Opp / Opps

Submission 16,700

Part of a series on AAVE / African American Vernacular English. [View Related Entries]

About

Opp (plural: Opps) is an African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) slang term popularized in hip-hop and rap culture. The term is typically used to refer to one's opponents, with the common understanding being that the term "opp" stems from the word "opposition." The abbreviation grew in prevalence online in the late 2010s, with a slew of Chicago rappers and Chief Keef, in particular, helping to popularize the term after the year 2016.

Origin

According to Genius,^[1] the earliest use of the word "opposition" in a rap song was in a 1985 track named "Rock The Bells" by rapper LL Cool J, where he says, "Be forced to assault / Opposition will halt" (seen below, left).^[2] Another early use of the word "opposition" stems from the Dr. Dre song "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" where he says, "But I ain't no politician, no competition / Sending all opposition to see a mortician" (seen below, right).^[3]

However, the earliest known use of the abbreviation "opp" stems from a more recent song by Chicago-based drill artist Chief Keef, in his 2011 track "John Madden," in which he says, "Better stop, fuck nigga we don't fuck with opps (Nah)." The track can be accessed via upload to YouTube from October 30th, 2011,^[4] where it gathered over 16 million views in 11 years (seen below).

Spread

Other early uses of the word "opp" stem from Lil Reese, Chief Keef's contemporary at the time, in his track "Us," in which he says, "Fuck a opp, we send shots." The track can be accessed via an April 4th, 2012, video uploaded to the YouTube^[5] channel A Zae Production, where it gathered over 14 million views in 10 years (seen below, left). Chief Keef uses the word "opp" again in his track "Citgo," which was uploaded to the YouTube^[6] channel Homespun Media Group on August 15, 2013, where it gathered over 30 million views in nine years (seen below, right).

Use of the term "opp" in rap music remained largely minimal until 2016, after which the word exploded into popularity, primarily due to the increased virality of the Chicago drill music scene Chief Keef pioneered. Various rap artists like Travis Scott, ^[7] Playboi Carti, ^[8] Lil Uzi Vert ^[9] and others popularized the term in the latter half of the 2010s.

The use of the word "opp" also entered mainstream slang during the late 2010s, with the earliest viral uses of the term appearing in 2018. Playboi Carti,^[10] Lil Durk,^[11] Cardi B^[12] and Young Thug^[13] notably tweeted using the word "opp" in 2018.

On May 27th, 2021, Twitter^[14] user @ItzMcDonaldFor3 posted a tweet using the word, gathering over 120,000 likes in over a year (seen below, left). On November 18th, 2021, Twitter^[15] user @qbesy_e posted a tweet using the word "opp" as well, gathering over 180,000 likes in nearly a year (seen below, right).

On July 29th, 2022, Twitter^[16] user @shannonsharpeee posted a tweet using the word, gathering over 300,000 likes in five months (seen below).