Hyphy Nation -- The Bay Area's Movement

"It's like having the holy ghost...something just comes over you, and you just start moving."

By Tapan Munshi

Listen to this Commentary!

There’s a new style of hip-hop known as hyphy that’s getting so popular it’s influencing teen slang with phrases like ”go dumb” and “riding the yellow bus” which mean to get excited and hyper. But young people say it’s not about celebrating ignorance - it’s about having a good time. Hyphy music and dance are drawing national attention to youth culture from San Francisco Bay Area cities like Oakland and Vallejo. We asked Youth Radio’s Tapan Munshi, a Bay Area deejay also known as DJ Tap10, to explain the phenomenon. (April 4 on NPR's All Things Considered)

You're listening to "Tell Me When to Go" by E-40 featuring Keak Da Sneak. This song is at the forefront of what people are calling the "hyphy scene" and now it’s getting the national spotlight.

"Tell Me When to Go" (E-40): I’m from the Bay where we hyphy and go dumb, from the soil where rappers be getting’ there lingo from.

Hyphy is a relatively new sound out here in the Bay Area. Hyphy means hyper, crazy, or wild. It’s different from a lot of other rap in that the beats are generally faster and where a lot of rappers try to be too cool, or too tough, hyphy rappers aren’t afraid to be goofy with their rhyme style. A perfect example of that is Mac Dre’s "Feeling Myself". Check out the way he over enunciates in his rap...

"Feeling Myself" (Mac Dre): She’s after your scritch. And I’m after hers...with these mackin' words Nerd... Thought squares stayed sharp, you’re nothing but a mark in a bucket Skylark. I'm playin' my part, I'm Mr. Furley. Quit interruptin', I'm talking to your girlie. I'm in the building and I’m feeling myself...

Mac Dre and a lot of other rappers who’ve come after him have really set the soundtrack to the lives of young people, like Leon Sykes who grew up in Oakland. And hyphy is like gospel to him.

"Hyphy" (The Federation): With Rick, with Rick, with Rick, with Rick, with Rick Rock beats...

LEON (on tape)
The hyphy movement is an act of free living. It's like having the holy ghost...something just comes over you, and you just start moving. Your body comes over you. You can't stop-- you hear the song. We get hyphy to “Mary Had A Little Lamb”...so you're doing things with style, as you can say. Energy with style.

TAPAN
Along with the music, there's a whole bunch of terms associated with being hyphy and just walking down the street, you can hear teens like Ashley Jones saying hyphy slang.

ASHLEY (on tape)
Go dumb, get stupid, just all these terms for ignorance or whatever.

"Hyphy" (The Federation): Crazy, stupid, dumb, retarded...Northern California player...left coast west coast...flamin' out the chest coast...

TAPAN
Now that hyphy music has really blown up, I’m always talking with my friends Jason Valerio and Patrick Johnson about what it all means.

JASON (on tape)
Yes, hyphy is a movement. I wouldn't necessarily say that it's a political movement. It's more just energy that is kind of constant with youth culture in general. So you've had the punk movement back in the late 70's, early 80's where music was very hard...and it's pretty much all about the energy.

PATRICK (on tape)
I definitely find hyphy music to be very infectious. It sounds great played very loud in speakers, in clubs, and even in people's cars. I just wonder what exactly the movement is. Isn't hip-hop and rap music in general a way of people kind of escaping from their own problems or their own realities?

"That's My Word" (Keak Da Sneak): So Don't, don't stop, keep it goin'...keep it goin'. Wit some privalage in da back boy, blowin...blowin. Hold it down for the Bay reppin’ Oakland, if it wasn’t for that granddaddy smokin’...dadida. YADDIDAMEAN, Fasho. Know what I mean, Fasheezy. YADIDAMEAN, Fasho. Know what I mean, Fasheezy.

TAPAN
Like a lot of different movements from within hip-hop, this comes from the ghettos of Oakland, Vallejo, Richmond, San Francisco. You know, people probably want to attach a lot of negative criticisms to it. Criticizing what it means to "thizz", or "go dumb", or "go stupid". People really just need to pay attention to the music. You know, listen to the music or go to a function where you can see kids having a good time. That's what it's really about, rather than people thinking it's about drugs or being uneducated.

LEON (on tape)
If you're in New York, rural town Kansas, if you're in Detroit, Michigan and you're not understanding what hyphy is and you haven't heard this music yet... you will soon.

"That's My Word" (Keak Da Sneak): YADDIDAMEAN, Fasho. Know what I mean, Fasheezy. I don’t think they know, that’s my word...hyphy. I don’t think they know, that’s my word...what it do. I don’t think they know, that’s my word...fasheezy. I don’t think they know, that’s my word...