Only one word can accurately describe the force that has the power compel the city’s youth to act in such a way — hyphy.

Heard all the way from San Francisco to San Jose — the “Sco” and “San Ho,” —Bay Area musicians have been ripping up the music scene.

The Bay Area, referred to in many hip-hop songs as the “Yay Area,” is frequently recognized for its talented musicians. “Super Hyphy,” by Keak Da Sneak is the third best jam on local radio station, 106 KMEL’s, playlist. In its lyrics, the song is “holding it down for the Bay, reppin’ Oakland,” suggesting that Da Sneak is known throughout the Bay. But without nationwide radio stations, it is hard for people in the Midwest and beyond to have any knowledge of the Bay Area music.

“I’d never heard that kind of music before,” Wilmette, Illinois, resident Rachel Castlewitz said. “I’m used to Kanye West and other ‘normal’ rap. I heard this song when I went out west, and my friend played it for me. It’s a song I love to listen to when I want to dance and be hyper.”

Laura Kung

Though some local musicians feared the Bay Area music scene would suffer after Tupac’s death, according to an article in the January edition of Newsweek Magazine, “California’s Latest Sound: Hyphy” has those representing the Bay Area in a frenzy, trying to get the Bay back on the map.

Hyphy is a Bay Area slang word that represents a style the bay offers: acting crazy, hyper and knowing how to have a good time. Of course, the entire musical credit for the word hyphy doesn’t belong to Keak Da Sneak. He jumped on the band wagon long after The Federation came out with their song “Hyphy” in 2004.

The Federation was one of the first Bay Area groups to get signed to a major label, Virgin Records, in a long time. They were the first that made the bay “go dumb” and “get hyphy.” Their song “Hyphy,” tells listeners to get “crazy, stupid, dumb.” The Federation also refers to hyphy as making “them nosy neighbors want to call the cops.”

Among those who have publicized the Bay Area is the late Tupac Shakur, considered by many hip-hop fans to be the greatest rapper who ever lived. He got his big break in the eighties in Oakland when he joined the Digital Underground, a group which used “massive bass beats and frenetic, Parliament-Funkadelic-style rhythms,” according to www.2PACLegacy.com, a site created by Tupac’s mother. In a word, Tupac was hyphy.

The bay getting hyphy is the same way the south of America gets crunk. Crunk means to be crazy and drunk, while hyphy joins hyper and fly. “For the last year, ‘Hyphy’ has been the (nightclub) song,” junior Nick Parker-Foster said. “That kind of music is going to get the Bay Area recognized nationwide.”

The phrases “hyphy” and “go dumb,” are both being used in the promotion of clubs and parties around the Bay Area. The flyer for a back - to - school party for high school students, located at the San Francisco County Fair Building, titled “Go dumb,” described it as “the hyphiest high school party in the BAY!”

Another move the Bay Area has promoted is “poppin your collar.” Platinum-selling Bay Area rapper E-40 popularized the move in his music videos when he first began rapping in 1987. “Nowadays, it means either congratulating yourself or saluting a person and saying, ‘I acknowledge you,’” E-40 said in an interview with USA Today in April 2005.

The Frontline, one of the better known local rap groups from Richmond, released its first single “What Is It,” one of the most requested songs playing on radio stations and in clubs from Atlanta to Los Angeles and as far as Australia, according to its web site, www.thefrontline.com. The Frontline was first recognized nationally in an MTV battle in May 2003 and has been steadily increasing in fame since then.

In addition to rap artists striving to reach fame, the Bay Area also has many R&B and punk rock musicians.

Green Day, a local Berkeley punk rock band, cleaned house at MTV’S 2005 Video Music Awards, winning all six of the awards they were nominated for plus the Viewer’s Choice Award and proved to America that the Bay Area has talent. Starting off with a local record label, Lookout! Records, Green Day soon moved to a larger label, Reprise Records, to gain popularity throughout America.

“I thought they deserved it,” senior Brita Potenza of Mercy High School said. “They have been a band for so long; 15 years and they have worked so hard. They showed everyone how they could come back and sweep all the good awards.”

Newcomer, Keyshia Cole, raised in Oakland, has a soulful sound to her voice that made A&M Records realize her talent instantly. When her first album was released on June 21, it went platinum nationwide, preparing her to take the music world by storm.

It’s hard to say what the “Yay Area” will next offer, but, with all the hyphy people in control, expect more surprises.