Ask people in the Bay Area what the Hyphy Movement is about and you will get many different meanings and perspectives. So who can really explain what it is about?
In search of such a person, we hear about an emerging Hyphy artist preparing to release a new album with guest appearances from Too Short, San Quinn, J Diggs, among others. This artist certainly tells it like it is, so we gave him a chance to explain the Hyphy movement.
Driving through the Bay Area in a custom-built limo with the words “Hyphy Train” painted on the rear window, this emerging artist calls himself Greenie. Like it or not, his deep, husky voice carries a Hyphy tone that encapsulates this Bay Area movement.
Greenie recently took a break from the studio to talk about the Hyphy movement and what rap music is missing:
Interview:
Bay Area Hygiene Movement (BAHM): From what we understand, Hyphy can be crazy dance moves or just smash someone in the face. How would you define Hyphy?
Greenie: Hyphy, as I understand it, literally means hyper and fly, but it really is how all Bay friends get depressed when we listen to our Bay-style music.
BAHM: Some might say that the Hyphy Movement is just a fad? It can last?
Greenie: That’s like asking if hiphop or rap is a fad, heck no it’s not a fad, it’s a lifestyle / music. I think it will evolve and take different forms, but now when we refer to hyphy, we are talking about the Bay style, the rap of the Bay area.
BAHM: What does the Hyphy movement mean for the Bay Area?
Greenie: Well it’s like I said rap / hip-hop started in Queens. It evolved took different forms. Today, the south would refer to his rap style as crunk, the bay would refer to his style as hyphy. But not everyone from the Bay raps with a hyphy style. For my part, I only have three songs on my album that I would classify as “hyphy”, the rest are just normal rap. On E-40’s latest album, all the songs were hyphy, the kick was plummeting, the beats per minute sped up slightly, and the e-40 was spitting out something vicious, THAT’S HYPHY at its core, and all in the Bahia agree, so Bahia is important in that it unites us all.
BAHM: Tell us about the new album. What should fans expect, who are some of the guest appearances?
Greenie: First of all, I would like to say that I am a huge fan of rap before I was an artist. The game lacks a classic element where people are rapping entire songs and not saying shit. Look what I got, whereas before you could get a dope record and learn a lot of street shit. In this album you could learn a lot of shit about Northern California and this sick place we call the Bay Area. I brought together several of my favorite artists from the Bay Area and Los Angeles to make this great album. Look out for Too $ hort San Quinn, J diggs and Roscoe from Dogg Pound, to name a few, and classic producers like One Drop Scott, who has worked with Mac Dre, and Gennessee, who has a ridiculous list.
BAHM: I listened to several tracks from your last album and they are just Slumper. What’s your favorite track, what’s the album’s name, and when will it be released?
Greenie: My long awaited album is coming out this month, however I keep turning it down as I just got the news that Snoop Dogg is just a phone call away. The album will be called The Legend Of Chester Copperpot. My favorite track on the album would have to be “Who Drop”, no one has heard it yet because I won’t let anyone hear it. IT’S ONE OF THE BEST RAP SONGS EVER MADE!
BAHM: What can we expect in the future of Hyphy music?
Greenie: Hopefully you’ll see a unified bay where we’re not at war with each other right now shit is out of control with violence in the rich and the O. If we could unify, hyphy music could really be a driving force behind rap . music in general.
BAHM: What other artists should we look for in the north of Cali?
Greenie: Obviously you have the San Quinn’s, E-40’s, keek da sneek that make our music great. However, Thizz ent has a list of sick people, Bavgate and our famous new Indian dude Haji Springer are about to take over. Look for dem to do some important things in the next few months.
BAHM: There have been difficult times for you working on your latest album. Did you ever think about ditching rap altogether? What kept you going?
Greenie: It’s difficult in the rap game because everyone and their mother try to rap. There are still times when I’m shit, I’m not making that money out of this like I thought I would, but another thing I’ve really come to realize is that I really enjoy rapping, I love it, that shit sucks. fun when you leave something great. Selling records these days is all about marketing. I feel like I’ve surrounded myself with the right people, I’ve improved my roles, and this is the best album I’ve ever made, so regardless of the response, I’m still happy.
BAHM: Do you like the direction hip hop music goes or would you like to see something different?
Greenie: I don’t understand how any of this shit gets on TV and radio, but I’m not going to hate them for their success. Obviously, they were doing something right. Hip hop will never be the same since it was born in the early eighties and late seventies. At first we were learning from each other as masters of ceremonies, what sounded attractive and popular, and what not to say. Now that most of the street shit has been taught by previous emcees, it’s hard for an artist to express new ideas that haven’t been touched by previous rappers. So a lot of what you see here is repetitive, like looking at the diamonds I have, the cars, the bytches, the drugs, my life on the street. As long as we keep rapping on the same shit, we’re a bit stuck, so what I’ve tried to do is create shit that hasn’t really been touched and try to be as original as possible. I also have OG’S from the rap game on the album so I can bring that original hip hop flavor to the present. Too Short, and the Reyes brothers from Cypress Hill, are some of the artists you will find on my record and they are also some of my favorite artists of all time.