Strong Island

English Etymology While the exact date of the coinage is unknown, there are several claimants in the 1980's it was coined as a hip hop music term for Long Island. From Newsday: "To boost local black pride, Chuck D and the other WBAU DJs dubbed the Island Strong Island and gave special names to the emerging hip-hop strongholds."Sounding Off in Suburbia: For its pop musicians, Long Island is a place to love, lambaste or leave. But it sets the creative juices flowing, Newsday, accessed June 1, 2006. Pronunciation en En-au-Strong Island.ogg AU Proper noun Strong Island en slang Long Island in New York.Rap Dictionary (part 3 of 4), dated May 1, 2004 2007. Strong Island Underground, New York Times, Sept. 30, 2007: Not for nothing do bodybuilders and rappers brag and swagger about living on “Strong Island.” Usage notes In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the "Strong Island Boys" were a mostly white, middle class "gang" or "posse" which tried to emulate the mostly minority gangs they saw in New York City.Archived copy http://www.archiesib.com/typo3/fileadmin/newsday%20articles/newsday_com%20-%20The%20Library%20@%20newsday_com4%20(2).htm 18 October 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20060822023300/http://www.archiesib.com/typo3/fileadmin/newsday%20articles/newsday_com%20-%20The%20Library%20%40%20newsday_com4%20%282%29.htm 22 August 2006 The "Strong Island Sound", a US Basketball Association expansion team, uses Strong Island as part of its name. Its name is a play on the Long Island Sound. References