Entry · catalog no. 9300
ridin' dirty
/ /ˈɹaɪdɪn ˈdɝti/ /RY-din DUR-tee
phrase · Houston / Port Arthur, Texas · 1990s
✓ Verified
1.
To drive with contraband such as drugs, an illegal weapon or a stolen vehicle, and so risk arrest in any police stop.
“He stayed off the interstate at night because the car was ridin' dirty.”
2.
By extension, to live or operate in a way that leaves you exposed to the law.
“Every time they ran his plates he was ridin' dirty and he knew it.”
Origin & Attribution
Black American street vernacular for carrying contraband in a vehicle. It reached a national audience through UGK, the Port Arthur and Houston, Texas duo, whose third album, Ridin' Dirty, was released in July 1996. Chamillionaire's 'Ridin'' (2005 single, Grammy-winning) later turned the phrase toward racial profiling by police. Earlier use before 1996 was not confirmed, so the phrase is not credited to either act as coiner.
1996
UGK release the album Ridin' Dirty on Jive Records
2005
Chamillionaire releases 'Ridin'', about police stops and profiling
2007
'Ridin'' wins the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The South
Houston / Port Arthur, Texas · 1990s
Spoken by
Black Southerners, hip-hop listeners
$RIDINDThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady30 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
70/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1996
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
@nolakid
New Orleans, LA
@htxdri
Houston, TX
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Citations & Sources
■
UGK, Ridin' Dirty (album), Jive Records, 1996
song
■
Chamillionaire feat. Krayzie Bone, 'Ridin'', The Sound of Revenge, 2005
song
■
+ Cite a sourceComplex, 'The Making of UGK's Ridin' Dirty' (Bun B interview piece)
web
See also