Entry · catalog no. 8039

word is bond

/ — /pending

phrase · Northeast — Harlem / New York City · 2026

✓ Verified

My word is a binding contract — I said it, so it is settled. An oath, not a figure of speech.

“I'll be there at six. Word is bond.”

Origin & Attribution

Carried into Black New York by the Five Percent Nation (Nation of Gods and Earths) after 1964, where a man's word was doctrine, not manners. Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J and later the Wu-Tang Clan pushed it into the language of hip-hop nationwide.

Region of origin

West

Midwest

N.East

South

The Northeast

Northeast — Harlem / New York City · 2026

Spoken by

Northeast — Harlem / New York City

$WORDISThe Record · cultural traction

▲ Rising

0 yrs

ahead of the mainstream

12/100

peak cultural energy

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

Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest

First used

2026

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

@bxgriot

The Bronx, NY

@phillyanne

Philadelphia, PA

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Citations & Sources

■

Five Percent Nation teachings, Nation of Gods and Earths — doctrine · from 1964

submitted

■

"Follow the Leader," Rakim — album · 1988

submitted

■

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Wu-Tang Clan — album · 1993

submitted

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