drop science (1987)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

>From the OED's Sep. 2004 draft additions for "drop":

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drop, v.
trans. slang (orig. U.S.).

a. To sing or perform (rap lyrics or rap music).
[...]
b. to drop science: to impart knowledge or wisdom, freq. about social
issues, esp. through the medium of rap or hip-hop music.
Recorded in 1989 on the television programme CBS This Morning in J. E.
Lighter's Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang (1994) I. 660/2: 'Droppin' science is
when she's really explainin' what's goin' on.’
1990 'PARIS' Break Grip of Shame (song) in L. A. Stanley Rap: the Lyrics
(1992) 245 Paris is my name, I don't sleep I drop science and keep the
peace.
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There are numerous rap songs from the late '80s that use the expression
"drop science".  Here's the earliest usage that I know of:

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Eric B. & Rakim, "My Melody" on _Paid in Full_ (1987)

I drop science like a scientist, My melody's in a code.
...
Just turn it on and start rockin, mind no introduction
Til I finish droppin science, no interruption.

http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/rakim/paid/mymelody.rkm.txt
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The following year, Marley Marl (w/ Craig G) had a song called "Droppin'
Science" on the album _In Control, Vol. I_.  By 1989, the expression was
common enough to appear on albums by Big Daddy Kane, NWA, the Beastie
Boys, Boogie Down Productions, and others.

The expression apparently originated among members of the Five Percent
offshoot of the Nation of Islam.  For an explanation of the Five Percenter
understanding of "science" (ultimately derived from the Moorish Science
Temple), see "Islam in the Mix: Lessons of the Five Percent" by Ted
Swedenburg: <http://comp.uark.edu/~tsweden/5per.html>.


--Ben Zimmer