Street Cred

Again I am feeling like the last person in my age group to know this slang term. The Urban Dictionary seems divided on if it's a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, it sounds like what my parents or grandparents would have called an Horatio Alger (story). But on the other hand, it sounds like a short version of "street credibility" wouldn't mean you'd made it, just that you were tough and had some credentials like illegitimate children, maybe even jail time. Hmmm....