First, as Song Facts notes, "The term 'what's poppin' is a greeting meaning 'what's going on?'" Jack Harlow admits that he uses the phrase a lot. "I say that greeting a lot when I run into people, when I'm on the phone. What's popping?"
Per the lyrics, the song is about dealing with people that only want to be in your life when you're doing well but are nowhere to be found when you're struggling. Jack Harlow raps about how he's doing well now but still has to deal with people's resentments and jealousy. He said, via Genius, "That's something that I've experienced since I was young. I would have friends in my life that I felt were more, more jealous than encouraging. And I think everybody kind of goes through that. You have friends that you realize might not had the best intentions for you."
In the song, Harlow also shares a lot of personal details. He raps about buying himself a Jaguar, discusses his childhood crush on Shego from "Kim Possible," notes his basketball skills, and even touches on detoxing from alcohol. Harlow also rapped, "Got a career and I'm very invested / Some people call it a scary obsession (Ooh, period, but) / I like to call it a passion / I can't be sitting relaxin'."
