Hip Hop World — Glossary
Public glossary — the curated player-facing copy. Canonical source: docs/design/ (Hip Hop World docs package).
The player-facing vocabulary — the copy-layer source of truth. Principle: call things what the culture actually calls them; the immersion test is real vs. invented. Theme: modern-forward, heritage-rooted — keep living/timeless hip-hop words, retire era-locked vinyl-era words, treat history as lore + the tech tree.
Currencies & resources
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Money | The purchased/circulating currency (the Monopoly move). One-way USD→Money; never cashes out; buys capacity, never outcomes. (was Scratch) |
| Respect | Earned reputation; never bought or traded; weights co-signs; gates Put It On the Map. One score + a source breakdown (curating, battling, building, developing, A&R/foresight, contributing). (was Cred) |
| Buzz | A Song's spread energy in a place; decays. (was Heat; "heat" survives as flavor copy) |
| Time | Daily action budget; same for everyone; never purchasable. "Everybody gets the same 24 hours." (was Juice) |
| Knowledge | 5th-element progression resource; levels the four element skills; earned by practice/study/battles; never bought or traded. |
Collectibles & music
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Song | The shared real track (YouTube embed / Bandcamp link-out / upload). The collectible + playable unit; carries taste/fit attributes. (was Music card / Record) |
| Artist | The earned relationship/trophy for a real artist — minted to you by supporting them early. Not played; confers passive spread synergy. Earned + bound, never bought or traded. |
| Set (Mixtape) | A DJ-curated bundle of Songs — the crafted amplifier; sequenced/blended for bigger spread. |
| Collection # | Your permanent early-supporter number on a Song copy ("Collection #8"). The temporal-scarcity hook. (was Copy # / Collector position) |
| Library | Your full archive of collected Songs. (replaces "Crate") |
| Rotation | Your active Songs — the slots that feed spread and The Sound. Hoarding is self-defeating; curation is the game. |
| Edition | A variant of a Song (live, signed, colored) — provenance/prestige, not artificial scarcity. (replaces "pressing/wax" flavor) |
| Release | An Artist puts out a Song. ("Drop" survives as flavor.) |
| Collect | A Fan acquires a Song (mints a Collection #). (over "Cop"; cop survives as flavor) |
| Discover | Browse/find new Songs on the map. (replaces "Dig") |
| Curate | A DJ builds a Set. (replaces "craft") |
| Play | A DJ / Fan / Station plays a Song or Set on a Block to spread it. |
| Co-sign | Endorse a Song/Artist; carries your Respect weight. |
| Catching On | A Song spreading in progress (flavor UI). Outcome/milestone = Popular / Blew Up. |
The loop: Artist releases a Song → Fan collects it → DJ curates a Set → a DJ / Fan / Station plays it on a Block → the Song becomes popular → the Artist grows and the world expands.
Roles & structures
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Fan / Artist / Business | The three roles (activities, not classes). Owner → Business ("I'm not a businessman — I'm a business, man"). |
| Crew | Your play squad — mixed-element roster + allied players; cyphers, holding turf. |
| Label | A music-career collective — Artists + catalogs under one brand + a backer who invests Money for a cut. |
| Business (structure) | An economic place on a Block (venue/studio/shop/station); converts attention → Buzz + Money. |
| A&R rating | A Fan's earned scouting reputation (a Respect facet) — built by collecting Songs early before they blow up; unlocks scouting perks; labels recruit high-A&R fans. |
| DJ / MC / Breaker / Writer | The four element skill trees (playable, decoupled from uploaded content). |
Knowledge & education
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| University | The education institution — applied-learning home of Knowledge + the tech tree. Active learning, not lectures (respects "education is a mechanic, not a lecture" and "Knowledge is emergent from doing"). Home: hiphop.university. |
| Degree | A credential earned by completing a discipline (DJing, History, the Business). Adds a competence axis to capability gating (alongside Respect/verification/age) and confers earned status. Home: hiphop.degree. |
Tools & places
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Computer | Your personal DJ console — collect, curate, and play; upgradeable stats (Rotation size, spread range, curate slots). Personal/portable. Not a DAW. (was "rig") |
| Studio | A Business place on a Block where Artists record/mint Songs. |
| Station | Radio-station Business; plays Songs to spread (incl. non-adjacent reach). |
| Venue · Record Shop · Community Center | Business places. Community Center (over "Rec Center") is the free floor — one per city, forever (incl. free foundational University courses). |
| Block / City / World | The nested 10×10 map: home / scene / global culture. |
| The Capital | A city's single contested seat/crown block — holding it confers city-wide influence (a cut of city activity, a hand in naming/governance/The Sound, prestige). |
World mechanics
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| The Sound | What a Block/City favors ("the east-side sound"). (was Taste profile) |
| Motion | A city's expansion meter — "the whole city's in motion." (was Saturation pressure) |
| Put It On the Map | Spend Respect to open + name the next city (establishes its first Capital). (was Pioneer act) |
| Block Party | The flagship all-three-role ritual (Business + Artist + Fans); biggest Buzz burst. |
| Tour | A multi-city booking run that routes a Song/Artist across the map to spread it (the route/pilgrimage layer). Home: hiphop.tours. |
| Cypher / Battle · Open Mic · Booking · Street Team · Founder | Kept — living culture vocabulary. |
Identity
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Hip Hop ID | Your one account across every property (home: hiphop.id) — login + reputation passport. Person or Organization. |
| Tag | Your handle + graffiti aesthetic (Writer element); your name that precedes you. |
Retired / modernized (era-locked → keep the world modern)
Crate → Library · Dig → Discover · wax → (dropped) · pressing → Edition · Record (the collectible) → Song. (Record Shop stays as a venue name; "drop/cop/heat" survive as flavor.) Kept because still-living: cypher, crew, block party, co-sign, release, MC/DJ/Breaker/Writer, "put on," the four elements.
Structural note
The four elements are in-game skill trees decoupled from real content: Artist = the activity of adding real music; DJ/MC/Breaker/Writer = playable skills anyone can level. Knowledge is the progression resource that levels them.