Telling Phrase 6: "Step Ya' Nictionary Up!"

"Step Your Nictionary Up!" Is a phrase-like sentence that goes back to Nicki Minaj who I mentioned in an earlier post. This phrase doesn't appear to mean anything at first, but understanding that Nictionary is a term that refers to Nicki Minaj's list of definitions that she uses on her album, we can see that this is a telling phrase. Not only could it mean, "If you want to be cool, up to date, and 'in' (exclusive), than you need to know what my lyrics mean," but it could also mean, "You must be ignorant if you don't have the same vocabulary that I do." Overall, it indicates that there is some level of importance in learning the terms that are in the culture that Nicki is representing. In truth, there isn't much anyone would gain from Nicki's vocabulary considering some of the crass things that she includes in her music (which I wouldn't recommend for anyone to listen to her whole CD... some of it I might). This phrase also points back to the status value that Nicki has for herself and her own creativity. Since pride is often seen positively in rap culture (Swagga'), it makes sense for her to use this ridiculous statement.