20 slang words popularized by hit songs

20 slang words popularized by hit songs

Slang, a term for the informal, non-standard lingo used in social settings, doesn’t originate in a vacuum. The invented words we casually throw around come from the culture around us, particularly the music industry.

A great deal of music-related terms stem from hip-hop, more specifically through the genre of rap. Because rap tends to draw heavily from Black culture, many rap-based slang terms have roots in African American Vernacular English (AAVE), a dialect of English commonly spoken in Black communities. This cultural context informs high-profile hip-hop artists, whose work consequently influences commonly used, everyday slang terms.

While many recent slang terms with roots in music originated in hip-hop, there are some exceptions; a common te