Informed, up to date, fashionable, contemporary, relevant. Being modern in dress, attitude and interests. From "hepi," meaning "well-informed" from the West African language of Wolof.
The word was probably introduced to America by slaves imported from West Africa, and was still in use in 1930'
s era
black speech. Hip/hep probably entered the mainstream American lexicon by way of the Beatnik subculture, who believed in racial integration, listened to black
music and used words borrowed from
black speech.