[Ads-l] Antedating of "Props" (Due Respect)

[Ben Zimmer]

Here are a few examples of "props" from rap songs released in 1989:

---
1989 DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, "Jeff Waz On The Beat Box"
But straight up, man, you gotta give him his props
---
1989 Freddie Foxxx, "Stop, Look & Listen"
Kill your brain, give you no props
---
1989 Freddie Foxxx, "The Master"
Come strong, and you might get props, son
---

Via Matt Kohl's site The Right Rhymes: https://therightrhymes.com/props/

The site gives the release date of "Jeff Waz On The Beat Box" as Apr. 17,
1989, but that might be an error. The song was on DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh
Prince's album "And in This Corner..." released on Oct. 17, 1989. (It was
also on the B-side of the "I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson" 12", released
around the same time.)
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/d_j-jazzy-jeff-and-the-fresh-prince/and-in-this-corner/

The two Freddie Foxxx songs are from his album "Freddie Foxxx Is Here,"
released on Oct. 13, 1989.
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/freddie-foxxx/freddie-foxxx-is-here-2/

The Right Rhymes also lists a purported example from 1988, Biz Markie's
"Make The Music With Your Mouth, Biz." (Some sites date the song to a 1986
EP.) A line from the song is transcribed as "It's not all the props,
spittin', breathin hard, and doin." That transcription appears to come from
the Original Hip-Hop Lyrics Archive:
https://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/bizmark/goin_off/make_msc.biz.txt

But on Genius, that line is transcribed as "It's not all about spittin',
breathin' hard and chewin'."
https://genius.com/Biz-markie-make-the-music-with-your-mouth-biz-lyrics

>From a quick listen, the Genius version seems to be correct.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t1zgmjBRjA&t=152s (at 2:32)

--bgz

On Wed, May 13, 2026 at 7:14 AM Shapiro, Fred <
00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> props (OED 1990)
>
> 1989 Chicago Metro News 3 June 4 (GenealogyBank)
>
> In a school system 65 percent Black, no one can expect the Black community
> to sit back and watch the superintendency snatched away and, secondly, Dr.
> Byrd should be given all his props and allowed to compete for his own job
> in the same manner that other candidates will.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org