The most viral letter of the year so far has been P. P this, P that, P everywhere.

I’m sure at this point you are familiar with the bright blue parking lot sign emoji that in the past couple of weeks has infested almost every corner of the internet.

And whether you’re already pushin P, or still scratching your head in confusion as you ask yourself once again, “man, what the hell does P even mean?” We can all agree that P is a pretty big deal. 

If you’re a person of culture and have been pushin P since Day One, then I tip my hat to you. But if you’re still not quite there yet, no worries—your favorite student-run, community-based, and family-friendly publication is here to guide you on your journey of exploring and understanding all the intricacies of P.

That is—without getting anybody fired in the process. So I suggest pulling up the lyrics to “pushin P” on your own for further reference. 

“pushin P” is the second song off of Gunna’s recent album DS4EVER, featuring Future and Young Thug. Released earlier last month, the song quickly became a chart-topping hit—mainly for the fact that three grown and reputable men are spitting the hardest bars of the decade so far for almost three minutes straight. 

“pushin P” made my jaw drop from the first seconds of hearing it—but Future’s opener resonated so loudly that my teeth clicked. The lyrics go so hard that if I were drinking water when I was listening to the song for the first time, I would’ve definitely spat the water out. The same can’t be said for Young Thug, though. 

However, in popular culture, “pushin P” is much less about the music than it is about the phrase itself. Pushin P almost unnoticeably seeped through the music industry straight into the most powerful form of cultural exchange known to modern man: memes.

People went crazy over pushin P into every situation they could get away with. And soon enough, It earned household status in the form of the bright blue parking lot sign emoji—spreading across all parts of the internet in a matter of hours. 

I personally consume media similar to how a vacuum cleaner devours dirt from underneath a couch, so I can’t quite pinpoint the first time I came across pushin P in meme-form. All I remember is P pouring from all sides of the internet straight into my feed. Suddenly, the entire world was pushin P—from my friend in Utah to Quinton Byfield of the LA Kings—and you know something is culturally significant when it has the power to unite Mormons and hockey players. 

In its most basic form, the phrase “pushin P” means keeping it real. In this case, P stands for player. When you do something P, you’re doing what’s best for you and looking out for your people. 

Gunna went on to explain what pushin P really means. And for the format purposes, I will rephrase what he said in suburban-mom language: cheating on your partner is definitely not P. Neither is arguing over your financial problems with your partner, not being able to mind your own business, and getting involved in situations you know nothing about. That’s also not P.

Holding a door for a lady, on the other hand, is P—so perhaps third-wave feminists aren’t P. But be careful, because only benevolent sexism is P—blatant sexism ain’t P.

As you’re slowly beginning to understand what P is, do not be fooled into thinking that P has a concrete and objective definition. That mindset, in fact, is not P and you should avoid falling for this trap. 

Instead, think of P as a subjective and ever-changing concept. Gunna himself made it clear that he does not pigeonhole P, and that P has multiple meanings depending on the context of the situation, the mood of whoever is pushin it, and probably even the weather in Gunna’s hometown of College Park, GA on a given day is a factor in defining P in a given situation.

Imagine P in your head and let your mind take you to all definitions of P that are culturally significant to rap. I can think of at least seven off the top of my head. Even my grandma can think of three—and she doesn’t speak English. 

Listen to the chorus of  “pushin P” again and think back to Future’s massive 2017 hit “Mask Off” — which, by the way, will hit the top of the charts once again when the pandemic is over and allow Future to finally reach his full potential. Furthermore, refer to Track 6 on DS4EVER—which if you play in my car, I’m driving us both off the bridge—to get a better understanding of just how versatile P can truly be and how much meaning this abstract concept really beholds. 

This is exactly where the true significance of P lies—its versatility. Pushin P is a concept that, in the eyes of society, is defined just enough for all of us to be able to understand the general message, yet undefined the right amount for each of us to be able to put in our own sub-message into every P that we push. And still somehow, we’re able to understand each other. 

What started out as a song became a prime example of how the rapidly changing nature of human communication influences culture in the digital age. 

So now that you know what pushin P means, it’s time to answer the ultimate question: How do you know if you yourself are pushin P? 

Well, if you had to look up the definition of P, then chances are, you aren’t P. Because as I mentioned above, P isn’t understood—P is felt. 

However, if you’ve made it this far, you’re truly dedicated to understanding pushin P and its cultural significance—in which case you are most definitely as P as it gets. 

Although, I am also somewhat genuinely concerned for your overall well-being if you’ve made it to this point. You might want to consider taking a quick break and going outside to touch some grass before you go on with your journey of self-discovery.