On a mainstream level, the Bay Area has not received much attention since the West Coast thug life days of the early to mid 90s.  But, the Bay Area, or "Yay Area" as many San Francisco Bay Area teens and hiphop heads like to call it, is resurfacing to the top of mainstream media.  How is the Yay doing this?  One word: Hyphy. 

Just like the rest of the mainstream Hiphop scene, the Bay is dishing out up-beat and happy tracks to get the clubs dancing.  The grimy-gangsta beats and lyrics

Come on everyone. Let’s ride the yellow bus!

that once ruled the Bay Area are now being overflowed with the party-music sounds of Hyphy.  Hyphy, having ties to the word "hyper-active", is a state of letting your self go crazy or wild and not giving a damn about it.  Think of the South’s crunk and New York’s old term "breakin’ out"; Hyphy is similar, but unique in its own Bay way.  Terms such as: “18 dummy” (as said in The Federation’s “18 Dummy”), “gettin’ stupid”, “go dumb”, and “doin’ the dummy retarded and ride the yellow bus” (as said in the track “Super Sic Wid It”) are all acceptable ways of describing your Hyphy experience. You litereally look stupid when you go dumb/get hyphy. (My personal favorite term is “ridin’ the yellow bus” because it makes absouletely no sense whatsoever… Yaddadamean?!)

The Federation – 18 Dummy

Turf Talk – Super Sic Wid It

The music that comes with this sensation doesn’t necessarily have a defined sound; tracks that sound differently musically can be considered a "Bay Slap" (slang for Bay Area tracks that get the party poppin’/crackin’) or "Hyphy".  For instance, on a musicality level, the tracks  "Grapes" by Nump (a track about the popular Purple Kush weed, which is referred to as "grapes" in the Bay) and E-40’s "Tell Me When to Go" sound completely different than "Hell Yeah" by San Quinn and EA-Ski, yet all of these tracks are considered to have that "hyphy feel" to them.  It is more accurate to describe Hyphy as a feeling and way of partying (or living for that matter) than classifying it as a certain sound. 

Yes folks, it’s real. And I hear it tastes crap-tacular!

Although, if you had to describe Hyphy tracks, the music is up-tempo (usually floating around the 100 BPM area) with hard hitting drums, big basslines, and motivating melodies that make you want to get up, dance, and yell "Yada-ya, yee, yee!."

Nump – Grapes

E-40 ft. Keak Da Sneak – Tell Me When to Go

San Quinn ft. EA-Ski – Hell Yeah

What makes this "Hyphy Movement" so unique, so appealing, and so fun to be apart of are the different aspects of culture that follow the music.  An important pass-time that gave Hyphy its foundation was the sideshow.  Think of a sideshow like a street cipher on the corner of your block in Brooklyn, except you’re not in a circle freestyling.  You’re on the West Coast in East Oakland, CA, and the sideshow has a shitload of scrapers (Bay slang for whip or car, which is usually a fixed-up classic muscle car) and dozens of Baydestrians (slang for someone who lives in the Bay and follows the "Hyphy Movement") riding around in their whips doing donuts and blasting their music while actin’ a fool.  Traxamillion, a Yay renowned producer, and his track "Sideshow", which features Too $hort and Mistah FAB, give any outsider that good ol’ Hyphy feel while talking about a typical sideshow.

“We go dumb, go dumb at the sideshow…Huh??? Nigga whatchu smokin?!”

Traxamillion ft. Too $hort and Mistah FAB – Sideshow

Also, "ghost riding" (the act of dancing next to, behind, in front of, or even on top of your car while it is moving, as if a ghost were driving for you while you go dumb) is popular among the youth at sideshows and inner-city streets.  Although very dangerous, especially during heavy traffic, ghost riding is one of the most popular and most extreme forms of gettin’ hyphy.  Mistah FAB breaks it down in his 80’s Ghostbusters soundtrack sampled Bay slap, "Ghost Ride It!". 

Mistah FAB – Ghost Ride It!

Check out this 15 second clip of some guy ghost riding: http://youtube.com/watch?v=RWy_Hanw_RE

Of course, you can’t have music without dance.  People of the Bay like to "Turf".  Turf Dancing is similar to crip-walking (minus the emphasis on gang relations) with a mix of poppin’ and some Bay flavor. The moves require lots of finesse and much use of the legs with awkward gestures of the arms. Check out this video on YouTube to get a better idea of “Turfin’”: http://youtube.com/watch?v=iboxVnedNxM

* I recommend checking out this video, especially if you’ve never seen Turf dancing before.

Spider Man Backpack…a fashion favorite among Baydestrians

As you can see in the video, the fashion of Baydestrians is simple;white Ts, Nikes, tall Ts, white wash/faded blue jeans, baggy hoodies, and a children’s cartoon backpack (ya, you read right, a cartoon backpack.) Oh, and you can’t forget your stunna shades. Stunna glasses play a big part in fashion while goin’ dumb. Think of the glasses Kool Moe D or Eazy E would wear, but in the Bay’s case, stunna glasses are usually alot bigger than that. The Federation’s “Stunna Glasses at Night”, which is sampled from a track that all you grown folk should know, points out the obsession of wearing overly sized and flamboyant sunglasses that you can find at places like Chuck E. Cheese or Dave & Busters as a prize. But, for those of us that are a bit older, we like to "get our grown man on" in the club. No white Ts or Nikes here; just button-up/collar shirts, dress shoes, and being “so fresh to death”...yaddada digga my jigga? Check out Hoodstarz – “Grown Man remix” (a top pick Bay slap of mine…) Yee, yee, yee!

The Federation – Stunna Glasses at Night

Hoodstarz ft. San Quinn, Mistah FAB, Turf Talk, Clyde Carson – Grown Man remix

Mac Dre wit’ a Thizz Face

Like many cultures, there’s always some aspect of it that involves drugs; Hyphy is no exception. People in the Bay are fond of “grapes” (Purple Kush) and “thizzles” (ecstacy pills.)

Mistah FAB tells us that T is for Thizz…

Thizzin’, the act of being gone on thizzles, has allowed Baydestrians to go dumb on a whole new level. (The late) Mac Dre’s “Thizzle Dance” spells it out word for word on how to dance and let yourself go when poppin’ pills. Also, the “Thizz Face”, which was made popular by Mac Dre himself, has become the poster-boy-pose of the Bay; anyone who wants to affiliate themselves with the Bay can do so with the Thizz Face and throw up your “T” sign, kinda like a secret handshake. How do you Thizz Face? Easy, as Mac Dre puts it: “First, I do like this/ I put a look on my face like I smelled some piss”. Bay artists also refer to it as the “I smell doo-doo look”. Thizz has become a rebel subculture that was once known only as the act of taking ecstacy pills and club drugs, but Thizz is now being associated with any type of “feel-good” music or activity. We even have an unofficial “Nation of Thizzlam”...Imagine that…

Mac Dre – Thizzle Dance

Check out the Thizzle Dance in action by the man himself! http://youtube.com/watch?v=-eyAh-MYmew

Before I go on, I should also point out that not every rap artist in the Bay Area is Hyphy. Many underground artists such as Hieroglyphics and Lyrics Born (just to name a few) have remained with that “non-commercial” sound. Also, Bay Area artists don’t necessarly place that Hyphy tag on themselves. Of course many producers and rappers like to go with certain sounds and styles that are working at the time, but the music is ultimately determined to be a Bay slap or Hyphy by the people. As mentioned before, there is no real defined Hyphy sound; Hyphy is more of a feeling one gets, so in actuality, the ones that define an artist or a track as Hyphy are the people.

If you’re like me, you’re into lyrical rap tracks. Unfortunately, you won’t find deep rhymes in Hyphy tracks. Also, for those that are outsiders to the Yay or West Coast natives that are still fond of the old school G-Funk era gangsta days, be prepared; Hyphy is a new wave of sounds, feelings, and activities. Personally, I think Hyphy is all good if you’re considering what it is, which is feel-good-party music. But other than that, it’s nothing. Hyphy is completley one dimensional; it’s made for partying, not sitting back and reflecting on life.

The “Ambassador to the Bay”

What I do NOT like about this new “Hyphy Movement” is that it’s bringing up the new youth (which is my generation too) as a bunch of sheep. For example, no one knew or even cared about E-40, other than some Hiphop heads, before “Tell Me When to Go” went big. Now that E-40 is the “Ambassador to the Bay”, every teenager and pre-teen want to worship him like the Second Coming and thinks he’s a new aspiring artist making it big. And you can’t forget about Too $hort. A bunch of highschoolers never even listened to or heard of “Born to Mack” or “I Need a Freak” (or even heard of Too $hort himself) until “Blow the Whistle” dropped…Heh, one of my friends even thought Too $hort was dead… Also, alot of these sheep don’t know the Bay Area’s rich history in Hiphop. Some kids, if any, are lucky to know that Tupac was a big part of the Bay Area back in the 90s. But what about Spice 1, Richie Rich, Ant Banks, etc.? Alot of kids out here in the Bay think that Hyphy is the Bay Area’s first time shinning…Do your homework kids!

Even though I love that old school feel with the G-Funk era sound and East Coast lyric-heavy tracks, I’m fine with the “Hyphy Movement” and feel that it’s essential to the Bay Area and Hiphop. But, my biggest gripe is that kids DID NOT GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THE BAY AREA UNTIL IT WAS POPULAR TO DO SO. No one gave a damn that they were a Bay native until tracks like The Federation’s “Hyphee” and E-40’s “Tell Me When to Go” went big and the Bay Area blew up. Just five years or so ago, the same people who are now Thizz facin’ and claimin’ the Bay all the way were the same people who were all on the South’s Crunk jock and didn’t even mention anything about the Bay. Even worse, the same people who said “Fuck ecstacy. That’s for gay white boys who listen to Techno music,” are the same people who are now poppin’ pills because it’s now allowed and gangsta to do so…cuz, “Thizz iz what it iz”, right?”

Dontcha just love trends?

Funk Fader
Editor in Chief
FunkFader@defsounds.com
www.myspace.com/funkfader