” “Wager.” Merriam-Webster traces this sense to African American English within the Nineteen Eighties, most likely shortened from “you guess”. It may well additionally settle for a problem or, mentioned flatly as “OK, guess”, sign sarcastic disbelief.
WSG is brief for “what’s good?”, a greeting that works like “what’s up?”. It largely lives in texts and DMs, and a reply of “wsg” can be an invite to speak.
SZN is brief for “season” and means a interval when one thing is going on or somebody is at their finest: “cuffing szn” (when individuals pair up for winter), “playoff szn”, “examination szn”. It unfold by way of sports activities and hip-hop social media within the 2010s.
Let him cook dinner means let somebody keep it up, as a result of they is likely to be on to one thing good. In hip-hop, “cooking” has lengthy meant making one thing within the studio. The catchphrase comes from the Bay Space rapper Lil B, whose 2010 YouTube video Based mostly Cooking (Let That Boy Prepare dinner) launched his cooking dance. It grew to become a meme within the 2020s, usually used paradoxically, most famously as “Let Russ cook dinner” through the Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson’s tough 2022 season.
2 man is a plan the place two buddies exit with two different individuals, normally with romantic intentions. It really works like a double date with much less dedication. City Dictionary first recorded it in 2017, with roots in Detroit slang, and it went viral on TikTok in 2022, the place “working a 2 man” grew to become a skit format. It has nothing to do with the London use of “man” as a pronoun, which confuses loads of British readers.
Entice means a spot the place medication are offered, and gave its title to entice music, the Atlanta sound named after T.I.’s 2003 album Entice Muzik.
Bando is brief for “deserted home”, a derelict property used as a entice home. Migos named their 2012 breakthrough after it.
Plug means a provider, initially of medication and now of something laborious to get: “he’s the plug for live performance tickets”.
Drip means trendy garments or a putting look: “the drip is loopy”. Cardi B and Migos titled a 2018 monitor after it.
Lit means thrilling or sensible, and is Travis Scott’s signature ad-lib.
Deadass comes from New York and means critically or for actual: “deadass, I’m not going”.
GNG is brief for “gang”, that means your crew or the individuals you experience with. Rap has used “gang” as a phrase for loyalty for many years, and the three-letter spelling grew out of group chats earlier than TikTok creators began utilizing it to speak to their followers: “thanks, gng”. On Snapchat it generally stands for “goodnight, gang” as a substitute.
Womp womp is a tragic trombone written out, a mocking “too unhealthy” geared toward somebody whose plan has simply fallen aside. It was a game-show and sitcom sound impact lengthy earlier than rap picked it up. The Chicago rapper Valee, then signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music, turned it right into a tune title with “Womp Womp”, his Might 2018 single that includes Jeremih.
Most of those phrases had been made by small communities to speak amongst themselves, and by the point a model makes use of one in an advert, the individuals who coined it have normally moved on to one thing new.
