"Bootylicious"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 11/7/06, Scot LaFaive <spiderrmonkey at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Not sure if this has ever been discussed, but after virtually flipping through
> the OED today, I ran across "bootylicious." First I was surprised that
> it was in the OED already, but then I was confused by the first sense: "Of
> rap lyrics: bad, weak." Is this true? I'll admit that "bootylicious" isn't
> part of my normal vocabulary (esp. not back in '92 and '96 when the OED
> citations are from), but it seems really odd to me that it means bad or weak.
> The two citations are below.
> 1992 SNOOP DOGGY DOGG Fuck Wit Dre Day (song) in Dr. Dre
> Chronic (album), Them rhymes you were kickin were quite bootylicious.
> 1996 So when you see Dre, a DJ on the Mic in alt.rap (Usenet Newsgroup)
> 26 Nov., He's great on 100 Miles, but his rhymes are quite bootylicious on
> Efil4zaggin.
> Am I the only one who gets the opposite sense as the OED here?

For the 1992 cite, the context makes it clear that Snoop is dissing a
fellow rapper:

  "Your bark was loud, but your bite wasn't vicious
   And them rhymes you were kickin were quite bootylicious."

The Usenet from '96 contrasts two NWA albums, one where Dr. Dre is
"great" and one where he isn't, so the negative connotation is clear.
Plus, it's an obvious allusion to the original usage (Snoop's guest
appearance on Dre's "The Chronic").

Anyway, we shouldn't be surprised that an extended form of "booty" has
this kind of negative sense, given how "booty" is used adjectivally in
hiphop lyrics, usually to deprecate another rapper's skills:

   "But your rhymes are so booty you should write 'em on White Cloud."
   --Big Daddy Kane, "Down the Line"

   "The competition is booty, get the picture now?"
   --LL Cool J, "It Gets No Rougher"

   "Your booty rhymes are wack and that's the reason I ain't hearin ya."
   --A Tribe Called Quest, "Scenario"

There's also the similarly pejorative "booty-ass":

   "So if your booty ass lyrics don't get to me, the stench will."
   --MC Serch, "Daze in a Weak"

   "I won't let a booty-ass rapper get wins against me."
   --GangStarr, "Take a Rest"

(Neither adjectival "booty" nor "booty-ass" are in HDAS or OED, sad to say.)

--Ben Zimmer

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