Too $hort is the godfather of Bay Area rap and the independent hustle. His music may strike you as misogynistic and gross, but he’s a very smart man. If you’re an up-and-coming emcee, when he talks, you listen. The gospel $hort is preaching these days is to embrace the uptempo “hyphy” sound that had the Bay on the brink six years ago. As he explains to alldayplay.fm here, and explained to me last month, we now treat “hyphy” as though it’s a dirty word–an embarrassing fad of a bygone era. In reality he argues, it’s a hot sound, and the proof is in the emulation of folks like Drake (see “The Motto”).
The Bay Area is no stranger to being the vanguard of styles later co-opted by other regions, so $hort is arguing that we not let a good thing go. That whole hyphy era may be drowned in our collective memory by tall tees, stunna shades and pill-popping, but at it’s core it was about fun energy. It can be argued that ‘s C.F.O.P.A. (Click Full Of Party Animals) / Shmop Life Movement is a return to the fun loving essence of hyphy (hyper + fly). Their “throw parties, not fists” ethos is a refreshing thought in a genre and region known for it’s associated violence. It should also be noted that the HBK’s song “Up”, and even “Swaggin’” to a degree, have gotten the clubs and house parties moving in a way not seen since The Federation was on the scene. These songs and the “New Bay’s” party centrism are not explicitly “hyphy”, but they do reflect an investment in uptempo raucous fun. $hort says to keep it going–embrace the youthful energy and originality that was once our calling card.
