When and where did the slang term "peeps" come from?

When and where did the slang term "peeps" come from?

 

"Peeps" as slang (not to be confused with the marshmallow confection) dates back to at least the early 1990s. Some suggest it was used a decade earlier, referring to parents. But it's not clear how common that usage was.

 

In the singular form, "peep" was African-American slang for "check it out" as in "peep this." This early usage is probably related to the common definition of peep as "a quick look." Oscar winner Jamie Foxx even had an R&B album titled Peep This in 1994.

 

The plural "peeps" as slang for "people" or "close friends" seems to have come into use around the same time. Rapper Nas may have popularized the term in the song "Life's a Bitch" off his 1994 album Illmatic. The song contains the oft-quoted line: "I'm destined to live the dream for all my peeps who never made it." Other songs on the album also refer to "my peeps" with the meaning of "my friends."

 

In 1996, BMG Entertainment launched the Peeps Republic web site (no longer online) to promote black artists such as TLC and Notorious B.I.G. The site's name used the "friends" meaning of the slang.

 

By 1997, peeps had made it into the Bloomsbury Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, which said the term referred to "one's fellow gang members or friends and family." This definition neatly combines the early slang for "parents" with the later "friends" meaning and the gangsta connotations.