Strong Island

English

Etymology

While the exact date of the coinage is unknown, there are several claimants in the 1980's it was coined as a hip hop music term for Long Island. From Newsday: "To boost local black pride, Chuck D and the other WBAU DJs dubbed the Island Strong Island and gave special names to the emerging hip-hop strongholds."[1]

Pronunciation
  • Audio (AU)(file)

Proper noun

Strong Island

  1. (slang) Long Island in New York.[2]
    • 2007. Strong Island Underground, New York Times, Sept. 30, 2007:
      Not for nothing do bodybuilders and rappers brag and swagger about living on “Strong Island.”

Usage notes

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the "Strong Island Boys" were a mostly white, middle class "gang" or "posse" which tried to emulate the mostly minority gangs they saw in New York City.[3]

The "Strong Island Sound", a US Basketball Association expansion team, uses Strong Island as part of its name. Its name is a play on the Long Island Sound.

References
  1. Sounding Off in Suburbia: For its pop musicians, Long Island is a place to love, lambaste or leave. But it sets the creative juices flowing, Newsday, accessed June 1, 2006.
  2. Rap Dictionary (part 3 of 4), dated May 1, 2004
  3. “Archived copy”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎, 2006 October 18 (last accessed), archived from the original on 22 August 2006
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