Meaning
Prepaid phone credit — and the act of buying it. A 'top-up' recharges the airtime and data on a pay-as-you-go mobile, and 'mi need a top-up' means I need to buy phone credit. In a country where most phones run on prepaid credit, small shops, vendors, and roadside sellers offer top-up everywhere, and topping up is a constant part of daily life, keeping a person connected for calls, data, and the endless messaging that ties families here to their people abroad.
Examples
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Mi need a hundred dollar top-up.
I need a hundred dollars of phone credit.
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Di shop pon di corner sell top-up.
The shop on the corner sells phone credit.
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Top up yuh phone before di credit done.
Recharge your phone before the credit runs out.
Origin
From 'top up' (to fill to the top) — recharging a prepaid phone's credit; standard across the anglophone world's pay-as-you-go systems.
How it’s used
Both the credit and the act of buying it. Central to Jamaica's mostly prepaid mobile market. See [[celly]].