When Rick Rubin broke north of Def Jam and started a new label in 1988, it was initially titled ‘Def American’, but when he saw the word ‘def’ in the dictionary five years later he decided that it was now “against the anti-establishment image that he was trying to project for the company” and proceeded to hold a funeral for the word. Cheap publicity stunt? Sure, but Rick did have a point. There are a number of slang terms that have long outstayed their welcome in the rap world, and before Mary Hart from Entertainment Tonight starts throwing them around like ‘bling’ I think it’s best that they get respectfully laid to rest.
‘Boom Bap’ – When KRS-One introduced this into the lexicon back in ’93, it made a lot of sense. Now it’s just another cliche to be used and abused by clueless publicists and toy record reviewers.
‘Random Rap’ – I enjoy obscure Philly records from 1987 as much as anyone, but what the fuck is ‘random’ about any of it? Blame ebay.
‘Gully’ – I still kinda like this one, but Dallas Penn recently informed me that it’s been replaced by ‘Hardbody’ around his way, and who am I to argue?
‘Brolic’ – As above. Does anyone use this anymore?
‘Ill’ – I’m guilty of throwing this around on occasion, and if it’s a choice between keeping this or ‘dope’ it’s a no-brainer.
‘Fresh’ – No one has said ‘funky fresh’ for the last 20 years, but I guess it still has some use in describing lettuce.
‘John Blaze’ – Blame Method Man. Then blame the clothing line that hired him to hawk this shit.
‘Illmatic’ – I like how a few Queens rappers tried to act like this was an actual word for a minute.
‘Grown Folk Music’ / ‘Grown Man Rap’ – Fuckouttahere.
‘Hipster Rap’ – My bad.
Add on….
True story is that I have been waiting a minute for Korea’s president to get sick so I could say that nigga Kim Jong is illlllllllll!
Whatever, I’ma stand by “gully” till I die. Because “hardbody” sounds kinda gay.
im guilty of still using fresh,dope,and ill to describe things i like. oh and i stil call my friends son and homeboy. oh well im officially played out…uh oh i did it again.
I prefer hipster-hop…
I’m sorry, but i can never retire dope, ill or fresh. But we can lay “hype” to rest along with my least favorite word of all time. “Swagger” Please body this fucking word!
‘fresh’ to death!
i agree w/ the other posters, i’m never going to stop using “ill” or “dope” or even “fresh”.
Yes, daruffian. Swagger needs to fucking die.
I also agree with quan that “hardbody” is suspect.
A few more to kill:
–“hot minute”
–“hot mess”
I would also kill describing things as “a good look.”
oh shit yeah – “swagger” and esp. “swag” needs to be buried…along with max b and juelz santana, in a ditch.
I would never dream of trying to retire ‘dope’. We need to bring back ‘acknickulous’ too.
There’s no way I’m signing off on the burial of fresh, dope, or ill.
You can blame Meth all you want, but realize ganked that from someone…and yes, I’d also vote for ganked to stay around.
Overused by my students right now: too trill, beastin, and piff.
^he
Swagger needs to die fast. Although not often used anymore, “fat” or even worse “phat” is cringe-worthy as a politician using “dis” or a entertainment news interviewer using “bling”. Being from the Bay, hyphy as been dead here for awhile and replaced with “go”. “Pissy” has always bugged the shit out of me. Out here we stay on GURP
How about-
–“Off The Hook” or “Off the Chain” is kinda gay too
–“It’s All Good” – died wih Biggie
–“Fly” -I like it but seems kinda ’80’s
Respects, Jowhite..that”John Blaze”was”ganked”from a(public access HipHop show)co-host here in Rochester named(Scotty Blaze)he and his brother(G-Wreck)interviewed the WU back in ’94 after a show here,during the interview Meth told Scotty,”yo I like that name son,next thing you know(Method Man)adopts this”Johnny Blaze”and everything”hot”is referred to as”john Blaze”.
I thought meth got the term Johnny Blaze from Ghost Rider being that he’s a comic book fan, Like Ghostface using Tony Stark from Iron Man.
This post is wack. I’m sayin, nobody and their moms want to hear about the words you trying to 187 nahm’sayin? Fo sho, mad props to any nukka that still have “illy”, “gravy” and “nutrageous” in their vocabulary. Word up, I’m Audi..
Ya’ll need to dead……..Bananas……Piff……Murder the track…..Killed it……Sick…….Crackin…….Pimpin…….You can never front on Ill…or Wack, ever……….
RIP
187
Fo sho
and nukka
Niggas that is scared to use the word hardbody is the type of niggas that pee sitting down or use the bathroom stalls and lock the door behind them.
These is the niggas that put band-aids on paper cuts.
These is them same same niggas that ride the bus instead of the subway.
These is also the same niggas thathave wallets with velcro closures.
Def NOT hardbody.
“Niggas that is scared to use the word hardbody is the type of niggas that pee sitting down or use the bathroom stalls and lock the door behind them.”
So YOU’RE the guy who was taking a shit with the stall open from the other night…
but true- i guess that’s hardbody personified…still not in my lane though.
dallas is way too fat to fit in a bathroom stall. he has to take a shit in the street, which is super ‘hardbody’
word to Robbie on bringing back the 3xdope moniker “acknickulous”
DP is killin it on here.
I still don’t think the world has caught up to Cappadonna’s vocab on “The Pillage” and that shit came out 10 years ago.
Speaking of gay-sounding slang, “Go Hard” needs to die.
Shout out “Above The Law for “Ranching”………Also Flavor Flav for “Lamping”………..Thumbs down to E 40 for “Ya Smell Me”………Now that’s some homo shit…….
piff is the sound a snowball makes.
I would be alright if I never heard the phrase “real talk” again. Unless your constantly bullshitting or a pathological liar, you shouldn’t have to say “real talk.”
daruffian, you do have a point (9/17), considering that Nice & Smooth has your back.
“Dope, not Hype–it’s Dope!! Dope!!”
WE NEED TO BRING BACK:
PARLAY, MEGA, SMOOTH, (I BE RAPPIN TO THE GIRLS), AND MAD OTHER SHIT.
yo real talk,whateva happen to that boom bap that use to smack nukkas in the grill..nowadays all i seem to hear is hipster rap that aint gully,and nukkas with tight smedium shirts thinkin they brolic.that aint ill or fresh,that shit is wack w/ no swag
if you are white you should appreciate being able to use any of these phrases. ill still ill. and hardbody sounds type gay.
ether. somebody please fucking ether, ether.
there is a record store here in boston called Funky Fresh Records. they are also closing soon for good.
“this beat is Crack!”…. I hate when ninjas say that when they cone to the lab.. Dope will never die..”It is what it is” needs deletion..along with “feel me!??”
if i “smell you,” it don’t mean we see eye to eye; it means you either wear too much perfume, or you betta wash yo azz (if you must), you betta brush yo teef (if you must – or else you’ll be funkaayyy)
…you feel me?
i can’t stand “what’s good?” ..but that might be me associating that particular phrase with certain assholes i know that abuse it to the enf degree.
Can we kill “real talk” ?? “pimpin” is prettty annoying too..
‘hardbody’ sounds ultra-homo. the use of the word ‘hood’ to describe something, especially some fucktard like Lil Wayne or DJ Khaled should be banned.
I know Meth used it fuirst as his alias but I thought the term John Blaze to describe something dope got popular off the back of that Mad Rapper skit on Life After Death.
I’d like to petition for reinstatemnt of the phrases ‘on my jammy’ off that Beastie Boys record and ‘chilly most’
“knaaamean” When you have to end a sentence with knaamean, it means you’re not properly explaining yourself.
HATER/HATIN’/PLAYA-HATER/etc.:
These terms imply that you are SUPPOSED to like the people that are ‘hot’ now. When some no-talent gets popular, ONLY NICE THINGS ARE TO BE SAID ABOUT THEM. You are not allowed to say anything bad about them…or else, you’re a HATER! FUCK THAT. Nobody tells me who I should and shouldn’t like.
“I RESPECT HIS HUSTLE”:
This is connected to ‘Hater’, because since you’re not allowed to say anything bad about somebody (no matter how much their shit sucks), you’re supposed to give the Politically Correct response and say “I don’t care for his music, but I RESPECT HIS HUSTLE” because he’s been through so much to get to where he is. Boo Hoo Hoo. There are artists throughout history that have been through FAR WORSE than you and yet have made much better music than you. Save the SOB STORIES for someone who cares.
I definitely need to keep “ill” and I enjoy the occasional use of “fresh”. I agree to definitely kill “real talk”…that should be obvious, either we believe you or we don’t saying ‘real talk’ should real be a convincing factor. Bring back “Crumbs” and I wouldn’t be mad at a resurgance of “Ducks”. Also, it should be stated that “illmatic” was initiated into rap as a “word”; Tragedy “for get ill I get illmatical” on “Live Motivator” Marley Marl In Control vol 1.
I hate how everything about NYC gets bashed nowadays,why is that? why our shit gotta be outdated? The rest of the planet sucked ass while we ran hip hop. We are the cradle of civilization with this hip hop shit.
Keep all the slang if you ask me cause none of these new niggas can EVER hold down the 5 gates like we used to do it, with the fashion, slang beats, lyrics none of that shit, thats why were where we are now…
swagger – everybody feels like I do, good. Thats like the #1 homo term of 08. Its like an excuse for the tight jeans and florescents generation to walk the streets without getting laughed at…
in the building – cats like lil bow wow still say shit like this. This seemed to come about when it was cool to still suck off jay-z and jack his whole…swagger.
gwap – dough,loot,bread etc. works just fine…some slang doesnt need a remix
Shawty – Them south niggas run this shit in the earth, if you been down south you already know.
Up in the club – all the words that rhyme with up in the club, show me some love, poppin bub etc. etc….the whole notion of being up in the club needs to die the fuck out already.
Make it rain – What was a strip club thing has also become mainstream. Blame this on the south. Them niggas act like life begins & ends with throwing money at girls, hoes at that…then they wonder why they keep getting robbed. Then get this, they call the niggas who robbed them haters…lol…
old head – what in the flying fuck is this? age is a trend? smh. this is for those new age niggas who got a million catch phrases and zero talent. But the crazier part is half the rappers out are over 30 or close to it…
ice – blame rae & ghost…but people take this diamond thing to the moon. princess cuts, ice, bling, more karats than bug bunny etc. etc.
Hip Hop has gotten so corny its depressing.
pop bottles – niggas kill me how they go to the club and pay for overpriced liqour just to say they bought out the bar or some other gay shit…
1’s – lol, I love when broke niggas use money slang like they been waiting to use the term. Everybody wants to act like they rich.
Hater – My wife says these kids must use this term to keep themselves from crying out loud.
Its so overused that its disgusting. I wish we were this pacified when we were coming up. This generation would have NOT lasted in the 80’s hell fuckin no…
My fave word has always been props.
Can we chuck out:
‘That’s how I roll’
‘Keeping it mad real’
‘You know how I do’
All of the above have been killed by ‘Steve’ from marketing, who probably throws meaningless gang signs up in the xmas party pics.
well said farns
‘Steve’ from marketing…thats jokes
im sick of bananas tbh, and swagger bein deaded is a fine choice… well said
im sorry but its all good will never die im guilty of sayin all that..im 38 dont like the new slang