Hip hop slang is a varied accumulation of slang terms that changes frequently and is parallel to the evolution and use of hiphop. Much of its lexicon is drawn from African American Vernacular English.
Used to shorten, alter, or change the sound of a word. Often used for ease of rhyming or to fit into rhythm, such as placing emphasis on the "O" vowel (ex. POlice), while dropping the end consonants (eg. foo for fool). Can also be used as self referential humor, by adopting a known variation in pronunciation used in local or regional settings, movies or popular media, dialects, accents, etc, with the end result of an intentional adopted spelling of this pronunciation.
aight, aite, aw-ite - all right
aks - ask I want to axe you a question
befo' - before I told you this befo’
biatch - bitch
da' - the He's da' man.
dat - that I love dat.
dis - this I love dis.
down - I'm up for it. I'm down.
fiddy, fitty - fifty He's fiddy years old.
flava - flavor
flow - to rap, can also be used as a noun, ...listen to my flow...
flo' - floor
fo'(1)- For This is fo' my Aunt.
fo'(2) - The number four. Can also refer to twenty-four inch rims.
fo'(3) - Short for before, or any -fore suffix.
ho - prostitute, short for "whore"
holla - holler, to make contact via phone, sms, or any other media.
lil' - little
mo' - more I can't stand it no mo’
moo' - move moo’ over there for me
mo'fo' - mother fucker
'sup - what's up
wif - with
w.t.f. - What the Fuck?
Alternative spelling
Spelling that alters letters in a word but results in roughly the same pronunciation. The intent is to place more emphasis on a part of the word than in the traditional pronunciation.
Two or more words are combined creating a Portmanteau for ease of pronunciation, or to reduce the total number of syllables.
busta - snitch; "you's a busta"
fugly - Fucking Ugly; She looks fugly
hella - Hell of, very; He's hella cool.
Partial words
Uses part of a word to represent an entire word.
1 time - the local police
bluh - a citation: friend, homie, etc; what up bluh? / slurred pronunciation of "blood"
cuz - Short for because
cuz(2) - A citation (what's up cuz?) / cousin, especially in Crip slang; He's my cuz
feds - short for Federal Agents, refers to cops or other law enforcement agencies
po' - poor, He's too po' to afford a house.
popo - cops, short for police
sitch - situation
Replaced suffix
The ending of a word is removed, and replaced with a new suffix used as a substitute, much like Pig Latin. This particular style was originated by Frankie Smith with his 1982 nonsense single "The Double-Dutch Bus". Rapper Snoop Dogg has popularized this form of slang in recent years.
bizzle - bitch
fizzle - can be female, fuck, flatulate or any number of words starting with F
gizzle - gay
hizouse - mentioned by Chef in South Park, also a word for house, "so we started call it hizzle, then they called it hizzle, then we called it hizouse, then they started callin' it that, so now we call it our flippity flopty floo"
hizzle(1) - house
hizzle(2) - hook, as in "Off the hook"
nizzle - nigga
rizzle - real
shiznit - shit
shizzle - sure
tizzle - tizzy, a state of agitation or nervousness.
Lex - Short for Lexus, a brand of luxury automobiles, also short for 'Rolex' a brand of luxury watches.
'Slade - Cadillac Escalade
Timbs - Timberland boots
Consumer products
bub - short for bubbly, i.e. champagne
chum shakers - gold-plated chopsticks
kazoo - toothbrush
nobby Gibble-ties - shoes that are no longer in style
platinum kazoo - electric toothbrush
rims - the wheels of a vehicle, often customized, replacing the manufacturer wheels with an appealing design or "bling-bling" appearance. Size is important; generally twenty to twenty-four inch rims denote luxury or extra expense
whip - car
Drug Terms
10:30, tweaker time - time to take smoke, snort, inject methamphetamine (compare 4:20)
Bon Jovi'in - extremely high
crunk - drunk and high at the same time (the word comes from a compression of "crazy" and "drunk")
dub - a twenty dollar bag (also refers to twenty inch rims)
hydro - indoor grown marijuana
morning violence - the act of taking a shit after you have been doing drugs or drinking the night before
dime, dimebag, dimesack - ten dollar "bag" of illicit drugs
Gang terms
BG - Baby Gangsta, one who is a gangsta but never shot anyone, or a guy who hasn't got his own car.
bitchasshoo
bum rush - To crash into a show hoping to see it for free.
bum rushed - attacked, or to be beaten up by a gang. Originates from the stampede of gangsters that attempt to escape from a police raid by beating the policemen up.
chubby doctor - gang leader
corned beef & ham salad - proof of deaths of rival gang members
crab - Derogatory term towards a Crip gangster
cuzz - Crip
dirty patrick - local drug dealer
gangsta - member of a street gang
a man in pants with small pockets - mafia member
mumbo jumbo - spoken lies during a business transaction " An eighth for a brown? Dis' pussy ass waffle puffin' punk is talkin mumbo jumbo"
OG - Original Gangster, one who has shot someone before
loc (pronounced loke ) - a term describing the level of gangster That nigga is loced out gangsta
P.H.D. - Player Hater Degree
playa - (1) someone who is non-monogamous; (2) someone who's really in, someone who's got a lot of respect
playa hata - One who hates others for having more than they do.
punk - someone who does not show respect
slob - Derogatory term towards a Blood gangster
thug - a young person who is caught up in the urban lifestyle
wanksta - a fake gangster popularized by the song 50 Cent - Wanksta
Gun Terms
cap - bullet
G - Gangsta
gat - an automatic weapon, especially a machine pistol
Lackalacka Moomoo - Big shirt under which one can hide your piece
processed cheese - cap gun, or artificial look-alike of an authentic gun, mainly used in armed robberies to fool merchants
African chicken bucket - piece of ass (flor de culo)
a can of whoop ass - a can of refried beans
beaten sandals - a dope cd
ballin' - perceived to be doing very well, as far as money goes; "I'd explain the definition of ballin' to you white folks... but naw"
Benjamins - Refers to 100$ bills after the American statesman Benjamin Franklin, whose face is on them. "It's all about the benjamins".
brown - $100 bill
brown belt - once one has experienced anal sex, he has achieved his "brown belt"
bling bling - expensive jewelry or other expensive material possessions, refers to the imaginary sound of glistening metal or other shiny surfaces.
straight blingin' - made of or decorated with tinsel; glittering metal foil.
Bo Janglin' – stupid, not paying attention
busted - ugly Nigga, yo' girl is BUSTED
dope - cool, tight
dime - a very attractive woman, a "ten" on a scale of one-to-ten
fan-tatty bagging - fine girl "that bitch is fan-tatty bagging"
fly - appealing She is so fly.
koolin' it - kickin' it. chilling.
fishing for pirates - acting inappropriately. "that foo' is fishing for pirates, mackin' on my DSLs."
kickin' - appealing Those rims are kickin.
puffin' waffles - to be gay dude must be puffin' waffles
pussy - a male putdown; lil' punk ass bitch
straight - okay
stroke the imaginary lady - make yourself dinner
the sunken ship knows no mercy - (no record of where this phrase came from)
tight - attractive Your car is tight.
wack (or whack) - not to one's liking This relationship is totally wh/wack.
ba-donka-donk - an incredibly attractive ass
wallop dangle - a fight
Relationships
baby mamma - referring to the mother of one's child, specifically not referring to one's wife, and often not referring to one's current girlfriend
bitch - girlfriend
boo - boy/girlfriend, beau
boys - gang friends
brotha - a male acquaintance
crew - One's good friends (similar to boys)
dogg - close friend. It conveys a sense of solidarity, friendship and usually fierce loyalty. This spelling variation probably originated from Hip Hop legend Snoop Dogg, whom with it is virtually synonymous.
funky fog chocolate - a good friendship; me and charlie gooch are like funky fog chocolate
haps - mother
hoodrat - girl with loose morals
homie, homey, homeboy - friend
jigga - a rapper of limited skill ( ironically also nickname for rapper Jay-Z)
nig-nugget - a friend of a younger age
niglet - a child
peeps - people, acquantainces
shorty - girl, or girl on the side
folk - southern slang for friend or acquaintance
whoady - friend (once common in the south, now deprecated.)