Green’s Dictionary of Slang

in the manner of the ‘real’ life of the street.

1995		(con. 1985–90) P. Bourjois In Search of Respect 25: You gotta have a little meanness in you and play street.
1997		Simon & Burns Corner (1998) 303: With his dreds and gold front, his baggy denims and don’t-fake-the-funk-on-a-nasty-dunk T-shirt, DeAndre shows street without so much as trying.
2000		Wash. Post 23 Jan. X10: At Wired, we write geek and we write street. We insist on accuracy and literacy, but we celebrate the colloquial.
2003		A.N. LeBlanc Random Family 168: She became sassier – almost rowdy – as though Nautica’s arrival had given Coco clearance to act street.