About

No Cap is a slang term used as an alternative to "no lie" to tell people you're serious about something and not lying. It's also used to express disbelief, similarly to "no way." The term "cap" on its own is used as an alternative to "lie," such as "that's cap" to call someone out who is lying. It was popularized around 2017 in the Atlanta hip-hop scene and has been used in rap music since the mid-1980s.

Origin

The term "high capping" is a precursor to "no cap" meaning the same thing. It was first used in Willie D.'s 1989 rap song "Put The Fuckin' Gun Away" in the lyrics "put up the motherfucking steel and chill before that high cappin' shit get you killed" (shown below).^[1] Genius^[2] interviewed Willie D. about the origin of the term, where he confirmed that it means the same as "no cap."

Spread

The term continued to appear in rap songs over the following decades, with "high capping" being shortened to "capping" over time. It started to appear in more and more mainstream songs throughout the 2010s, seeing a huge boost in usage in 2017 with raps from Atlanta rappers, like "No Cap" by Future and Young Thug (shown below).

Various Examples

Related Memes

Capping Dog / Side Eye Dog

Side Eye Dog, also known as Dog Giving Side Eye or Capping Dog, refers to a photograph of a dachshund dog looking sideways toward the camera with a suspicious look and squinted eyes, known as the side eye. The image of the sus dog was first posted to Reddit in April 2015 and became a popular reaction image in the following years, particularly on TikTok, where it is attached to videos and images of people exhibiting sus behavior.

Zoomerification

Zoomerification is a meme trend that involves editing images of people and characters by giving them a Zoomer Perm or other stereotypical Gen Z haircut and humorously editing their dialogue so that it includes a large number of Gen Z slang words and expressions, such as "deadass," "fr fr," "bussin" and "no cap." First popularized on 4chan in April 2022, the format achieved virality in early June that year.

Prodbyzaqq "Ye Da 🐐 No 🧢"

Prodbyzaqq Ye Da 🐐 No 🧢 or Ye Da Goat No Cap is a catchphrase popularized by Instagram user prodbyzaqq, who spam comments it on all of Kanye West's Instagram posts, often receiving one of the top most-liked comment spots. The phrase combines the slang "goat" for "greatest of all time" and "no cap" meaning "no lie." West's followers became increasingly aware of the comments in early 2022 as the rapper began posting more frequently during his divorce and feud with Pete Davidson, inspiring memes using the phrase. Prodbyzaqq is often criticized for the comments. He released a rap video titled "Da Goat No Cap" about his use of the phrase in February 2022, which was largely criticized.

Search Interest

External References