Green’s Dictionary of Slang

bopper n.1

[bop v. (5)]

(US) a gang fighter.

Show quotations
[US]E. De Roo Big Rumble 68: Donald told him that Crutch was an old bopper himself.
[US]E. Tidyman Shaft 54: Two or three black cats [...] in bopper hats.
[US]UGK ‘Swisha And Dosha’ 🎵 Got boppers that’s steady jockin, goofy niggaz in my ear.

In phrases

big bopper (n.) [note The Big Bopper, the nickname of DJ and rock singer J.P. Richardson (1930–59), though his nickname more likely from bebopper n. (1)]

(US) a superior person or one who claims to be.

Show quotations
[US](con. 1951) McAleer & Dickson Unit Pride (1981) 77: Coggins was the big bopper now.
J.L. Burke Lost Get-Back Boogie 10: Tell them the big bopper from Bogalusa is primed and ready [HDAS].
Baseball 2000 31 Mar. [headline] Giambi becomes Yankees’ big bopper.