Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also kick) to play music.

1937		Russel B. Nye ‘A Musician’s Word List’ in AS XII:1 47: He really goes on that tune; listen to him kick it.
1988		Ice-T ‘Heartbeat’ 🎵 Kickin’ it, hittin’, rockin’ so dope it’s shockin’.
1995		L. Stavsky et al. A2Z 60/1: kick v. to create.
2007		B. Coleman Check the Technique 128: ‘The style that B-Real kicked on there was brand-new—no one had ever heard anyone kick it like that’.

2. (orig. US black, also kick) to chatter, to gossip, to relax; often as kicking it.

1985		T.R. Houser Central Sl. 33: kickin’ it Kicked back. Relaxed. Taking it easy.
1991		L. Bing Do or Die (1992) 55: The O.G.’s get mad at him and jump on him, beat him up [...] and we just up there kickin’.
1993		K. Scott Monster (1994) 119: Just let me kick it a minute out here.
1999		Rosemary Jacobs in San Jose Mercury News 11 May n.p.: Kickin’ it (v) – Hanging out; being with friends; having fun. Joey was kickin’ it at Monica’s house.
2000		W. Shaw Westsiders 15: The reason I like entertainment [...] is ’cause there ain’t no career where you can kick it as much as you work.
2001		(con. 1990s) in J. Miller One of the Guys 43: ‘They just having fun, going to parties, kickin’ it, staying out all night’.
2002		Teen Lingo: The Source for Youth Ministry 🌐 kickin’ it v. To relax, usually with ones friends.
2010		A. Steinberg Running the Books 306: Now here I was kicking it with her pimp.
2014		A. Fox-Lerner ‘Traces of a Name’ in ThugLit Mar. [ebook] I found Al [...] kicking it with a girl with full sleeve tattoos.
2022		J. Hannaham Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit 54: Trixie [...] would probably rather set herself on fire than kick it with Carlotta.

3. (US black) to act, to do something well.

1987		Newcleus ‘Huxtable House Party’ 🎵 Get on the floor and let your body ride / and kick it.
1993		‘Snoop Doggy Dogg’ ‘For All My Niggaz & Bitches’ 🎵 That’s why I can kick it so tuff, cuz when times get ruff, my Niggaz don’t give a fuck.
2002		Cypress Hill Sl. Gloss. 🌐 kick it: to start with something.
2013		W.D. Myers Darius & Twig 138: [T]he guys out front are kicking it for [places] one-two-three.

4. (US black) to survive, to maintain oneself.

2000		W.D. Myers ‘Block Party–145th Street Style’ in 145th Street 150: We still see J.T. and his mama around. They’re not really kicking it too tough right now but they’re sliding by.
2008		W.D. Myers Sunrise Over Fallujah 261: I wanted was for him [...] not worry about [...] how I was going to kick it ten years down the line.
2010		W.D. Myers Lockdown 191: ‘[H]e told me he was kicking it big-time, being a hero to his family and getting presents and visits and stuff’.

5. to have sexual intercourse.

2012

J. Díaz This Is How You Lose Her 13: I have to touch her pussy, which is my way of [...] saying, So how about we kick it.