In 2018, Drake also released a song “Ratchet Happy Birthday” on Side B of his Scorpion album. They also noted that the hip-hop slang developed positive connotations, like cool or fierce.Ĭomedy duo Emmanuel and Phillip Hudson released a 2013 video titled “Ratchet Girl Anthem,” where the pair impersonate two, classless ratchet girls judging other ratchets. Many in the media called 2012 the year of the ratchet.

” In 2012, Nicki Minaj used it on her “Right By Side” as did Juicy J on his “Bandz a Make Her Dance” and LL Cool J on his “Ratchet”: “She’s so ratchet, she’s so ratchet / But she’s so bad we could throw cash at it.” Ratchet was notably used by Rapper Lil Boosie in his 2005 song “Do Da Ratchet. It was especially used for a woman considered promiscuous or trashy. Ratchet may have originated in Shreveport, Louisiana, lovingly nicknamed Ratchet City. Rappers from there were using ratchet in songs since the late 1990s, based on a regional pronunciation of wretched. Another theory for its origin is that ratchet comes from ratchet up, or “bringing something up in intensity.”Ĭalling someone ratchet has historically meant you think they have no class and lack a proper upbringing but they don’t know it (e.g., trashy).

Ratchet urban dictionary definition