Rap Glossary

Here, I’ve started a tentative glossary of words / phrases used in rap music and communities of the US. Many of the words can also be found within, and actually come from, AAVE (African American Vernacular English). I’m constructing the definitions myself, researching where I need to, and depending on my experience of listening to the genre for many years, so take them with a grain of salt.

❕ Disclaimer: There are words / phrases of offensive nature, and I include them here for a more inclusive glossary of informational purposes.

Parts of Speech

• adj: adjective
• n: noun
• v: verb
• i: interjection

Characters

Numbers

• 100: adj real, authentic
• 12: n the police
• 16: n a verse in a rap song
• 21: n the rapper 21 Savage

A

• A: n the city of Atlanta, Georgia

  Look, I know it sound crazy, but I’m a “A” baby
  I gotta start pullin’ folks’ cards

  • Omerettà the Great, “Sorry Not Sorry”

B

• bar: n a line of a rap song, especially one that is particularly good
• be: v exist
  • been <adjective>: v to have been <adjective> for a long time

    Been ill aka Venus Fly Traps

    • Vursatyl in “The Thesis”

  • been <verb in perfect tense>: v to have done or have been doing something for a long time

    I been had the bop

    • Travis Scott in “Praise God”

• beef: n a conflict
  • beef with: v [with object] have a conflict with (someone)
• Beemer: n a car of the make BMW
• blunt: n a cigar filled with marijuana
• bitch: n a female person
  • a bitch: n oneself (female)
    • This can either be used to refer to a female person or oneself.

      A bitch been sittin’ back, just lettin’ you bitches lie

      • Nicki Minaj in “Bahm Bahm”

• bite: v [with object] copy, imitate the style of (someone)
• bread: n money

  What good is the bread if my niggas is broke?

  • J. Cole in “MIDDLE CHILD”

C

• cell: n a room in a jail used to house inmates
• chronic: n strong marijuana
• clout: n influence
• Cole (also Cole World): n the rapper J. Cole
• cream: n money

  Cash rules everything around me
  C.R.E.A.M., get the money
  Dollar, dollar bill, y’all

  • Wu-Tang Clan in “C.R.E.A.M.”

• crib: n a house

D

• dawg: n a close friend
• diss
  1. n a disrespectful song, verse or line
  2. v [with object] disrespect (someone) in a song, verse, or line
• dope
  1. adj great
  2. n intoxicant drugs

E

• Escalade: n a car model of the make Cadillac

F

• find out: v learn
  • let me find out: i the speaker is surprised by what they have just learned
• fine: adj attractive
• flop
  1. n a failure, especially a commercial one
  2. v fail, especially commercially

     Revival flopped, came back and I scared the crap out ‘em

     • Eminem in “Premonition (Intro)”

G

• GOAT: n Greatest of All Time. Used in contentious discussions about the best rapper of all time. For my GOAT, see a previous post.

  You already seen me turn a man to a G.O.A.T

  • JAY-Z in “Crown”

H

• hood: n a ghetto, neighborhood

  But I’ll still treat a ride through the hood like a hike through the woods, got a stick that I take with me.

  • J. Cole in “Stick”

• HOV: n the rapper Jay-Z

I

• ill: adj great

J

• Jigga: n the rapper Jay-Z

K

• K.Dot: n the rapper Kendrick Lamar
• Kenny (also Kung-Fu Kenny): n the rapper Kendrick Lamar

L

• L: n a loss

  A-B-C-D-E-F-G, H-I-J-K, uh, M-N-O-P
  That’s little me in the classroom askin’, “What’s L?” (Uh)

  • J. Cole in “H.Y.B.”

  • take an L: v lose
• legit: adj real
• lick: n an easy way to make money

  This rap shit a lick to niggas

  • Wale in “Lions, Bengals & Bears (Freestyle)”

• lil: adj little
  • This is a common prefix to many rappers’ names. As far as I know, it originated with the rapper Lil Wayne.

M

• Makaveli: n the rapper Tupac
• mil: n a million dollars

  I roll with some fiends, I love ‘em to death
  I got a few mil’ but not all of them rich

  • J. Cole in “MIDDLE CHILD”

• minute: n 60 seconds
  • a minute: n a considerable amount of time

N

• na’ mean: a contraction of “Do you know what I mean?” This is actually not even a question, but a filler phrase, similar to “you know”.
• nigga: n a male person
  • a nigga: n oneself (male)
    • This can either be used to refer to a male person or oneself.

      They was predictin’ a nigga to fail, turns out that was not the case

      • J. Cole in “Stickz N Stonez”

O

• O.G.: n an acronym for “Original Gangster”, used to refer to someone with much experience in a certain field, e.g. rap.

  To the OGs, I’m thankin’ you now
  Was watchin’ you when you was pavin’ the ground

  • J. Cole in “MIDDLE CHILD”

P

• paid: adj rich
• pill: n an intoxicant drug
• po-po: n the police

  Nigga, and we hate po-po
  Wanna kill us dead in the street fo sho’

  • Kendrick Lamar in “Alright”

• promo: n promotion, advertising

R

• Ra: n the rapper Rakim
• reach: v overinterpret
  • “Am I reaching?” means “Am I reading too much into this, connecting the dots that aren’t there?”
• real: adj authentic

S

• smoke
  1. n a conflict
  2. v [with object] defeat in conflict
• spit: v rap
• stick: n a gun
• switch: v change as a person for the worse to your friends

  Told my brothers take my breath if I turn to a snitch
  But I’m 21 4L, ain’t no way I’ma switch

  • 21 Savage in “a lot”

T

• tool: n a gun

References

• Genius, used for lyrics;
• New Oxford American Dictionary, used for some definitions;
• Urban Dictionary, used for some definitions;
• Wikipedia, used for links.