What Is 🅿️?

What is P? And, more importantly, what isn't P? Everyone's talking about it, but what does it mean? Here's the story behind Gunna's new catchphrase.

ByEric Skelton

Eric is the head of music at Complex. He's a writer, editor, and producer.

Aug 15, 2022

Publicist

Image via Spike Jordan/Maxime Quoilin/YSL

This article was originally published on January 14, 2022

Blue 🅿️ emojis are everywhere lately—all over Instagram captions, Twitter replies, and group chats. The context is usually pretty straightforward: either something is P, or it isn’t. The new Drake verse that finally dropped? That’s P. The random pilot named Alex who kicked Young Thug and Gunna off a private jet? Definitely not P.

If you’re reading this, you probably have some questions. You saw all the Ps on your timeline, typed “what is P?” into a Google search bar, and made your way to this page. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Here’s an admittedly far-too-detailed explanation of a social media trend being used to promote an album. From the phrase’s origins in the Bay Area and Texas to its resurgence in popularity because of Gunna, this is everything you could possibly want to know about P.

Gunna's artwork for his new studio album 'Drip Season 4'

As you’ve probably picked up on by now, P is a term of positivity. If you’re pushing P, it basically means you’re keeping it real, and acting in an acceptable way. It started as a substitution for the word “player,” as Gunna told The Breakfast Club, but it’s fairly flexible. Talking about the meaning of P on IG Live this week, Gunna explained, “Fucking your partner’s main bitch ain’t P. If you hold the door for a lady, that’s P. Arguing with your partner about money ain’t P. We ain’t doing that. We’re pushing P.”

Gunna clarified some of the nuances of the word shortly after the album dropped, pointing out, “P don’t just mean player. P means paper, too. You can be pushing this P with paper.” Apparently there’s also a subtle but important difference between “kicking P” and “pushing P.” Walking through a luxury home, Gunna explained, “If you’re in this shit and it’s rented, then you’re kicking P. But if you buy this shit and you own it, then you’re really pushing P. You’re spending your hard-earned money. Like, you’re pushing it. You’re standing on this shit. You’re spending millions on it. You’re pushing it.” Simple as that. — youtu.be

As you’ve probably picked up on by now, P is a term of positivity. If you’re pushing P, it basically means you’re keeping it real, and acting in an acceptable way. It started as a substitution for the word “player,” as Gunna told *The Breakfast Club*, but it’s fairly flexible. Talking about the meaning of P on IG Live this week, Gunna explained, “Fucking your partner’s main bitch ain’t P. If you hold the door for a lady, that’s P. Arguing with your partner about money ain’t P. We ain’t doing that. We’re pushing P.”

Gunna clarified some of the nuances of the word shortly after the album dropped, pointing out, “P don’t just mean player. P means paper, too. You can be pushing this P with paper.” Apparently there’s also a subtle but important difference between “kicking P” and “pushing P.” Walking through a luxury home, Gunna explained, “If you’re in this shit and it’s rented, then you’re kicking P. But if you buy this shit and you own it, then you’re really pushing P. You’re spending your hard-earned money. Like, you’re pushing it. You’re standing on this shit. You’re spending millions on it. You’re pushing it.” Simple as that.

youtu.be

As you’ve probably picked up on by now, P is a term of positivity. If you’re pushing P, it basically means you’re keeping it real, and acting in an acceptable way. It started as a substitution for the word “player,” as Gunna told *The Breakfast Club*, but it’s fairly flexible. Talking about the meaning of P on IG Live this week, Gunna explained, “Fucking your partner’s main bitch ain’t P. If you hold the door for a lady, that’s P. Arguing with your partner about money ain’t P. We ain’t doing that. We’re pushing P.”

Gunna clarified some of the nuances of the word shortly after the album dropped, pointing out, “P don’t just mean player. P means paper, too. You can be pushing this P with paper.” Apparently there’s also a subtle but important difference between “kicking P” and “pushing P.” Walking through a luxury home, Gunna explained, “If you’re in this shit and it’s rented, then you’re kicking P. But if you buy this shit and you own it, then you’re really pushing P. You’re spending your hard-earned money. Like, you’re pushing it. You’re standing on this shit. You’re spending millions on it. You’re pushing it.” Simple as that.

Yes. One of the singles from DS4EVER is a Future and Young Thug-assisted song called “Pushin P.” It’s basically just a chance for Gunna, Future, and Thug to pack a ludicrous amount of P-words into a single song. Here’s a sampling from the first verse: “Pointers in the Patek and my piece, I’m pushin’ P/ Copped new hammers for my P, we don’t want no peace/ Got a spot across the spot, just for Ps/ Dropped the dot and then we plot, exotic Ps.” — youtu.be

Yes. One of the singles from *DS4EVER* is a Future and Young Thug-assisted song called “Pushin P.” It’s basically just a chance for Gunna, Future, and Thug to pack a ludicrous amount of P-words into a single song. Here’s a sampling from the first verse: “Pointers in the Patek and my piece, I’m pushin’ P/ Copped new hammers for my P, we don’t want no peace/ Got a spot across the spot, just for Ps/ Dropped the dot and then we plot, exotic Ps.”

youtu.be

Yes. One of the singles from *DS4EVER* is a Future and Young Thug-assisted song called “Pushin P.” It’s basically just a chance for Gunna, Future, and Thug to pack a ludicrous amount of P-words into a single song. Here’s a sampling from the first verse: “Pointers in the Patek and my piece, I’m pushin’ P/ Copped new hammers for my P, we don’t want no peace/ Got a spot across the spot, just for Ps/ Dropped the dot and then we plot, exotic Ps.”

After releasing his album, Gunna spent a few days running around and letting everyone know what’s P, and what’s not. So, when he and Young Thug were kicked off a private jet by a pilot named Alex, they immediately decided Alex is not P. It’s still unclear exactly why they were kicked off the plane (it might have something to do with someone not having an ID, and Thug claims Alex was being racist), but whatever the case, the whole thing quickly added to the P phenomenon. Future tweeted, “ALEX ain’t P,” and memes popped up everywhere. (An important note of clarification: veteran recording engineer Alex Tumay, who has worked frequently with Young Thug and YSL, is confirmed P.) — youtu.be

After releasing his album, Gunna spent a few days running around and letting everyone know what’s P, and what’s not. So, when he and Young Thug were kicked off a private jet by a pilot named Alex, they immediately decided Alex is *not* P. It’s still unclear exactly why they were kicked off the plane (it might have something to do with someone not having an ID, and Thug claims Alex was being racist), but whatever the case, the whole thing quickly added to the P phenomenon. Future tweeted, “ALEX ain’t P,” and memes popped up everywhere. *(An important note of clarification: veteran recording engineer Alex Tumay, who has worked frequently with Young Thug and YSL, is confirmed P.)*

youtu.be

After releasing his album, Gunna spent a few days running around and letting everyone know what’s P, and what’s not. So, when he and Young Thug were kicked off a private jet by a pilot named Alex, they immediately decided Alex is *not* P. It’s still unclear exactly why they were kicked off the plane (it might have something to do with someone not having an ID, and Thug claims Alex was being racist), but whatever the case, the whole thing quickly added to the P phenomenon. Future tweeted, “ALEX ain’t P,” and memes popped up everywhere. *(An important note of clarification: veteran recording engineer Alex Tumay, who has worked frequently with Young Thug and YSL, is confirmed P.)*

youtu.be

It looks like Gunna is going to keep this P thing going for a while. On Thursday, he finally released his delayed collaboration with Drake, and they naturally changed the name from “Pussy Power” to “P Power.” The term is taking off on social media, and there are already viral remixes popping up. Gunna is setting out on the beginning of his album promo run, so you definitely haven’t heard the end of P yet. And that’s… well, you get it.

youtu.be

It looks like Gunna is going to keep this P thing going for a while. On Thursday, he finally released his delayed collaboration with Drake, and they naturally changed the name from “Pussy Power” to “P Power.” The term is taking off on social media, and there are already viral remixes popping up. Gunna is setting out on the beginning of his album promo run, so you definitely haven’t heard the end of P yet. And that’s… well, you get it.

Gunna Features

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What Is 🅿️?

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