Urban Lingo — Street Slang Decoded
Urban lingo decoded. Street slang, hip-hop terms, and everyday words with real meanings, examples, and origins. The slang dictionary that gets it right.
903 words
An all-purpose 'okay,' 'deal,' or 'we'll see' — agreement or a challenge.
American slang for someone or something lame, broke, or low-effort; the opposite of impressive.
Driving into a rival area looking for trouble — or, in production, the signature gliding 808 bass.
Atlanta's nickname for the Chattahoochee River.
Mature content — open to view.
Someone living life like they're the star of their own movie — full main character energy.
Short for O'Block, the Parkway Gardens set in Chicago.
Dundonian word for a drain or drain cover.
Flamboyant, theatrical, camp — usually applied to a man whose mannerisms read as effeminate.
Insider nickname for Atlanta.
Dungeon Family rally call — owl-style holler for the crew.
London filler tagged onto the end of sentences for emphasis — 'still,' but stretched.
A dramatic transformation from awkward to fine — looks, confidence, or life.
Flaunting wealth — flamboyant + boast.
Acting wild, going overboard, or behaving unreasonably.
To pull out a weapon — usually a blade or strap.
Cajun term of endearment, from French chéri(e).
Impressive, tough, or excellent — especially music or a look.
A friend or mate — UK road slang term of address.
Your home or place — where you live and chill.
A sharp, witty comeback to criticism or an insult — a response that shuts the other person down.
A handgun — usually a Tec-9-style semi-auto.
UK street slang for a disloyal, untrustworthy person, or a fake friend.
An instrumental made to sound like a specific artist — and a meme format for 'this gives off ___ energy.'
A 1962 Impala — peak lowrider chassis.
A Philadelphia all-purpose noun for literally anything — a thing, place, person, or situation.
BD set on Chicago's South Side around 64th & Drexel — L'A Capone and RondoNumbaNine's block.
Your boy. A close male associate in UK drill slang.
Stealing somebody's rhymes, moves, or style and trying to pass it off as your own.
A complete emotional breakdown or reckless meltdown where you snap and stop caring about consequences.
A wild shot you take when you're so hot you want to confirm you can't miss.
Shorthand for Atlanta.
Pellets — small wraps of crack, heroin or gear ready to sell.
A lot, loads, or very — an intensifier for quantity or degree.
A stylish, confident woman who's sharp, sure of herself, and dressed to kill.
Lyrics, especially clever or hard-hitting ones — 'he's got bars.'
Texas/Gulf-Coast rap as the third hip-hop region, after East and West.
Your word is your unbreakable promise, a vow of total truth and honor.
A tense situation — beef, drama, or trouble brewing.
Talking a lot, often pointlessly or without anyone listening.
Chief Keef's alias, lifted from the Scarface drug lord Alejandro Sosa.
Dallas archetype: average earner flexing luxury they can't actually afford.
West Coast suffix that turns any word into slang.
When someone's saying something disrespectful, unreasonable, or out of pocket.
Stylish, attractive, and effortlessly cool — looking good and knowing it.
A dispute, a dramatic mess, a piece of beef worth talking about.
True + real, fused. The realest stamp of approval in Southern rap.
To go off impressively — kill it, get hyped, or unleash a passionate rant.
To perform brilliantly — usually shouted as 'let him cook' when someone's mid-flow and shouldn't be interrupted.
Obvious, exposed, or easily noticed — something so visible it draws attention.
A mantra about staying detached, chasing travel and freedom instead of getting attached.
Someone relentlessly focused on making money — chasing the bag above all else.
The unmistakable royal purple of the old NOLA drugstore chain — local shorthand for that exact shade.
A weak, fake rapper with no skills, the kind of MC real ones eat alive on the mic.
ATL's all-purpose 'you' — anybody, any size.
Wearing an electronic ankle monitor on court orders.
A knife — drill-rap slang from 'borer'.
Zone 4 — Westside / Southwest Atlanta.
A handgun — UK-drill phrasing that crossed the Atlantic.
NOLA's signature sandwich on crackly Leidenheimer French bread.
Money — older slang for cash, named for the green color of bills.
Jamaican word for feeling good, at peace, and everything being alright.
Doing the food shop, NOLA-style.
Out in the streets — hustling, repping, living the road life.
Drugs — the product you're out selling.
A firearm — old-faithful hip-hop term for a gun.
Money — chasing paper means chasing cash.
Luxurious, high-class, or fancy — living or acting upscale; from bourgeois.
Chicago street organization founded by Larry Hoover; the other half of the drill beef and the BDs' main rival.
Someone who resents your success instead of getting their own.
Pull up — peacefully or otherwise.
British slang meaning sexually attractive or good-looking, not physically in shape.
A knife — drill slang named after celeb chef Gordon Ramsay.
When your shot gets violently blocked, slapped out of the air like a bug.
An abandoned house, especially one used for trapping.
Your mother and the whole rest of the family — one mashed-up word.
Dominating your opponent so thoroughly you're basically cooking them like a meal.
Chicago — drill-era variant of Chi-Town.
Past your prime — no longer skilled or relevant.
Austrian-made pistol — drill's weapon of choice.
A tune that's genuinely good — or a whole sound/aesthetic that's catching on.
The shortest possible 'what's up' — a one-word greeting.
'The hell are you talking about?' — slurred into one word.
Cut loose on the dance floor in the wildest, most off-kilter way possible.
Gossip, the latest news, or the truth — 'spill the tea' means tell me everything.
Detroit's signature greeting — 'what's up' with the city's stamp on it.
A playground slide.
Leave it, forget it, or let it go — a plea to drop something.
Vallejo, CA — Mac Dre's home turf.
Tunnel worker — the crew digging underground and underwater.
Mature content — open to view.
When the belly sticks out further than the booty do.
The back-of-town New Orleans neighborhoods, inland from the river toward North Claiborne.
About to swing by — Houston cruising vocabulary.
The Rio Grande Valley — deep South Texas along the Mexico border.
A Mardi Gras club that throws a parade or ball.
Mature content — open to view.
A ride-or-die — your most loyal one.
Your crew. From 'fo'nem' — short for 'folks and them'.
A gun — drill-rap pet name for the strap.
Atlanta's original area code — worn as a badge of true-city authenticity.
To disrespect or insult someone — a put-down, often in a song.
Delivering a look so strong you're 'serving' it up like a runway moment.
Working a lowrider's hydraulic switches to bounce the car.
Marketing-coined label for the Dallas–Fort Worth metro region.
Certified — meaning legit, confirmed, or definitely true.
Excellent, cool, and top-quality — a hip-hop term of high praise.
Cameron Paul's 1987 drum loop — bounce's second foundational sample.
Stacks of cash — from the rubber bands around bundles of bills; a "band" is $1,000.
Gunshot sound — also the act of pulling the trigger.
Caló for a girlfriend or a woman — Chicano for 'shorty'.
Chillin' — Blood-coded swap of the C in 'coolin''.
Excellent, amazing, or extremely good.
A moped. The drill ride-out vehicle of choice.
Your close group of friends.
"Let's get it" — a hype ad-lib popularized by Lil Uzi Vert.
An unflattering lookalike — a blend of "chopped" (ugly) and "doppelganger."
LA's late-2000s street dance and rap scene — skinny jeans, snapbacks, the reject.
Those short shouts and tags a rapper layers behind the main vocal — 'skrrt,' 'yeah,' 'gang' and the like.
Mature content — open to view.
Chicano respelling of barrio — claimed turf.
A mutt — a mixed-breed yard dog, said with affection.
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All — Tyler's LA collective.
Disbelief at someone's nerve — they did something so bold and disrespectful you can barely process it.
To support an artist obsessively and loyally — or the devoted fan who does it.
The people who've been with you from the very beginning.
A prison sentence — the time you're doing.
Across the Mississippi from NOLA proper — Algiers, Gretna, Marrero, Harvey.
Parked on a corner, ready to serve.
Swerving a slab side-to-side down the street on purpose.
Logged on the Met Police's gang database.
Mid-South euphemism for 'I swear' — mild, churchy, grandma-approved.
The twin bridges over the Mississippi linking NOLA to the West Bank.
A gun in UK drill — a strap.
A term of address for a close friend or anyone you're talking to.
'Partner' — friendly NOLA address for an unfamiliar man.
Brooklyn drill faction and the Woos' arch-rivals — the other half of NYC's drill beef.
Any soft drink in NOLA — temperature doesn't matter.
Cash money — green like a head of lettuce.
So good it's almost wrong, the kind of skill that flips 'sick' into a compliment.
Caló for a lowrider or car.
Means 'seriously' or 'for real' — you're not joking even a little.
The spare tire mounted vertical on the trunk of a Houston slab — chrome, swangin', mandatory.
Internet-ironic term for the cartoonishly menacing, meme-driven side of drill culture.
Showing off in a lowrider — switches, three-wheeling, the works.
NOLA bounce variant fronted by queer, trans, and drag performers.
For life — also 21 Savage & Young Nudy's clique tag.
Fly Boy Gang — STL/EBT-affiliated drill collective.
A loyal crew member down to put in work — pronounced like 'hitter' without the hard ending.
A situation that's lit — any scene that's exciting, hyped, and popping off.
Loud, messy, or unrefined — sometimes an insult, sometimes a self-aware, fun descriptor.
A British/MLE exclamation of surprise, shock, or emphasis — like "damn" or "whoa."
Caló for 'heads up' — stay sharp, watch your back.
The lineup of people you're casually dating or talking to at the same time.
Postcode turf claimed by a gang.
'What you doing?' — the classic low-effort opener, often a low-key flirt or boredom check.
The backboard — bank shots 'off the glass,' rebounds are 'cleaning the glass.'
A swear-on-it phrase meaning 'I promise, on my brother's life.'
'Where you at?' — the locator text when you're waiting on someone or trying to link up.
'What you mean?' — asks for clarification, sometimes with attitude.
A bag of weed — or, in drill, a dead rival's body.
Oversized shades worn loud — hyphy uniform.
To show off your money, style, or success — flexing for the audience.
A drug customer — the buyer on the other end of the trap line.
To see through the illusion and catch the detail that gives it away.
New Orleans — the city's area code used as shorthand for the place itself.
The numbers or facts don't add up — something is off and doesn't make sense.
Caló for 'no problem / no sweat' — literally 'no fart.'
A smashed-together way of saying 'talking about' that AAVE speakers use all day.
Step back and let someone do their thing — they're in the zone and about to cook up something good.
Hiram Clarke — south-west Houston neighbourhood.
Original gangster — the long-timer who was there before it was cool.
To meet up with someone — to connect in person and hang out.
Caló 'yes' — a stylish, affirmative 'sí'.
Chicano Caló shortening of San Antonio.
Smashed 'about to' — on the verge of doing something right now.
MC T. Tucker & DJ Irv's 1991 single — widely cited as the first true bounce record.
An exclamation of amazement or hype, drawn out as "sheeeesh" to gas something up.
Cheap fast food from the hood — wing spots, taquerias, corner-store plates.
Round Sicilian sandwich stacked with cold cuts and olive salad.
Being deliberately spiteful over small things, often in a funny, dramatic way.
Fire — top-tier, excellent.
Slang compliment for someone so attractive they look good enough to eat.
Memphis pronunciation of pork and beans.
Chicago — the long-running nickname that drill rappers inherited and never let go.
Translucent wet-look paint job in Skittle-bright colors — the defining finish of a Houston slab.
Prison. Also 'wok house' — the jail.
Homemade frozen Kool-Aid in a Dixie cup — NOLA summer staple.
To go all out, give it everything you got, whether on the mic, the floor, or in a battle.
Traitors or untrustworthy people — the plural of paigon in UK road slang.
"Isn't it" — a British tag used to seek agreement or as a general affirmation.
A small, chill, low-key gathering — the relaxed opposite of a rager.
Protruding 30-spoke wire wheels fitted to Houston slabs — also called elbows.
Young Thug's Atlanta label/crew — Young Stoner Life.
Means the greatest of all time; the highest praise you can give someone or something.
Mature content — open to view.
Black Disciple Killer — anti-BD taunt used by rival sets.
To call out, get in touch, or shout someone out.
Harshly criticised or mocked, especially publicly online.
A casual way to admit a mistake — 'that was my fault.'
To praise, hype up, or give respect to someone — a shout-out, Jamaican style.
Patois for 'to eat' — usually eating fast, hungrily, or with relish.
Actively looking for violence with rivals.
The twin bridges carrying I-10 across Lake Pontchartrain to Slidell.
Lemon-pepper wings tossed in hot sauce — ATL's signature wing order.
Basketball itself — both the rim and the act of playing the game.
The chaotic crowd zone where everyone slams together — now huge in rap shows too.
Handling what needs handling, no excuses, no flinching.
Mature content — open to view.
The ballroom emcee's call announcing the theme contestants must serve — 'the category is...'
The catchy, repeated part of a song — usually the chorus — that hooks you and gets stuck in your head.
Your group of male friends or crew — London slang for "the boys" or a wider group of guys.
A robbery score or quick come-up.
Sprite cut with codeine cough syrup — another name for lean.
Tricking or swindling to survive, like shoplifting or a dine-and-dash.
051 Young Money — rival Gangster Disciples set frequently dissed on O'Block records.
Bay Area tag for 'you know what I mean?'
Southern American English for 'about to' — on the verge of doing something.
Pimp C's name for UGK's slow, gospel-soaked Texas sound.
A light-hearted British insult for a fool or idiot, usually said with affection.
British slang for someone or something seriously attractive, fit, or top-quality.
'Downtown' in Houston drawl.
Impressive, hard, or sick — high praise for skill, especially in music.
A perfect, on-the-money assist that sets a teammate up for an easy bucket.
Past tense of 'overstand' — understood, agreed, and locked in.
Even more impressive, wild, or hard than 'mad' — a top-tier UK hype word.
'Normal' backwards — a Black Disciples block on S Normal Ave in Englewood.
A haircut — getting a fresh trim from the barbers is a roadman ritual.
A hot dog — the word blew up as a meme but it actually started as DMV slang for a gun.
An ecstatic, drawn-out 'yes' — pure excitement and approval.
Get out of a slow-rolling car and dance next to it while it keeps moving.
An offensive British slur, originally a derogatory term for Travellers, also used to mean tacky or cheap.
Points scored in basketball, especially the smooth, repeatable kind from a real scorer.
Bay Area subgenre and the wild, hyperactive energy it celebrates.
Caló for 'no way' — a flat Chicano refusal.
Being out enjoying yourself, socializing, and living life — not stuck inside.
Houston interjection — 'man, hold up'.
Ugly, worn out, or in bad condition.
A badly missed shot that clangs hard off the rim like you threw a brick.
Driving into enemy territory looking for smoke.
To spray acid at someone. UK drill's grimmest verb.
Delivered exactly what the moment called for and nailed it perfectly.
Onomatopoeia for the flash of diamonds — courtesy of Cash Money, 1999.
The tangled I-285/I-85 interchange in northeast Atlanta — landmark and metaphor.
The 2000 Three 6 x UGK single that put purple drank on the national map.
Wasted on lean — or, depending on tone, just incredibly cool.
An ongoing feud or grudge — in rap, a public conflict often played out through diss tracks.
Mature content — open to view.
New Orleans hip-hop subgenre built on call-and-response chants over the Triggerman loop.
It is bitterly, painfully cold outside.
Memphis BBQ shorthand — sauced ribs or rub-only ribs.
Tex-Mex Spanglish for 'watch out' or 'check this out.'
Freaking out, overreacting, or acting crazy — your wires are tripping.
Money — a cousin of 'guap,' all about the cash flow.
Chief Keef's set — the Black Disciples on Lamron in Englewood.
The mood, feeling, or atmosphere of a person, place, or thing — "good vibes" means good energy.
Acres Homes — named after the #44 Metro bus that runs through it.
An acronym for "Slime Love All The Time" — a hip-hop expression of loyalty and solidarity.
Remote-popping trunk rigged with neon, amps and speakers.
Mature content — open to view.
An expression of agreement or 'I hear you' from 80s hip-hop culture.
Money, especially a serious amount of it.
A thing, situation, or an attractive woman.
Very, a lot — the NorCal intensifier that went national.
The 6400 block of S King Drive in Parkway Gardens — King Von and Lil Durk's set.
Mac Dre's signature hyphy dance move.
A UK insult for a useless, good-for-nothing man who contributes nothing.
A sharp, minimal, well-put-together outfit — nothing flashy, just crisp pieces that quietly look expensive.
Makeup applied flawlessly and fully — a face that's beat is perfectly done.
69th Street, Englewood — Bricksquad's home block.
A driver trawling the streets for a sex worker from behind the wheel.
Genuinely involved in road life — putting in real work, not just rapping about it.
A young person, kid, or youth — UK slang from Jamaican Patois.
A long gun — rifle or extended-mag piece.
Empty a clip — fire a gun, usually all of it.
UK street slang for dealing drugs.
Junk, odds and ends, random clutter.
Missouri City — Houston's southwest suburb, half-jokingly 'Misery City.'
How locals say Humble, TX — the H is silent.
London term for 'brother' or 'bro,' borrowed from the Arabic word for brother.
A car — especially a stylish or expensive one.
Lean. The drink gets its colour from the promethazine.
To show off — to flaunt money, status, looks, or achievements.
Robbed — stripped of cash, jewellery or pride.
Mature content — open to view.
Houston's Fifth Ward — historic, hard, and often called 'The Bloody Nickel.'
What's up — the drawn-out 90s greeting Budweiser turned into a national catchphrase.
Caló for brother — blood-tight, family-close.
Did something exceptionally well — "she ate that," often "ate and left no crumbs."
To go to sleep, from Cajun French 'faire dodo.'
To go make money or secure a financial win.
North Houston street whose 'Kirk-en-doll' pronunciation outs you as local or tourist.
When you score while getting fouled and earn a free throw on top of the bucket.
Your neighbourhood — or a chunk of drugs over 7g.
Showing off the jewelry, the car, the bread — loud and unbothered.
A covered NOLA balcony or porch — the lacy iron ones in the French Quarter.
'At this point' — the lead-in for a resigned or fed-up conclusion.
Mature content — open to view.
A subgenre of hip-hop, or slang for a place where hustling happens.
The front steps of a house — and the social spot for sitting out and watching the block.
Highly desirable, hyped clothing or sneakers — the fire pieces everyone wants.
When food (or a song) is so good it hits hard — 'this meal slaps.'
Memorial rebrand of Bricksquad 069 after Lil JoJo's murder.
Houston name for the long horizontally protruding wire wheels on a slab.
'Free' — as in 'free the gang'. The locked-up rallying cry.
Cruising slow in a slab so everybody sees you.
Houston-flavoured 'what's up?' — the city's signature greeting.
'I see' or 'understood' — a way of acknowledging you get it.
Money — UK slang, short for "pounds"; "making P's" means making money.
Australian crim slang for a rat.
To hang out and relax, or to drop a verse, depending on how you're using it.
Mature content — open to view.
Wild, exciting, and amazing — so good it's out of control.
All good, fine, or relaxed — 'it's calm' means no worries.
Money — pounds, cash, paper.
An agreement meaning that's true or I relate to that.
To cleverly insult or call out someone's flaws with precision and wit.
Delivered an amazing look or performance with total confidence.
Atlanta Police Department's Westside / Southwest zone.
In UK slang, unfortunate or a bad situation — though it can also mean the very best in other contexts.
An intensifier meaning 'completely' or 'to the max' — she served the house down.
Money, especially a thick stack of it — getting cake means getting paid.
Variant Yat spelling of 'oysters' — same word as ersters.
Fully decked out in stylish, expensive-looking clothes and jewelry from head to toe.
Killing rivals — or symbolically smoking weed strains named after dead ones. Chief Keef coinage.
A large knife — usually a hunting or combat blade.
Boarding up, stocking the cooler, and partying while the storm rolls in.
A rhetorical 'explain this' aimed at something illogical or unfair.
A quick Patois-rooted greeting, like 'yo' or 'oi' between bredren.
A little something extra, on the house.
To ignore someone — leaving them on read or blanking them entirely.
Starting beef rooted in gang-set allegiance.
Muscular and pumped up — looking big and strong from lifting.
Boston oath — I'm dead serious, on my dead friends.
To boil — Yat pronunciation, as in crawfish berl.
STL/EBT's renaming of their turf in honour of Tooka.
A po-boy ordered plain — 'nothing on it.'
A merry-go-round, specifically the antique one in City Park.
A thick roll of cash folded and tied off — a fat wad of bills.
'What are you talking about' — slurred and dropped into conversation.
Emphatic Caló 'no' — the louder cousin of chale.
Faking it, putting on a false front to seem tougher or richer.
A zombie knife — serrated, jagged-bladed weapon.
Texan for the highway frontage/access road.
A ballroom category judged on how convincingly you embody a real-world look or role.
Out of town — usually meaning trapping drugs away from home.
The holy-grail 1984 Cragar wire rims — Houston slab royalty.
The drug-dealing spot, or the street life around it.
To stab or shoot a rival.
Solid, dependable in the streets — a real one who shows up.
Hyped, wild, and out of control — usually from drinking, partying, or pure energy.
Southwest Atlanta — 'Southwest Atlanta Too Strong.'
A self-roasting confession of something embarrassing you actually did — 'not me crying at a commercial.'
Out-of-town spot where city dealers go to push drugs.
Chief Keef's 2014 rebrand of GBE — short for Glory Gang.
A plea for someone to be serious or honest — 'you cannot be so for real right now.'
Tedious, too much effort, or a hassle that's not worth it.
Pachuco Caló for a fancy fit — the zoot suit itself.
The absolute best, the standout, the thing everybody's talking about.
Houston's weekly meet-up where slab owners bring the candy paint out.
A shooter, an active gang member — or just a drill rapper.
Your tight friend from the neighborhood, your ride-or-die from way back.
Desperate for attention, validation, or romantic/sexual interest — visibly craving it.
Mature content — open to view.
Your connection — the person who can get you what you need, party or otherwise.
An absolutely fire track — a tune so good it sets the crowd off.
Thousands of dollars in cash — one rack is $1,000.
Compton — the neutral three-letter abbreviation, NWA's hat letters.
A deliberately alluring photo posted to attract attention, compliments, or desire.
St. Lawrence — GD set at 63rd & St Lawrence, Woodlawn.
So shocked or amazed you're speechless — left gasping by something stunning.
A resident of Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish — usually said with a smirk.
Selling drugs to make money — the grind drill and trap music document.
Openly and obviously — the loud, no-shame opposite of lowkey.
NOLA way of saying 'at my house,' calqued from French.
Secretly really good, in an understated way.
So funny you're metaphorically dying of laughter — or totally done.
Mature content — open to view.
Nickname for El Paso, Texas — the birthplace of pachuco culture.
A hustle — a profitable lick or money move.
A figure of authority and admiration — the icon everyone looks up to, or the head of a ballroom house.
Throw up a sideways peace sign — Houston's 'peace out'.
To rise into a jumper off the dribble — or, in street slang, to show up somewhere.
So good it's almost offensive — a top-tier compliment for a flawless look or performance.
Loud, lively, and full of energy — usually about music or a scene.
An aggressive challenge to someone's gang credentials.
Mature content — open to view.
Going out to commit violence against rivals.
Mature content — open to view.
Dallas nickname for AT&T Stadium, Jerry Jones's billion-dollar Cowboys palace.
New Orleans-ese for 'at' or 'to' a place, usually someone's house.
The cap emoji — means a lie; sending 🧢 calls out that something is false.
The traditional Mardi Gras shout to a float rider — toss me some beads.
The police — used in UK road slang and US hip-hop alike.
Dodgy, suspicious, or sketchy — something that doesn't feel right.
Patois for a child or kid — your pickney are your children.
Mature content — open to view.
Chief Keef's way of saying 300 — the Lamron Black Disciples set.
Caló for cheap, fake, low-grade — basically trash.
Did something flawlessly and completely — absolutely nailed it with nothing left to criticize.
UK drill word for a knife — or to stab.
A dragonfly — said to hunt mosquitoes.
Flashy, expensive jewelry — the sparkle of chains, rings, and diamonds.
To grab the microphone and command the crowd with serious skill and energy.
Mardi Gras Indians — Black NOLA tribes who mask in elaborate hand-sewn suits.
A fancy overseas whip — your Benz, your Bentley, your Bimmer.
Caló for the cops — the law on your block.
Over-the-top, dramatic, or doing way too much — more than the situation calls for.
Overreacting, acting irrational, or saying something wild.
Moving through life with player energy, integrity and style intact.
Very angry, often in a way that's funny because the person won't admit it.
A playful spin on 'homie' — your close friend, with extra silliness.
Plastic cup for taking your drink onto the street — legal in NOLA.
Crying-laughing. As in, this is so funny I'm dying.
Hyped, rowdy, and turnt — the energy of Southern 2000s rap.
Completely calm and unaffected by drama, criticism, or stress.
Ugly, busted, or low-quality — a harsh insult for looks, fits, or anything that came out badly.
That's outrageous — in the best way.
Louisiana's word for what every other US state calls a county.
Cash earned from the hustle or grind — money made the hard way.
Dallas's preferred local nickname for itself — no 'the' needed.
A drum-fed gun — name's the sound of the mag thumping.
"On my friends" or "on the gang" — used to swear something is true, like "I swear to God."
Money — banknotes with the Queen's face on them.
A ghost or spirit in Caribbean folklore — also slang for ending someone's career.
A nerd-meets-geek; an uncool, awkward or socially clueless person.
Money, cash, paper — a tasty 2000s word for it.
Stabbing or killing in UK drill — drawing blood.
4 Pockets Full — Lil Baby's Atlanta label and crew.
Stabbed up — knife work, drill-scene shorthand.
Bloods' acronym for Bompton — Compton with the C banned.
Dallas slang for your mama (or the woman who raised you).
A sideways look of suspicion, disapproval, or judgment — often shown with the 👀 emoji.
Flirting with or chatting someone up — UK slang.
A whole lot — the NOLA spelling of French beaucoup.
Underground Atlanta — the historic district built below the streets.
The absolute best — something so good it's explosive.
To chill, relax, or hang out somewhere with no agenda.
To lose it and react recklessly out of anger or stress — about to do something you'll regret.
Your day-one girl from the block, the female counterpart to your homeboy.
Oakland slang for lame, wack, beneath you.
Go get the money — stop wasting time and chase that paper.
Slashed or stabbed — UK drill onomatopoeia for the sound of a blade.
Feels uniquely better or more impactful — something that lands in a special way.
An attractive, stylish, confident older man — like "daddy" but with extra swagger.
Mature content — open to view.
Contraction of 'you ain't.'
Yat pronunciation of 'toilet,' straight outta New Orleans.
Did something exceptionally well and left nothing to criticise.
Detroit sign-off — casual 'catch you later'.
'The fatted bull' — Carnival symbol of the last meat before Lent.
To deliver a flawless look or attitude with full confidence — she's serving.
Fredo Santana's Black Disciples-aligned drill collective out of O'Block.
Canarsie-bred Brooklyn drill set/movement put on the map by Pop Smoke and Fivio Foreign.
London way of saying 'I swear' or 'on my life' to insist you're telling the truth.
Memphis / Mid-South pronunciation of Coca-Cola — and a generic word for any soda.
Yat for the kitchen sink.
Crip-internal address term — short for 'cousin'.
Thanks, cool, or all good — a versatile expression of approval.
Excellent, top quality, the highest grade, flipped from drug slang into pure praise.
Dallas tag phrase — 'know what I'm talking about?'
An icon is being an absolute icon — a queen serving exactly what fans love.
Codeine-promethazine cough syrup mixed with soda and candy — the original name for lean.
The contorted ecstasy-rolling grimace, worn on cue at hyphy parties.
Gold teeth — a full mouth of them means you're slugged up.
Move. Now.
The portable stereo you hauled on your shoulder to bring the party with you.
A girlfriend you see as serious, long-term, and basically marriage material.
Dallas nickname for the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.
Stabbed — soaked in your own blood.
A confident, hot, put-together woman who knows she looks good and isn't shy about it.
Looking flawlessly tight, sharp, and perfect — hair, waist, or makeup on point.
The screech of tires — an ad-lib for hype, swerving off, or making a getaway.
Top-tier near-flawless diamonds — the clarity grade rappers name-drop to flex how clean their ice is.
Someone willing to do violence for a crew — and in basketball slang, just a player who scores.
Chief Keef's original collective — later renamed GBE (Glo Gang).
Cash earned through your connect — money from the source or the hookup.
The UK street spelling of 'wha gwaan' — a casual 'what's up' greeting.
Status, success, attention, money, or momentum, especially when someone is actively making things happen.
Connected to the right people — a supplier, the scene, or inside info.
"Brother" or "mate" — a casual British term of address for a friend.
Your neighbourhood — your block, your zone.
Overly excited, hyped, or full of yourself — pumped up, sometimes more than warranted.
Darling — the universal NOLA term of address, used on anybody.
Houston's nickname, earned by the back-to-back-titles Rockets of '94 and '95.
Someone rolling in cash — or the money emoji that flexes it.
Overly upset, bothered, or desperate about something that isn't worth it.
Homestead — north-east Houston neighbourhood.
To rob someone. A robbery.
To roll out with the gang to defend an associate, right or wrong.
An instrumental or beat — Jamaican-derived word that runs through UK street music.
UK slang meaning very attractive or, separately, physically muscular.
UK drill term for a knife — specifically one carried for stabbing.
To rob, scam, or hustle for a payday.
The whole bundle of New Orleans pronunciations and grammar — 'where y'at?'
NOLA rallying cry — now the Saints fans' battle hymn.
Hydraulic suspension system on a lowrider.
A throwaway tag meaning 'type stuff,' added to agree with or punctuate a statement.
To get something through smooth skill or slick manoeuvring — sometimes by trickery.
Got it, chef.
Compton — but said the Blood way, with a B instead of a C.
A low-key, hidden, or chill spot — somewhere private to hang or party.
The girls — the female counterpart to 'mandem,' a group of women.
Co-sign for the exact line that just landed.
Caló 'nope, no way' — rhyming play on 'nel' (no) and 'pastel' (cake).
Caló 'what's up?' — contraction of ¿qué hubo?
A ski mask — usually a Nike tech balaclava — pulled over the face.
A dark, menacing rap subgenre built on sliding 808s and cold, deadpan flows.
Total honesty — 'on a bean' means I'm being straight with you.
1964 Impala — the iconic G-funk lowrider.
The running tally of opps killed, hit or humiliated.
Lit torches carried by walkers in nighttime Mardi Gras parades.
Mature content — open to view.
To arrive or show up somewhere — 'you reaching the party?'
A meetup or hangout — 'we had a linkup' means we got together.
What New Orleans calls a road median.
Rolling on Vogue Tyres — gold-striped whitewalls, slab standard.
'On God' — swearing something's true, the Gen Z cousin of 'I swear.'
Someone born at Grady Memorial — an unfakeable ATL birth certificate.
Crack cocaine — the white side.
Slain BD teen whose name became a drill war cry.
Lean. Codeine-promethazine syrup in a styrofoam double cup.
Exciting, fun, and full of energy — a lit party is amazing. (Also: intoxicated.)
Lands with weirdly outsized emotional or sensory impact.
Caló 'later, dude' — the rhyming Chicano goodbye.
Screwed Up Click — DJ Screw's Houston rap collective.
Mature content — open to view.
The car inspection sticker — what every other state just calls an inspection sticker.
A relaxed 'alright' — agreement, acknowledgment, or a casual goodbye.
Money. Bay Area through and through.
Houston, named for the ten-plus bayous that vein the city.
Excellent, attractive, or really good — especially food, music, or a body.
Agreement tag stuck on the end of a relatable statement.
Heroin — the brown side of the trap line.
Gangster Disciple Killer — drill shorthand for anti-GD allegiance.
The thick New Orleans accent — and the people who carry it.
Houston-mashed contraction of 'know what I'm talkin' 'bout'.
Quality Control — Atlanta's Migos / Lil Baby super-label.
The number 3 — Black Disciples' core symbol, woven into half the names and ad-libs in drill.
A playful term of endearment, like 'honey' — used to address a friend with sass.
To level up, take control, and improve your status or finances.
California — the Chicano/Caló way to say it.
Patois for home or Jamaica itself — 'back a yard' means back home.
A little extra freebie thrown in — Jamaica's version of a bonus or lagniappe.
To release new music — and as a noun, the moment a beat kicks in and the song explodes.
Inside the Perimeter — living within I-285, i.e. actual Atlanta.
22Gz's Flatbush drill set — also slang for opps or being on opp business.
Bitter, annoyed, or resentful — especially after losing or being upset over something small.
Acting unhinged or talking pure nonsense.
The block or area where your enemies — the opps — live and operate.
NOLA-speak for 'your mom and the rest of the family'.
A sawn-off shotgun — Jamaican patois that crossed into UK drill.
Thousands of dollars — money in rubber-banded stacks.
Historic Black NOLA neighborhood near the old New Basin Canal.
A shotgun in UK drill.
Excessively praising or hyping someone up to an embarrassing, suck-up degree.
Mature content — open to view.
To genuinely know what you're talking about — to have real knowledge or taste on a subject.
Money, plain and simple — the cheddar, the paper, the cash.
To get dunked on so hard the moment becomes a poster — total public embarrassment.
To start working — also used jokingly for showing up to do anything.
Get the money, lock in the win, don't fumble the opportunity in front of you.
Long narrow NOLA house with rooms in a straight line front to back.
Money. Bay Area cousin of confetti.
Moving with extreme discretion — handling business without leaving fingerprints.
To buy or grab something, especially a hyped drop you've been waiting on.
Cannabis — specifically the Amnesia Haze strain, by extension any strong weed.
Jerk-dance move where you drop low on the beat.
Let the good times roll — NOLA's unofficial motto.
Dancing to the breaks with footwork, spins, and freezes, the raw original form of breakdancing.
To stab someone — drill-era word for it.
Patois for 'dirty' — can mean filthy, an insult, or a sick beat that goes hard.
A huge payday — the kind of money that changes your whole situation.
Patois for a con artist, trickster, or smooth-talking hustler.
To make money and provide — everybody at the table getting fed.
Loud, potent weed — the strong stuff.
Hip-popping, ass-shaking dance born out of New Orleans bounce.
Patois for 'understood' or 'I get you' — agreement and acknowledgement in one word.
A balaclava.
Drill nickname for Illinois, riffing on the kill count.
Patois for 'can't' — can't do, can't manage, can't be bothered.
The August week Memphis fills with Elvis fans marking the anniversary of his death.
Early-90s West Coast sound — funk samples, synth leads, laid-back basslines.
Caló for a cigarette — the smoke on your lip.
An insult for someone being an idiot or a menace, common in UK and Irish slang.
Wild, exciting, out of control in the best way.
Always ready and down for whatever — no hesitation, on demand.
Said at the end of a statement to mean 'and that's final' — no debate.
Masked up so no one can ID you.
Acting irrationally, overreacting, or being wrong about something.
I already understand and agree — no need to explain further, I'm on it.
Exclamation for being absolutely floored.
Underrated or overlooked — not getting the attention it deserves.
Houston's hometown nickname, in tribute to DJ Screw.
Covered in diamonds and flashy jewelry — dripping in 'ice' from chains to watch.
Only genuine, loyal people understand or remember this — said with knowing pride.
The flame that means something is excellent, hot, or impressive — pure approval.
Hyped up, buzzing, way too excited — sometimes high.
Chicago, nicknamed after Iraq for its body count.
Effortlessly stylish clothes, jewelry, and overall swagger — looking expensive and put-together.
Impressively hard, skilful, and ruthless — high praise for a verse or beat.
Acting wild, inappropriate, or completely off-the-rails — usually said with a laugh.
Memphis 'man' — pronounced with a curl, used like punctuation.
Chicano all-purpose 'right on / alright / let's go'.
Roasting, cracking jokes on somebody.
Backing a defender down near the basket — or, in slang, just parking yourself somewhere.
Aluminum krewe coin thrown from Mardi Gras floats.
Older nickname for Atlanta — now tourist-coded and locally cringe.
Your local area, neighborhood, or hood.
A historic NOLA neighborhood — Marigny, Tremé, St. John, the whole crew.
Bay Area sound — slow tempos, deep 808s, sparse synths.
A lie. To 'cap' is to lie; 'no cap' means no lie, for real.
Old National Highway — south metro Atlanta strip.
Houston driving style — weaving a slab slow and wide across lanes to be seen.
Cinnamon ring cake with a plastic baby inside, eaten through Carnival.
Weed named after slain BD Tooka — smoking it is the diss.
Dressed up sharp in good gear — fully suited and looking the part.
A floor level in a prison wing — where your cell door opens onto.
A gentle British and Scottish insult for a foolish, hapless, or absent-minded person.
The police — from the TV show Hawaii Five-O.
The smooth pitch-bend of an 808 bass — the production move that defines UK drill.
An automatic rifle, usually an AK-pattern — Southern rap's go-to word for a heavy gun.
Oath formula — vouching personally, like 'on God' or 'on my mama'.
Mature content — open to view.
A lifestyle of ease, comfort, and minimal stress, by deliberate choice.
Houston DJ technique — slow the track, chop it up.
Eastside Atlanta — Gucci Mane's home turf.
A whole lot — pronounced 'bookoo' down in NOLA.
G Herbo's stretch of S King Drive, named for slain friend Fazon.
Cajun exclamation of surprise — and also the local word for crappie.
A quick show-off of what you're wearing today, usually a head-to-toe photo or clip.
Pointing finger-guns in the air to salute a hard tune — UK rave appreciation.
The lo-fi, devilish, tape-deck era of 90s Memphis rap.
A vibe-first rap style with slurred, hard-to-catch lyrics — often a dig, sometimes just a description.
Detroit's Seven Mile Road — north-side cultural artery.
An oath meaning 'I swear,' invoking Jah (God) — basically 'on my life.'
Perfectly styled and on point — most famously about eyebrows.
Cool, excellent, or great — old-school London slang.
To drain a jump shot, especially a three, so clean it only touches net.
'Fat Monday' — the day before Mardi Gras.
Madness or chaos — a wild situation. Short for 'madness.'
Caló for solid, tight, good — high praise on the Eastside.
Houston greeting — 'what's happening'.
A circle of rappers taking turns freestyling, each one passing the mic and trying to outdo the last.
Narrow NOLA row house with rooms strung in a single line, no hallway.
The block or strip where street-based sex workers find clients.
Short for ghost-riding the whip.
Hip-hop nickname for lean — codeine cough syrup mixed into soda.
A light-skinned, blond, or white person — Mexican-Spanish nickname.
Waffle House — the 24-hour ATL institution.
UK drill for stabbed.
Oakland street dance — gliding, contorting, flexing on the block.
A UK term for a streetwise young man tied to road culture; can be respect or mockery.
Short for a Draco pistol — a popular firearm reference in trap and drill lyrics.
NOLA's cardinal directions — locals don't use N/S/E/W because the river bends.
Getting what you want by slick-talking or outsmarting someone.
Detroit for clowning, joking, acting silly.
Caló for money — cash, paper, the bag.
Chicago street organization, split from the Black Gangster Disciple Nation in the '70s; backbone of half the drill scene.
300 Killer — Lil JoJo's diss flip of Chief Keef's '3Hunna'.
A subtle, sly insult or disrespect — disrespect implied rather than said outright.
To publicly call someone out or expose embarrassing details about them.
Lockdown defense — when you stick to your man so tight he can't breathe.
Oakland, California — the Bay's grittier twin to San Francisco.
Locked into money mode — focused entirely on getting paid.
An imaginary scoreboard for how cool or cringe your actions are — gain aura for wins, lose it for fails.
GD set on 69th Street, Englewood — Lil JoJo's crew.
To stab someone — knife reference, chef's knife.
Memphis crew named for the rotating count of members — three to six, depending who's around.
Caught off guard, unprepared, or slipping — in a vulnerable position.
Short for "uncle" — an older guy, or anyone acting old or out of touch with trends.
Patois for 'going on' — what's happening, or telling someone to carry on.
"Fixing to" — about to or going to do something soon.
A diehard listener of Dallas sports-radio station The Ticket (KTCK).
Money or profit — 'getting coin' means getting paid.
Patois pronunciation of 'girl' — a girl, woman, or someone's girlfriend.
E-40's nickname for the Bay — yay = cocaine.
Houston nickname for lean — purple codeine drank.
An affectionate term for a close friend or brother, rooted in Jamaican Patois.
Late-night reckless energy — going hard, on a track or in the streets.
Criminal Behaviour Order — the court order that muzzles UK drill artists.
Oakland youth bike with spokes wrapped in coloured duct tape and tinfoil.
Someone who buys hyped brands and drops just to flex, often chasing clout over real taste.
Wood-grain steering wheel — a signature interior detail of a Houston slab.
Conflict, beef, or a problem with someone — 'who's got smoke?'
To spend a large amount of money on something, no flinching.
Extremely good, usually about food that tastes amazing — 'this food is bussin.'
A dream piece you've been hunting forever — the holy-grail item of your collection.
Describes the vibe or energy something gives off — 'it's giving main character energy.'
A casual gathering for gossip, laughs, and good vibes with your people.
Showing out — performing in flashy, undeniable style.
So funny it leaves you weak with laughter.
To celebrate loudly — and the upward two-palm gesture that goes with it.
Real conversation about money — making it, moving it, multiplying it.
An extra-emphatic 'da bomb' — the very best, with a 90s flourish.
The skull that means 'I'm dead' — as in dying of laughter, not actual death.
South LA's main artery and cruising strip — Nipsey Hussle's block.
Locked in on violence — actively up to no good.
The elevated stretch of I-10 arching over the Industrial Canal — a NOLA landmark.
Driving while armed or holding drugs.
Greatest Of All Time — the best ever at something.
Effortless personal style with attitude — a blend of 'style' and 'ease.'
The blue, frosty face that means literally freezing — or that something is 'cold' as in impressively ruthless.
The signature jerkin' move — a running-man done backwards.
Mature content — open to view.
Cajun dance party — named after putting the kids to bed.
Patois pronunciation of 'little' — small in size, amount, or affection.
Money, cash, paper — a classic West Coast term for the green.
Disrespectful, sly, or taking someone for a fool.
Coded slang for a firearm, especially a long gun — common in drill lyrics to dodge moderation.
"No lie" or "for real" — used to stress that you're being completely honest.
The one-bar Showboys loop that powers nearly every New Orleans bounce track.
Houston custom car — Slow, Loud And Bangin' — a candy-painted American luxury sedan on swangas.
Everybody talking at once — overlapping, chaotic, joyful conversation.
Pachuco Caló for shoes — especially shined-up dress shoes.
Memphis 'joint' — a thing, a person, a whatever-you-mean.
'Forever I Love Atlanta' — citywide loyalty tag.
Hands on the wood-grain wheel — slab driving posture.
A semi-automatic gun.
Caló for an old lady — wife, girlfriend, ride-or-die.
In football, to out-jump a defender for a catch right over them — total aerial domination.
To move around quietly, often up to something or scoping a situation out.
Old National Highway — the stretch of GA-279 in south Fulton, ATL slang shorthand.
Sausage — Yat pronunciation, roughly SAH-sage.
Mature content — open to view.
UK street slang for a respected, top-tier person; the boss or main man.
Trinity Gardens — north-east Houston neighbourhood.
A crossover so nasty the defender slips, stumbles, or falls trying to keep up.
Long Beach, California — Snoop and Warren G's home turf.
A fake friend, traitor, or untrustworthy person — UK slang from "pagan."
"You all" — the Southern second-person plural that's gone fully mainstream.
Local name for the French Quarter — literally 'old square'.
To ambush an enemy by surprise, usually ganging up several-on-one.
Running away. Feet doing the work.
Mature content — open to view.
Clean, new, and sharp, the look of somebody stepping out flawless head to toe.
Posting up in a parking lot in your slab to flirt and floss.
An automatic machine pistol — the Mac-10 or Mac-11.
Yat for sidewalk.
'For real' — used to agree hard or to swear you're being dead serious.
A grand — £1,000, or a fat stack of cash.
Cajun-rooted pet name for a kid or sweetheart.
A term of endearment for a close friend — 'sister' shortened, used regardless of gender.
Someone who's seriously good at basketball — a real player, not a casual.
MDMA / ecstasy, Bay Area slang popularised by Mac Dre.
Gwinnett County, northeast of Atlanta — Nawf-side territory in ATL rap.
Sharp, crisp, and well put-together — a fit with no clutter and zero flaws.
A shotgun house with a single-story front and a two-story rear.
To notice, recognize, or call out something — especially catching what someone's trying to hide.
Someone from the Rio Grande Valley of deep South Texas.
To burn, smoke, or to disregard/dismiss something or someone.
Yat pronunciation of 'oil' — cooking oil, motor oil, any oil.
A lot of, plenty — 'brave man came to the rave.'
A paying client, or the act of seeing one.
Smashed-together 'trying to' — wanting or about to do something.
Caló nickname for San Antonio, originally street slang for the county jail.
The feds. The police.
A knife in UK drill — the thing that gets you wet.
Glory Boyz Entertainment — Chief Keef's original imprint before it rebranded to Glo Gang.
Young Thug's habit of rewriting other rappers' titles by swapping letters.
Rapping off the top of your head — or, confusingly, just a loosely-themed track.
Galveston — the beach city an hour south of Houston.
Really good or really satisfying — food, music, or a vibe that lands.
Mature content — open to view.
Isolation — one-on-one, you against your defender, everyone else clear out.
Houston's Third Ward — Scarface country, Screwed Up territory.
To rap, especially to deliver bars with skill — 'spit a verse' means lay down some rhymes.
A drug user — usually a crackhead — calling the line for a fix.
The riskiest, wildest frontier of crypto — hunting new memecoins and speculative launches; also street slang for a rough area.
Working hard and consistently toward a goal, especially making money.
Mature content — open to view.
A car fitted with hydraulics — it 'has juice'.
New Orleans name for the chayote — vegetable pear, pantry staple.
A party or social gathering — often shortened to 'the func' or 'the funk.'
Shaking My Head — wordless disappointment or disbelief at something dumb.
'You already know' — an emphatic yes, agreement, or confirmation.
Caló name for El Paso — the root of the word 'pachuco.'
Out of jail but on parole or probation — every move tracked.
Cool and excellent — or, flipped, annoyed and mad.
To collect a serious amount of money or land a big win.
Jerk move — sudden drop landing on your toes.
Excellent, the best, top-tier, the word that named a whole record label.
The inmate whose word actually moves the yard.
A break-boy who lived for the breaks, throwing down on cardboard with footwork and freezes.
The police.
British slang for a soft, pathetic, or wimpy person who can't handle anything.
Influence, fame, or social pull — especially online clout from followers and attention.
San Antonio identity word — pure, exclusively, unmistakably local.
A Romanian Mini-Draco AK pistol — the trap world's status weapon.
Large amounts of money — often a stack means a thousand dollars.
To watch, study, or check someone or something out closely.
A voodoo charm to ward off evil — or wish it on someone.
Leave London to deal drugs in a smaller town.
The animal that stands for G.O.A.T. — Greatest Of All Time.
To dance, especially loose and free to funky music — or to head out fast.
Atlanta's rail and bus system — the city's public transit, lovingly roasted.
Underground pedestrian network beneath downtown Dallas.
Hiding drugs inside your body to smuggle them.
Phonetic 'north' — North Atlanta / Gwinnett County.
Pulled in tight at the waist for a dramatic hourglass — the look is cinched.
Pickup truck, in Tex-Mex Spanglish.
Emphatic New Orleans agreement — the canonical Yat affirmation.
Memphis verb — get rowdy, go wild, lose it in the pit.
To show up somewhere, often unexpectedly — to make an appearance and let your presence be felt.
Confident style and self-assured attitude — the way you carry your look and yourself.
A dramatic 'child' — used to express exasperation, shade, or storytime energy.
An older full-size American sedan dressed up for Bay Area hyphy car culture.
A streetwise, tough, masculine urban type — also a ballroom realness category.
Strong, impressive, or cool — London slang popularised by Lethal Bizzle.
New Orleans for 'how you doing?' — not 'where are you'.
A drain or sewer, Brummie style.
'For sure' in Snoop Dogg's signature -izzle talk.
Caught off-guard with no backup and no weapon.
Impressive and knowing it — often said sarcastically of someone who thinks they're hot stuff.
A hyped-up 'work it' — a shout of approval when someone looks or performs flawlessly.
An informal unit of volume — roughly what fit in the giant paper sacks from the old Schwegmann's grocery chain.
Names the vibe or aesthetic something projects.
DJ Screw's slowed-down cassette mixtapes out of Houston.
The legendary LA hip-hop radio station name-dropped across West Coast rap.
Trap subgenre where the bars are about credit-card fraud and digital scams.
Inglewood, California.
Float down Atlanta's Chattahoochee River on a tube or raft.
Houston alt-name for chopped and screwed.
An all-purpose 'I agree, for real, truth' — agreement and acknowledgment in one syllable.
Weed — Bay Area slang from an E-40 record.
A mild insult for an idiot or fool, borrowed from the Arabic word for 'boy.'
Someone loyal enough to stick with you through anything.
A shrug in word form: the situation is bad, you can't change it, so you're done fighting it.
Mature content — open to view.
A disrespectful insult or diss, or the act of taking the mick out of someone.
An enemy, a rival, someone on the other side — short for 'opposition'.
Clothes — a classic, slightly retro way to refer to your outfit or wardrobe.
A house used as a base for selling drugs.
A close friend or loyal ally — a term of endearment popularized in rap, especially YSL.
The classic Jamaican greeting — literally 'what's going on', like 'what's up'.
Money — a banknote, named for the Queen on the front.
Police — typically shouted as a warning.
To meet up with someone, or to date casually.
To destroy, break, or wreck something — or to absolutely smash a performance.
Houston, said like a local.
Removable jeweled mouthpieces — gold, silver, or diamond caps you snap over your teeth.
Caló for dude or guy — the OG East LA word for a man.
Mature content — open to view.
Sugar — endearment from older NOLA women, pronounced SHOOG.
Plainclothes anti-crime cops who pile out of an unmarked car and rush suspects.
To stop in and visit somewhere, not just walk past it.
Tire-screech ad-lib — let's move.
When a tune goes so hard the DJ spins it straight back from the top.
Cedar Springs Road — Dallas's main LGBTQ+ nightlife corridor in Oak Lawn.
An exclamation of shock at a big or attractive backside — basically 'god damn' for a curvy figure.
Kicking back totally relaxed and unbothered, cool with no worries at all.
A younger gang member, usually under 18.
A player's full set of moves and skills — their offensive arsenal.
Flat-bottomed Cajun canoe built to glide through the bayou.
Bad, lame, or low-quality — the opposite of dope.
Pulling off robberies or scores.
A device that makes a pistol fire fully automatic — a heavily referenced and illegal modification in drill.
Driving or roaming the opps' area looking for someone to catch.
Mature content — open to view.
Shocked, rattled, or badly shaken — caught off guard emotionally.
To do something impressively well or look amazing — "you slayed" is high praise.
Street name for Actavis promethazine codeine — the holy grail of lean ingredients.
A large amount of money — slang for serious cash.
Drill brag: smoking weed named for a killed enemy.
A veiled, contemptuous insult — disrespect you barely have to spell out.
Quietly, secretly, or kind of — softening or admitting something a little.
The neighbourhood — Spanish-speaking, often working-class.
A genuinely great, catchy song — if a track is a bop, it goes hard and you can't stop playing it.
Your enemies, rivals, or opposition — especially a rival crew, gang, or anyone who's against you.
Money in general — borrowing the Spanish word as a casual flex term.
The up-and-down butt-bounce dance — NOLA's original twerk.
Effortless personal style and confidence — a blend of "style" and "ease."
Showing off your money, status, or wins — putting it on display.
Short for pachuco — also a nickname for El Paso.
A blade. Razor, knife, anything sharp.
Big money — the more commas in your bank balance, the richer you are.
Plain-clothes police who leap out of unmarked cars on you.
Killed. MLE/drill euphemism for being murdered.
A po-boy loaded with lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo.
Silly, ridiculous, slightly cursed — but said with a smirk.
The red '100' that means total agreement, authenticity, or perfect — keeping it 100.
Atlanta's uptown — money, nightlife, drip.
Houston's I-610 ring road; 'inner looper' = lives inside it.
Caló for 'dude' or 'that guy' — the classic East LA address.
NW Dallas pocket where every street is named after a Disney character.
Gossip, truth, the inside story.
Wockhardt-brand promethazine codeine syrup — a prized lean ingredient.
Strong, sticky, smelly weed — a compliment.
Money — Bay Area, short for scrilla.
Caught by police — cuffed and processed.
Living rich, spending big, flexing the lifestyle.
Crip term of endearment — 'Love Of Crip'.
Iced in jewels, rolling in a candy-paint slab — Houston's full-flex setting.
Cool, sick, impressive — a respelling of 'tough' used as pure praise.
Spanglish 'see you later' — I'll watch for you.
On foot — running, escaping, or hunting on your own two feet.
Impromptu East Oakland parking-lot meet — donuts, ghost-rides, street racing.
Going at opps — attacking, invading rival blocks, putting in work.
A Black masculine lesbian; a term rooted in Black queer women's culture.
Weed — cannabis, usually the green you're smoking right now.
A 125cc scooter — drill's preferred ride-out wheels.
Oysters, in the thick Yat accent of working-class New Orleans.
Mature content — open to view.