> I read in some interview that the 'Bo' is a reference to extremely
> enthusiastic dancers firing guns into the air in appreciation of the
> selector's choice.
according to my sources, the story is this:
in jamaica, it's illegal for plain citizens (i.e., not police or military)
to own guns. so in lieu of firing a gun and going to jail, they will have
the security guard (usually off-duty police) fire a round or so as a sign of
appreciation--i.e., your music is so dope, i'm willing to risk jail to let
you know! btw, "rinse out" also comes from this tradition--the gun is fired
so many times that the magazine is emptied or "rinsed out."
> I believe 'Bo' was a hardcore old school hip hop word for a gunshot.
i think, rather it is the word for the *sound* of a gunshot. hiphoppers
would have picked it up from jamaicans (remember there's a lot of jamaicans
in nyc).
an extra little tidbit (even though no-one asked):
"rewind" has another synonym in the dancehall world--"haul & pull"
with 'haul & pull', rather than backspinning the record, you pick up the
stylus and place it at the beginning of the tune...
-t
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