In Colombian culture, a ‘nea’ could probably be roughly translated to ‘thug’, and in some social contexts, perhaps even a slightly more urban version of ‘parce’/’parcero’.
It is predominantly inspired by how one dresses and is predominantly male. It differs from parce/parcero, from hombre, from amigo, from hermano/mano, and especially from ñero, and you must not confuse it with Ñejo himself.
Confused? Keep reading, it’s just getting started…
Fortunately, the ‘nea’ has a very defined look, starting from the head down.
The Nea Uniform (in order of importance):
–Mullet haircut (“Cabello corto encima, largo atrás”)
-Baseball hat
-Jerseys/Sweats/Sneakers
-For whatever reason, can’t or won’t grow any facial hair. Beards ruin all nea credibility.
-Optional City Version: Has Pitbull
The Mullet rules all. If you are ñero enough (see: this article), and fit the rest of the uniform, you just might be nea. But a quality mullet makes you nea no matter what else.
Age minimum/maximums do not exist.
While females can certainly be considered nea, it is much more common for a ‘nea’ male to be seen with a ‘grilla’ female, which isn’t a far cry from ‘slut’.
So then what is ñero and does it have anything to do with the reggaeton phenom, Ñejo? While Ñejo might be nea and ñero for that matter, he does not have a mullet, and has not committed any crimes (to my knowledge), so potentially straddling the line (due to his successful reggaetón career – a true nea’s favorite).
Ñero can most properly be classified as a subset of Nea: they fit the same archetype, but carry the specific attribute that they may or may not rob you. Pop culture Colombian lore has it that a nea named ‘Brayan’ or ‘Kevin’ are definitely ñero, and definitely rob your cell phone.
In Summary: nea among friends, strangers wearing the nea outfit; (n)ejo for neas that are legit bad news, grilla to your parceros but never to the grilla in question
