Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. rap music, vi. also blow) of people and creations, to achieve great success, esp. after a time of struggle and obscurity; also as adj.

1989		N. George ‘Kool Moe Dee & L.L. Cool J’ in Buppies, B-Boys, Baps and Bohos (1994) 88: Yet if he really wants to blow up, the man needs more sonic versatility.
1992		Source Nov. 35: Now that we were blowin’ up, we’re seeing a little money.
1993		Source July 56: They played a big part in our education and in our blow-up status.
1998		Hip-Hop Connection Dec. 14: AZ just blew up overnight and no-one could get near him.
2001		Indep. on Sun. Mag. 21 Jan. 54: No matter how big you blow up, if you don’t have anything to stand on, the platform is going to fall from under you.
2005		B. Coleman Rakim Told Me 183: After Straight Outta Compton was released and proceeded to blow up [. . .] the next crew album was readied.
2006		Cham ‘Fat Punnany’ 🎵 Fat punanny girl blowin’ up the spot / [...] Keep it tighter with your body rider.
2008		‘Grandmaster Flash’ Adventures 159: ‘[T]he Message’ is a hit. [...] ‘the Message’ blows up. [...] The word’s getting back that we're blowing up the radio.
2014		E. McNamara ‘Authenti City’ in ThugLit Sept. [ebook] As soon as the article came out, business at Spolidoro [i.e. a restaurant] blew up.
2018-20		T. Thorne (ed.) ‘Drill Slang Glossary’ at Forensic Linguistic Databank 🌐 Blow – ‘take off’, achieve career success.

2. (US black) to rush around.

1997

N. Barlay Curvy Lovebox 60: Been on the go [...] We been blowin’ up all over.

3. (US) to make money quickly from selling drugs.

1993

Lerner et al. Dict. of Today’s Words.

4. (US black) vtr. to confer success.

2007

B. Coleman Check the Technique 314: ‘It was big right away [...] That was the track that definitely blew our shit up’.

5. (US black) vtr. to excite, to enthuse (a place, an audience).

2008

‘Grandmaster Flash’ Adventures 44: All I care about is what that DJ is doing. If he can really blow up the spot with his music, I have to see it firsthand [ibid.] 121: The Audubon Ballroom [...] The joint is the biggest thing I have ever seen. ‘We're gonna blow it up in here,’ Ray tells me.

6. (US und.) to expand in size.

2023

Rayman & Blau Riker’s 71: His [gang] already blew up [...] to the street. What’s this Gangster Killer Bloods? We never intended for it to get to the street [...] and it started growing in numbers.