What Does 'Standing On Business' Mean?

The Standing on Business meme is a phrase popular in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) that was disseminated across the internet and became a bigger part of the lexicon after being used in a Drake song. In case someone has said it to you recently, rest assured that it was a compliment.

What does “Standing on Business” mean in slang?

Very generally, standing on business means being “on your grind” according to Urban Dictionary, so it can be about actual business. But the concept of business in this phrase is quite flexible and can be used as a stand-in for your values, opinions, and obligations. When someone is standing on business, they are someone who is taking something very seriously, sticking up for themselves, following through, or otherwise showing up and planting their feet on an issue.

Who started saying “Standing on Business?”

Like a lot of language used on the Internet and labeled as “slang,” the phrase was appropriated from Black Americans. Canadian rapper Drake made it more known with his song “Daylight,” from his album For All The Dogs. In it, he sings:

Treat all my exes like Jehovah’s Witnesses
Free all the dogs and f-ck all the witnesses
They sittin’ down, we standin’ on business
Ayy, standin’ on business
Standin’ on business
Standin’ on business
Standin’ on, ooh

One can only assume Drake believes in standing on business while his enemies sit and witness.

But the phrase became even more popular than Drake could make it on TikTok. In September, Internet comedian Druski shared a post called, “Dudes Say ‘Standin on Business’ BUT DO THE OPPOSITE.”

In the video, Druski is the Dude and he is definitely not following through on anything he attempts to do in a day in his life. He is NOT standing on business.

How do people use “Standing on Business” in memes?

A lot of people tend to use the phrase seriously actually, not really making clever memes, but more often sharing real opinions. They are also standing on business, one might say.