we up
1) In street culture influenced by Chicago gang culture and Drill Music, "we up" is an oblique reference to the score. The score is a record of gang members slain by their rivals. Each death demands reprisal. Literally, then, to be "up" means that your side has killed more of their side than they have of yours; you have a net positive account of bodies.
2) To be "up" also means to be solvent, to have drugs to sell, and to be powerful, on point, in the sense of "on top." This wider usage is probably because the direction "up" usually corresponds with positivity, happiness, and thought in our culture, according to George Lakoff.
2) To be "up" also means to be solvent, to have drugs to sell, and to be powerful, on point, in the sense of "on top." This wider usage is probably because the direction "up" usually corresponds with positivity, happiness, and thought in our culture, according to George Lakoff.
"You must be trippin' if you really think that they up"
- G Fredo
"Have you any refined cocaine in your possession, which you are willing to exchange for currency, later today?"
"Yeah, we up."
- G Fredo
"Have you any refined cocaine in your possession, which you are willing to exchange for currency, later today?"
"Yeah, we up."
we up by The Grown-Up August 9, 2020
Words you can keep
