"Gangsta Lean" is an urban slang phrase denoting a style of automobile driving in which the driver sits slung low and tilted toward the passenger seat. The phrase first appeared in popular music in William De Vaughn's 1972 song "Be Thankful for What You Got," which includes the lyric "diggin' the scene with a gangsta lean."

Use in other songs

William DeVaughn

William DeVaughn

William DeVaughn is an American R&B singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known for the hit song "Be Thankful for What You Got".-Biography:...

's original lyrics are referenced in the 1988 Teena Marie

Teena Marie

Mary Christine Brockert, better known by her stage name Teena Marie, was an American singer, songwriter and producer...

 Top 10 R&B hit single "Work It" ( "Don't mention you be on the scene, and you drive my car, and your gangsta lean...") and repeated later that year in the N.W.A.

N.W.A.

N.W.A was an American hip hop group from Compton, California, widely considered one of the seminal acts of the gangsta rap sub-genre....

 chart-topping rap song "Gangsta Gangsta."

Other mentions include the 1993 Digable Planets

Digable Planets

Digable Planets is an American alternative hip hop trio based in New York City, composed of Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler , Mary Ann "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving . They released their debut album Reachin' in 1993, and their follow-up album Blowout Comb in 1994...

 song "Where I'm From" and Adina Howard

Adina Howard

Adina Howard is an American R&B singer who rose to prominence during the mid 1990s with her debut album, Do You Wanna Ride? and her debut single, "Freak Like Me". Howard is known for her sexual image and provocative songs...

's 1995 hit "Freak Like Me

Freak Like Me

"Freak like Me" is the first single from Adina Howard's 1995 R&B debut album Do You Wanna Ride?. Like Howard's image, the song can be best described as hypersexual. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified platinum by the RIAA....

" ( "and I will take you around the 'hood on a gangsta lean.") A remix of MC Lyte

MC Lyte

MC Lyte is an American rapper who first gained fame in the late-1980s becoming the first solo female rapper to release a full album with 1988's critically acclaimed Lyte as a Rock.-Early life:...

's song "Cold Rock a Party

Cold Rock a Party

"Cold Rock a Party" was the lead single released from MC Lyte's fifth studio album, Bad As I Wanna B. The original version of the song that appeared on the album was produced by Jermaine Dupri and sampled Audio Two's "Top Billin", the single version was produced by Sean Combs and Rashad Smith and...

" also references the phrase with the line "...I be da baddest b that hit da scene since da gangsta lean..."

American R&B group DRS released a song in 1993 entitled "Gangsta Lean

Gangsta Lean (song)

"Gangsta Lean" is a song by American R&B group DRS, from their 1993 debut album Gangsta Lean.It spent six weeks at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and peaked at #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100...

", which peaked at #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

.

"Gangsta Lean" is the title of a song recorded by alt-country band The Gourds

The Gourds

The Gourds are an American alternative country band that formed in Austin, Texas during the summer of 1994.-Career:Primarily evolving from the Picket Line Coyotes and the Grackles, The Gourds original line-up consisted of Kevin Russell , Jimmy Smith , Claude Bernard , and Charlie Llewellin...

 on their 1999 album Ghosts of Hallelujah.

Rihanna

Rihanna

Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...

's 2007 single "Shut Up and Drive

Shut Up and Drive (Rihanna song)

"Shut Up and Drive" is a song by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna, from her third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad . Released as album's second single, the song was solicited to the US radios on June 12, 2007 and was physically released on August 27, 2007 in the United Kingdom...

" references the slang in the opening verse "I'm a fine-tuned supersonic speed machine with a sunroof top and a gangsta lean".

Ludacris

Ludacris

Christopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...

' 2003 single "Diamond in the Back

Diamond in the Back

"Diamond in the Back" is a single released from the album Chicken-n-Beer by Ludacris. It is based on William DeVaughn's "Be Thankful for What You Got" and samples it heavily in the southern chopped & screwed format. It is produced by DJ Paul & Juicy J of Three Six Mafia...

", which samples DeVaughn's song, references the slang in the opening chorus "I wanna (diggin' the scene with a gangsta lean)".

American rap group Clipse

Clipse

Clipse is a Virginia Beach, Virginia-based hip hop duo. Formed in 1992 by brothers Malice and Pusha T , the group is heavily affiliated with production team The Neptunes and signed to Star Trak Entertainment.- Exclusive Audio Footage :The Thornton brothers were born in The Bronx, New...

 has a song entitled "Gangsta Lean", but unlike previous songs that referenced the title, the Clipse's version was based around marijuana.