Homie (slang term)
Homie (or homey), is a contraction of the American slang words "homeboy" or "homebuddies" which became prevalent among some of the youth in Latino and African American communities starting in the late 1960s and continuing up to the present, particularly in the hip hop subculture. Homie is usually indicated with gangs, gang symbols and illegal rebels. Etymologists GeneRally source its origins to African American language from the late 19th century. This was a time when many African American people were migrating, and "homeboy" meant a male friend from back home. It was eventually shortened to "homie".
In 1992, A Lighter Shade of Brown, a Latino rap hip hop group, released the recording "Homies" on their Hip Hop Locos album, which describes what a homie is in the Latino community. The status of "homie" is similar to "my best friend" or "SomeOne I can trust", as in, "This is my homie Alex, we've known each other since grade school," or "I won't be around this afternoon, but you can give the money to my homie James. He'll give it to me later when I see him."
In an early use of the term Ella Mae Morse, a white singer, in the original 1946 version of the song "House of Blue Lights" asks, "What's that homie?" to Freddie Slack, the writer of the song.
In the hip-hop subculture the homeboy image is important for artists and audiences. The need to appear "hip" and "fresh" with their attitudes, clothing, and jewelry is an important aspect. The inspiration for this homeboy image can be traced to Malcolm X, who also rebelled against a tradition of being perceived as ineffectual. It has been argued that hip-hop has redefined the homeboy by providing him with functions that contradict society's view of him. Manthia Diawara, author of "Homeboy Cosmopolitan", writes, "Hip-hop culture gives aesthetic pleasure through ironic and parodic play with mainstream images of black people". Diawara argues that hip-hop permits the creation of a new image of black cultures, because it sharply turns against preconceived notions of African-American society and allows for the creation of a new image of black Americans. This image of staying hip is always evolving with new dress styles and sayings. The referenced website gives ten ways to stay hip every week, they change drastically week to week.
A Mexican/Mexican-American slang word created in Southern California with the cholo style generation coming out in the early 20th century can also be traced back to fact based films like 1975-1978 based Boulevard Nights or 1972-1984 based film Blood In Blood Out/Bound By Honor or 1940s-1959 based film American Me.
The Southern California "choloz", Nahuatl for "it jumps", of "Homeboy" self-identity originates from the police's mantra of "Get home boy; before we beat you down" of nightly de facto imprisonment in the Barrio where anyone found outside would get that promised beating; and the "This is your new home boy so get used to it" of welcome orientation by jail/prison staff of creating the Chicano Militancy movement; thus, the neighborhood street soldiers of "Homeboys" were a designation adopted from it being used wihtin the context of the "[white]man, e.g., power" repression & de facto segregation.
Did life imitate art; art imitate life; or is a cyclical reflection as similar words & actions by the police of "Get Home, boy" can be previewed in the 2nd quarter of the 20th century films of "Dead End Kids" & "Bowery Boys"?
Pablo Francisco utilized the similarity between "homie" and "homo" in one of his stand-up routines, enacting a trailer for a fictional film AbOUT gay gangsters: "They were homies... they were homie-sexuals."
On August 14, 2009, an 11 year old TV reporter, Damon Weaver, from South Florida interviewed President Barack Obama and declared that the President was now his "homeboy".