## Definition
“Boujee” (also spelled bougie, boujie, or bourgie) is slang derived from “bourgeois” — the French term for the middle class, which in Marxist theory refers to the capitalist class that owns the means of production. In modern slang, “boujee” describes someone who aspires to or pretends to be of a higher social class than they actually are. The term can be neutral, affectionate, or mocking, depending on context. A person who buys expensive coffee, posts about their “self-care routine,” and uses words like ” curated” and “artisanal” might be called boujee. The term gained massive popularity through Migos’s 2016 hit “Bad and Boujee” (featuring Lil Uzi Vert), which made “boujee” a global catchphrase and cemented its place in internet vocabulary.
## Why It Matters
Boujee matters because it names a specific kind of contemporary class performance — the attempt to signal taste, refinement, and wealth through consumption choices that are visible and legible. The boujee person doesn’t just buy things; they buy the *right* things: oat milk lattes, houseplants, linen sheets, vintage furniture, and anything described as “handcrafted.” The term is often used self-deprecatingly: “I’m too boujee for this” is a way of acknowledging one’s own pretensions while maintaining them. The concept is particularly resonant in the age of Instagram, where lifestyle is curated and class is performed through visual signifiers. Boujee is the word for when you know you’re performing but you’re performing anyway.
## Example
Migos’s “Bad and Boujee” (2016) transformed the word from regional slang to global phenomenon. The chorus — “Raindrop, drop top / Smokin’ on cookie in the hotbox / Fuckin’ on your bitch, she a thot, thot, thot” — is not about bourgeois values; it’s about wealth, status, and sexual conquest. But the title’s juxtaposition of “bad” (tough, street) and “boujee” (aspirational, upscale) captured a specific tension in hip-hop culture: the desire to succeed materially while maintaining street credibility. The song’s popularity made “boujee” inescapable: it appeared in memes, in marketing, in everyday conversation. The word had existed before — “bougie” was 1970s slang — but Migos made it mainstream.
## Internet Angle
Boujee is internet-native class commentary. TikTok videos about “boujee things I can’t live without” rack up millions of views; Twitter threads mock “boujee” behaviors (“putting avocado on everything”); and Instagram is the platform where boujee is most visibly performed — through flat-lays of skincare products, photos of minimalist apartments, and captions about “treating myself.” The term has also been commercialized: brands use “boujee” in marketing to signal affordable luxury. And the word has been reclaimed: “boujee on a budget” is a genre of content about achieving a high-end aesthetic without high-end spending. The internet both creates and satirizes boujee culture, often in the same feed.
## Related Terms
– **Bourgeois**: The original French term from which boujee derives
– **Migos**: The hip-hop group that made boujee a global term
– **Bad and Boujee**: The song that popularized the word
– **Aesthetic**: The visual framework through which boujee is performed
– **Class performance**: The sociological concept that boujee describes
– **Instagram lifestyle**: The platform where boujee is most visible
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