Entry · catalog no. 0712
secure the bag
/ /sɪˈkjʊr ðə bæɡ/ /sih-KYOOR thuh BAG
phrase · Atlanta / national · 2010s
✓ Verified
1.
To go get the money and make sure it stays got — close the deal, take the opportunity, protect what you earned. Extended to any prize worth locking down: the job, the contract, the date.
“She skipped the party to finish the proposal — secure the bag first, celebrate after.”
Origin & Attribution
Built on 'bag' as Black slang for a stack of money, a use with deep roots in hustling talk. The full imperative was circulating in Black speech and Southern rap by the early-to-mid 2010s; Lil Uzi Vert and Gucci Mane's 'Secure the Bag' (2016) fixed the phrase nationally, and Black Twitter turned it into a work ethic in three words. Routinely mislabeled generic 'internet slang'; it is hip hop's phrase.
early 2010s
Circulating in Black speech and Southern rap
2016
Lil Uzi Vert and Gucci Mane release 'Secure the Bag'
2017
Gucci Mane and Migos' 'I Get the Bag' cements bag-talk nationally
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The South
Atlanta / national · 2010s
Spoken by
Southern rappers, Black Twitter, then everybody's group chat
$SECUREThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady13 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
2013
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
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
Lil Uzi Vert & Gucci Mane, 'Secure the Bag' — 2016
song · verified
■
+ Cite a sourceGucci Mane ft. Migos, 'I Get the Bag' — 2017
song · verified
See also