Entry · catalog no. 0456
player
/ /ˈpleɪər/ /PLAY-er
noun · Oakland and Chicago; nationwide · 1970s
✓ Verified
1.
Originally a pimp or hustler — a man living by charm, game, and presentation rather than a straight job. The title carried respect inside the life.
“Every player in three states came through for the ball.”
2.
Later, anyone running several romances at once with no intention of settling down; also, more broadly, anyone operating at the top of their game.
“Don't catch feelings — he's a player, and he told you so.”
Origin & Attribution
Black street and hustling culture of the 1960s and '70s. The Mack (1973) staged Oakland's Players Ball on film, and from 1974 the real ball convened yearly around Bishop Don "Magic" Juan in Chicago. OutKast's "Player's Ball" (1993) carried the title into hip-hop's mainstream, and the romance sense went national from there.
1973
The Mack puts the Players Ball on film
1974
The annual Players Ball tradition begins
1993
OutKast's Player's Ball carries the word into hip-hop's mainstream
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide / diaspora
Oakland and Chicago; nationwide · 1970s
Spoken by
Black hustlers, then hip-hop nationwide
$PLAYERThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Enduring53 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
85/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1973
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 Mack (dir. Michael Campus)
1973
■
+ Cite a sourceOutKast, Player's Ball, LaFace Records
1993
Also spelled
See also