What ‘Pushin’ P’ means, and why everyone on the internet is using it

The blue parking lot sign emoji has received tons of run on social media recently because of a new viral phrase, “Pushin’ P.”

A lot of people have no clue what it means, where it came from, or even how to use it correctly. Are you one of those people? If so, this is the story for you. Don’t worry, if you’re out of touch with pop culture lingo: here’s quick translation of the phrase.

“Pushin’ P” is a term that originated from Atlanta rapper Gunna, one of the biggest stars in hip-hop who released his newest album, “DS4EVER,” in January 2022.

The P in “Pushin’ P” essentially means “player,” as in, keeping it real. As Gunna explained it during an interview with “The Breakfast Club,” it’s primarily used in a positive way — if you wake up to a beach view, that’s P. If you spent thousands on a Rolex watch, that’s P. If you do something bad or stupid, though, that’s not P.

(Warning: The video below contains explicit language.)

See, it’s not that difficult to understand.

Gunna has a song on “DS4EVER” with rappers Future and Young Thug called “Pushin P,” where they relate it to their lives as billion-dollar rappers (aka stuff we’ll never know about).

Now, this is the most important part: Just because you know what “Pushin’ P” means, doesn’t mean you can walk around saying it freely just because everybody else is doing it. The last person you want to be is the out-of-touch person saying something “the kids” are using.

Seriously. If you are reading this, please don’t be like the brands. I am begging you:

Once the brands get a hold of a trend, it’s not really cool anymore. So please, don’t be like them. That’s not P.

-- Aron Yohannes

ayohannes@oregonian.com; @aronyohannes