What does ‘Pushin P’ mean? Young Thug's lawyer's explanations in defense of rapper spark disbelief online

On Tuesday, November 28, rapper Young Thug appeared before the court as part of his YSL RICO trial’s second day. There, his defense attorney Brian Steel mentioned the term “Pushin P” during his opening statement to refresh the minds of the jurors about the phrase’s history, meaning, and more.

The term came up in reference to the prosecution’s argument that Young Thug was seen holding up in a mirror selfie (part of the evidence) what seems like a Bloods sign but in fact, is a “P” or better “Pushin P.”

Here’s what the lawyer stated about his client whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams:

“There’s nothing wrong with holding up a Bloods sign, but that’s not a Bloods sign, that is a P. Jeffery’s fingers are down. And what you’ll learn is that Jeffery just released with Sergio Kitchens, a performer known as Gunna, a song that is wildly popular around the globe. It’s called pushin P and it’s positivity.”

Young Thug’s attorney explained that P stands for Positivity. Meanwhile, for those uninitiated, a blood sign refers to a hand signal used by street gangs to look like the alphabet “b” for “blood” and demonstrate their membership.

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“Bro never coming home”: Netizens react in disbelief after Young Thug’s lawyer defended him with ‘Pushin P’ reference

Rappers Gunna and Future released their hit album DS4Ever in 2022, which had the single pushin P featuring Young Thug. According to Complex, before the release of the song, Gunna explained via social media that the P in his song actually meant pushing positivity and keeping things real.

On Tuesday, during the second day of Young Thug’s YSL RICO trial, his attorney Brian Steel defended him by saying what the prosecution portrayed as Thug holding up a blood sign in a mirror selfie was actually him promoting the Gunna and Future song pushin P.

Steel noted in front of the jury,

“It means any circumstance you’re in, if you think positively about something, you can make it through. You’re pushing positivity."

Thug's attorney went on to say that while there was nothing wrong with raising a blood sign, his client wasn't actually doing that—rather, he was merely promoting positivity and displaying the letter "P," according to the evidence shown in court.

As soon as the defense and the term "Pushin P" became viral, netizens had wild reactions to it. Here are some of the reactions from the comment section of @shannonsharpeee’s tweet on the same:

For those uninitiated, Thug’s lawyer was also making a greater point about the prosecution’s dealing with the case and using his client’s artworks and song lyrics as evidence against him.

It is noteworthy that ahead of the trial, Kevin Liles, the CEO of 300 Entertainment, and Julie Greenwald, the CEO and chairperson of Atlantic Music Group, launched a petition to restrict the use of lyrics in criminal cases, which garnered over 93,000 signatures.

The duo even told in a joint statement in June 2022 that prosecutors rely heavily on artists’ lyrics and claim them as ‘overt evidence of conspiracy’ and criminal activities.

They even mentioned Young Thug and Gunna facing several charges because of this, which explained that they were not part of the Young Stoner Life (YSL) Records but rather a violent Atlanta-based street gang called Young Slime Life and were involved in several crimes including murders, drug trafficking, racketeering, carjacking, and more.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the jury was dismissed and the defense team filed for a mistrial, according to Hot New Hip Hop. The mistrial motion is based on the prosecution’s alleged failure to turn over their evidence. However, the judge did not grant it but asked the prosecution to be more transparent about the case going forward.

Interestingly, Thug’s lawyer also explained the meaning of his name saying that Thug stood for “Truly humbled under god,” during Tuesday’s court session. He also argued that the YSL music group’s name was inspired by the apparel brand Yves Saint Laurent.