Entry · catalog no. 6342

glow up

/ /ˈɡloʊ ˌʌp/ /GLOH-up

phrase · Chicago's South Side, out of the drill scene · 2010s

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A dramatic transformation for the better — in looks, confidence, or circumstances. The arc from a rougher earlier version of yourself to a polished, thriving one.

“Look at her graduation photo, that's a real glow up.”

Origin & Attribution

Glow up enters the record with Chief Keef's "Gotta Glo Up One Day," released in August 2013 on Bang, Pt. 2, where the phrase means coming into money and standing — not skincare. The spelling glo is not casual: Keef's crew and label were Glo Gang, reformed from Glory Boyz, and the word carries that sense of arriving. It is a play on grow up, with the maturing swapped for shining. From Chicago it moved through Black Twitter into before-and-after photo posts, and from there into the beauty industry, which now uses it to sell serums.

2013

Chief Keef releases "Gotta Glo Up One Day," using glo up for coming into money and standing

2017

Before-and-after transformation posts spread the phrase across Twitter

2019

BBC Three's Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star premieres, taking the word fully commercial

Region of origin

West

Midwest

N.East

South

The Midwest

Chicago's South Side, out of the drill scene · 2010s

Spoken by

Chicago drill rappers and their listeners; then Black Twitter; then the beauty industry

$GLOWUPThe Record · cultural traction

▲ Steady

13 yrs

ahead of the mainstream

88/100

peak cultural energy

Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.

Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest

First used

2013

in the culture

Recorded here

2026

point of first record

Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.

Hear it spoken

By region — how it actually sounds

@chitown

Chicago, IL

@detlex

Detroit, MI

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Citations & Sources

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Merriam-Webster, "glow-up," including the African American English usage note

dictionary entry

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Chief Keef, "Gotta Glo Up One Day," from Bang, Pt. 2, 2013

mixtape track

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Dictionary.com Pop Culture Dictionary, "glow up," 2022

dictionary entry

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Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star, BBC Three, first broadcast 2019

television series

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