Secure the Bag

About

Secure the Bag is a slang expression for acquiring something of value. While initially starting in the context of hip hop, the phrase was adopted by supporters of 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang referring to his "Freedom Dividend" universal basic income proposal, which would grant all adult United States citizens $1000 per month.

Origin

On November 23rd, 2016, the WorldStarHipHop YouTube channel released the audio for the track "Secure the Bag" by Lil Uzi Vert & Gucci Mane (shown below).

Spread

On July 7th, 2017, Urban Dictionary^[1] user Slayballs submitted an entry for "Secure the Bag," defining "the bag" as "anything you want/desire" (shown below).

Andrew Yang's "Yang Gang"

On March 13th, 2019, Twitter user @Crypto_Futurist uploaded a clip of Yang addressing the Yang Gang, adding "there have been at least a dozen times I've wanted to tweet 'Secure the Bag'" (shown below).

The following day, Yang tweeted^[2] the message "Traveling with my staff, I told someone to secure the bag" (shown below). Within two weeks, the tweet gathered upwards of 8,900 likes and 2,000 retweets.

On March 22nd, YouTuber Panther Den uploaded a synthwave music video featuring "outrun": imagery titled "Y A N G W A V E [ SECURE THE BAG ] A E $ T H E T I C $" (shown below).

Search Interest

External References