What does “outside” mean?

Out in the world and active — socializing, in the streets, present and moving. Often "we outside."

Entry · catalog no. 4315

outside

/ /ˌaʊtˈsaɪd/ /owt-SYDE

adjective · adverb · nationwide · 2010s

✓ Verified

Out of the house and into the world — socializing, in the mix, present and active, usually with a crew. To be outside, or "we outside," is less about location than about being seen and in motion after a stretch of staying in.

“Soon as the weather broke, it was we outside every weekend.”

Origin & Attribution

African American Vernacular English, crystallized and spread through hip-hop in the 2010s. It carries a note of release — being out and free after being shut in — and turns simple presence into a statement.

2010s

AAVE sense spreads through hip-hop

2025

Documented in New Orleans culture via Flagboy Giz's "We Outside"

Region of origin

West

Midwest

N.East

South

Nationwide / diaspora

nationwide · 2010s

Spoken by

Black American and hip-hop speakers

$OUTSIDThe Record · cultural traction

▲ Rising

11 yrs

ahead of the mainstream

80/100

peak cultural energy

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

Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest

First used

2015

in the culture

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

@auntiereg

Atlanta, GA

@deltasoul

Memphis, TN

Contribute your pronunciation

Citations & Sources

■

The FADER, oral history of Flagboy Giz's "We Outside"

2025

■

Rap Dictionary, "outside"

2010s

+ Cite a source