What Is 🅿️?

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.

Where did P come from?

A few days before Gunna dropped his new album DS4EVER, he started talking about “pushing P” on Twitter and Instagram. At first, he was mysterious about the meaning of the phrase, asking his followers to make guesses. Then, in the middle of beefing with Freddie Gibbs (you can read more about that whole back-and-forth here) Gunna brought it up again. Moments after teasing an incoming Gibbs diss song, he tweeted, “But yeah, I’m pushin P.”

Later that day, Gunna went on a short rant and used the phrase in context, taking thinly veiled shots at Gibbs. “Jumping in a person’s beef or situation when you don’t know what’s going on is not P,” he said.

Giving more examples, Gunna added, “Now… putting your people in position is P. Bossing your bitch up is P. Risking your life to feed your family is P. Being a real n***a off the internet is P. I’m pushing P. Speaking on a n***a for no reason is not P.”

And just like that, a new phrase was born. Or, to be more accurate, a new phrase was popularized in the mainstream. (It’s been used as a regional term in places like the Bay Area and Texas for years.)

What does it mean?

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.

Is there a song?

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.”

What does Alex have to do with it?

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.)

Is there merch?

Of course there’s merch.

What's next?

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.