The 15 Best Made-Up Words in Rap History
Discover top 15 made-up words in hip-hop, showcasing crea...
The 15 Best Made-Up Words in Rap History
BYERNEST BAKER
Apr 10, 2013
Hip-hop has never played by the rules, especially when it comes to grammar. Slang is a huge part of the culture, and sometimes MCs go as far to completely invent their own words. French Montana caused a stir last year when he accidentally created "fanute," but that was far from the first time a word's etymology could be sourced to rap music. A decade prior, Ali and Murphy Lee released "Boughetto" as a single. Before that, E-40 was regularly coming up with new words, and earned a reputation as a slang craftsman in return. After hearing enough of these, we decided to round up the genre's greatest examples. Here are The 15 Best Made-Up Words in Rap History.
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15. "Fanute" —French Montana
Image via Complex Original
Origin: Rick Ross f/ Drake & French Montana "Stay Schemin" (2012)
Context: "Fanute the coupe to the Ghost, dog"
"Fanute" is the most famous of all made-up words in recent memory. "Fanute" is also a special case in that it was a term invented accidentally, much as Audio Two accidentally created one of hip-hop's best drum loops on "Top Billin." The word was invented thanks to a strange blend of authorial slur, sonic coincidence, and misunderstanding. The original lyric—"from that hooptie coupe to the Ghost, dog"—was heard by many listeners as "Fanute the coup." It became an Internet phenomenon, first identified by writer Joe Coscarelli before it even had an UrbanDictionary.com definition. Soon it was everywhere, even written up as an example of a "Mondegreen" in the New York Times Magazine. Ultimately, French himself was forced to weigh in. -David Drake
14. "Shaboobalaboopy" —Mistah F.A.B.
Image via Complex Original
Origin: Mistah F.A.B. "Don't Know" (2005)
Context: "I bet you I can make u say shaboobalaboopy/What the hell it mean? I don't know you bootsy"
It's funny how Mistah F.A.B. attempts to explain the meaning of "shaboobalaboopy" in the chorus, but like the title, we still don't know what the hell it means. Like, does "shaboobalaboopy" translate to "I don't know you, bootsy"—or is he holding back on revealing the meaning due to unfamiliarity with the individual asking? We're confused, word to Young Buck. -Ernest Baker
13. "Hospitee" —Noreaga
Image via Complex Original
Origin: Capone-N-Noreaga f/ Foxy Brown "Bang Bang" (2000)
Context: "I aim you, so you should just let us be/Or find yourself shot up, in the hospitee"
Noreaga is simultaneously an underrated rapper and a best-terrible rap verse writer, and Capone-N-Noreaga's "Bang Bang" is one of several moments of transcendent brilliance. But it's the only one (to our recollection) that also included a made-up word: "I aim you, so you should just let us be/Or find yourself shot up, in the hospitee." Never the deftest MC, N.O.R.E. made up for that shortcoming with pure brute force. If the word "Hospital" doesn't rhyme with "Let us be," you just slam it into place, verbal hammer into linguistic nail. The bent nail becomes a new word. "I meant to do that," you say, and language is invented. -David Drake
12. "Stiplificate" —Pharoahe Monche
Image via Complex Original
Origin: Organized Konfusion "Intro" (1994)
Context: "So never anticipate, on a specific style/When I stiplificate, my hieroglyphic file, wait"
"Stiplify" already stands on shaky ground as a sort of nonexistent word, but it can at least lay claim to slang use that verbalizes stipulation. "Stiplificate," on the other hand, adds a bunch of syllables and has almost certainly not been used by anyone except the Pharoahe. But hey, he had to make the bars rhyme. Sometimes that just requires completely making some shit up. -Ernest Baker
11. "Boughetto" —Ali
Image via Complex Original
Origin: Ali f/ Murphy Lee "Boughetto" (2002)
Context: "If you got an expensive weave, that's boughetto"
This word, of course, had an entire song built in tribute to it. What better way to navigate the complex interworkings of socio-cultural and economic divisions within the African-American community than a song by forgotten St. Lunatics member behind the underrated (no, seriously) 2002 LP Heavy Starch?
The "Boughetto" video is, naturally, set in a classroom, where we learn about what, exactly, it means to be both bourgeois and ghetto at the same damn time: "Got a lake, a pool and a jacuzzi,baby/But it's still McDonald's and a movie, baby." Boughetto, in other words, is about being new money, coming from nothing but remembering where you come from. This is similar territory to what the Big Tymers mined on "Still Fly," but they were unable to come up with a single made-up word to define it.
While Murphy Lee's guest verse is more on an autobiographical tip, Ali sticks to the song's concept, explaining the level of cultural navigation made herein: "Throwin' trash out the Benz on the highway/But the old school still spillin' oil in the driveway." -David Drake
10. "Flamboastin" —E-40
Image via Complex Original
Origin: E-40 f/ Baby "Flamboastin" (2000)
Context: "Flamboastin, yolkin, dip-n-flowing"
This word is a clever combination of "flamboyant" and "boasting." Since the acts of being flamboyant and boasting go hand-in-hand, at times overlapping, "flamboastin" is a logical creation. The same can't always be said for E-40's other notorious slang inventions. Gems like "pimpalufagus" are just an extension of his knack for smooth-sounding terminology. -Ernest Baker
9. "Wanksta" —50 Cent
Image via Complex Original
Origin: 50 Cent "Wanksta" (2002)
Context: "You say you a gangsta but you never pop none/We say you a wanksta and you need to stop frontin'"
50 Cent always had a one-up over all the other rappers in the industry. He lost his record deal because his label was scared to do business with a real gangster who had taken nine shots. He also had true hate in his heart for Ja Rule—a beef that was much realer than his later entertainment-fueled feuds. What better way than to disparage his enemies and let the industry know he was gunning for that No. 1 spot than to invent his own word: "Wanksta." The meaning was obvious to anyone who heard it. It needed no explaining—unless you misheard him and thought 50 was opting for the British slang, "wanker." -Insanul Ahmed
8. "Looptid" —Shock G
Image via Complex Original
Origin: Digital Underground "The Humpty Dance" (1990)
Context: "I shoot an arrow like Cupid/I use a word that don't mean nothing, like looptid"
One of history's most well-known made-up words was the most self-aware made-up word possible. Shock G's Humpty Hump alter-ego was an excuse to get random on the microphone, and that's part of why "The Humpty Dance" is such a timeless classic today. But what does "looptid" mean, you ask? Let's look at context for clues: "I get stupid, I shoot an arrow like Cupid/I use a word that don't mean nothin, like looptid."
Theory: Shock had a line about what sample he'd used (and "looped it,") but, in a moment of premonition, cleared the way for JuJu's "Reign of the Tec" verse three years later ("Les flipped the ill shit kid, yo he looped it") by rewriting his line. -David Drake
7. "Suntanama" —The GZA
Image via Complex Original
Origin: Ol' Dirty Bastard f/ GZA "Damage" (1995)
Context: "Yo, he wasn't from Panama/I asked him how he get so dark, the nigga said suntanama"
The great thing about "suntanama" is that you can use it in everyday conversation. "Yo I'm bout to hit the beach and get my suntanama on," or "Shorty needs to get down with sunscreen because she looking suntanama'd out." Problem is, it never really caught on as it was an album cut from Dirty's album. But we're sure all Panamanian Wu-Tang fans can quote it. -Insanul Ahmed
6. "Apologin" —Kanye West
Image via Complex Original
Origin: Kanye West "Can't Tell Me Nothing" (2007)
Context: "Don't ever fix your lips like collagen/To say something when you gon end up apologin"
A typical case of lyrical enjambment by Yeezy, he replaced "apologizing" with "aplologin" and his verse sounded better for it (though some fans just couldn't let it go and took to Internet forums). It was no surprise though, Kanye had often used enjambment in his rhymes, squeezing phrases and words to make things fit. Few rappers can get away with it, but his endearing earnestness earns him a pass. -Insanul Ahmed
5. "Bling Bling" —3rd Eye
Image via Complex Original
Origin: Super Cat "Dolly My Baby (Remix)" (1993)
Context: "Bling, bling! Who's that with Supercat"
Although 3rd Eye (you know, the guy who raps on Super Cat's "Dolly My Baby (Remix)" before Biggie) had used the phrase "bling bling" before Lil Wayne, it was certainly Cash Money's anthem "Bling Bling" that popularized referring to jewelry as bling. It only made sense for Cash Money to be the ones to popularize the term, few crews wore as many chains as they did and they were rolling with the #1 Stunna, Birdman. The term became to commonplace it eventually made it to the dictionary and even Mitt Romney used the phrase once. -Insanul Ahmed
4. "Magmatize" —Nas
Image via Complex Original
Origin: Nas "It Ain't Hard To Tell" (1994)
Context: "So analyze me, surprise me, but can't magmatize me"
Ah, the age-old problem of artist intent. It would take a philosopher to get to the bottom of this puzzle. What did Nas intend? Does it matter? Perhaps "magmatize" means to strike with hot magma and Nas easily evades magma. Or, perhaps more likely, it's a simple mispronunciation of "magnetize," a reference to Rakim's opening lines on "Eric B. for President." Rakim didn't let the mic magnetize him; Nas doesn't let anyone...magmatize him. Perhaps it's simply better to let the ambiguity of the term remain a mystery: an error in hip-hop errata or a piece of long-forgotten slang. The mystery is likely more entertaining than any real definition. -David Drake
3. "Acknickulous" —EST
Image via Complex Original
Origin: Three Times Dope "From Da Giddy Up" (1988)
Context: "Cold gettin' rough and I'm scuffin' sucker type MCs up/Acknickulous, yeah, from the giddy up"
Philadelphia crew Three Times Dope might be more famous for creating this word than anything else. "Acknickulous" was first used on their debut's single, "From Da Giddy Up," but it earned enough attention that their follow-up album was titled Live From Acknickulous Land. The term can be used interchangeably with "awesome," "dope," and any other variation of adjectives that pertain to greatness. It isn't a variation of anything else, either. This is straight up word invention, and perhaps the earliest example in hip-hop. -Ernest Baker
2. "Mamajahambo" —Large Professor
Image via Complex Original
Origin: Main Source f/ Nas, Joe Fatal, and Akinyele "Live at the Barbeque" (1991)
Context: "Don't talk about how you can break Rambo/That's just a bunch of mamajahambo"
Maybe he thought we wouldn't notice because Nasty Nas was making his legendary debut on wax, but Extra P was really slanging that nonsense on this one. It almost feels like he mixed mumbo jumbo with ham just to give it that extra funky flavor. When you think about it, there's a ton of words that rhyme with Rambo, so the professor at large was probably just trying to get noticed. -Insanul Ahmed
1. "Illmatic" —Cormega
Image via Complex Original
Origin: PHD f/ Cormega "Set It Off" (1991)
Context: "Mega mic prototype/I kill static like Illmatic Ice."
The word has come to refer to pretty much just one thing: a 40-minute 1994 LP released on Columbia Records. But it was something else first. Although his name is primarily associated with it nowadays, Nasir Jones cannot lay claim to inventing "Illmatic." Intelligent Hoodlum, better known as Tragedy, first spit the word "Illmatical" back in '88, narrowly avoiding its invention on Marley Marl's "The Rebel": The rap automatical, the rhymatical/Forget ill, I get illmatical/Biceps pulsating in my lungs/Queensbridge Projects is where I'm from. Not sure how biceps pumped through his lungs, but Tragedy's grasp of biology is for another post.
It was Cormega's verse on PHD's "Set It Off" that beat Nas to the punch for the exact word: "Mega mic prototype/I kill static like Illmatic Ice/My device has long clip of infrared light." Work your contextual magic on that one. Nas, though, defined the word in a 2009 interview with XXL: "Illmatic is supreme ill. It's as ill as ill gets. That shit is a science of everything ill." -David Drake
