New NY Daily News Article on Hyphy!!

[sonofisis]

http://www.nydailynews.com/01-16-200...p-411766c.html

Hip hop needs help.

The genre suffered the steepest sales plunge of any popular musical form in the last year, losing 20.7% of its tally from '05 to '06, according to SoundScan. Similarly, not a single hip-hop artist scored an album among the year-end top 10 sellers.


While rap saw a last-minute rally over the holidays - with fresh CDs from the starry likes of Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and The Game - none of their disks inspired the sales frenzy or cultural traction those artists saw at their peak.


Small wonder then that rap boosters, and industry vultures, are grooming a West Coast trend for a possible national breakthrough.


It's called hyphy (pronounced Hi-Fee), a four-year-old Bay Area-based musical and cultural force that's named for its hyper beats and the loosey-goosey dances it inspires.


"It has an almost manic energy that otherwise isn't so present in rap today," explains Vibe music editor Jon Caramanica. "That unhinged quality would be a good thing for the whole genre if it catches on."


Right now, observers feel it has a solid shot. "People are looking for the next hot thing," says Branden Peters, lifestyle editor of the rap mag XXL. "This has that chance."


Especially since the last few hot rap subgenres may have run their course. Since the dawn of the millennium, we've seen surges in ...



Crunk, the Southern, strip-club-obsessed dance sound.


Snap, an even more elemental and minimal version of crunk.


Chopped and screwed, the jittery style that put Houston stars like Mike Jones and Paul Wall on the rap map.

None of these genres produced a platinum album in 2006. But to Caramanica, these trends still show the growing potency of regional scenes. "Rap used to be binary - either East Coast or West Coast," he explains. "In the last five or so years, local scenes have had as much currency as New York or Los Angeles."


In addition, styles that are solidly seeded in a community stand a better chance of exploding - if they gain a national spotlight. Hyphy has a lot going for it on that score. Eric Arnold, who has covered the genre for the local East Bay Express, explains that since national labels ignored this scene for so long, local participants had to become savvy entrepreneurs themselves. They formed labels and forged their own marketing techniques. "Over time, they built momentum," Arnold says. "Everyone got a little better with the music, a little hotter in the beat, and there were catchier choruses."


According to Billboard, one local hyphy label (SMC) moved over 300,000 units last year, generating $3 million in revenue.


Last year, an album by the scene's most seasoned star, E-40, went gold. Then the MTV show "My Block" featured a segment about hyphy, and one of the genre's acts, the Az (pronounced As), got their own video on the network.


No wonder the major labels have come sniffing around.


Recent deals have materialized for hyphy artists Mistah F.A.B. (Atlantic), Clyde Carson (Capitol), the Az (TVT), the Pack (Jive) and Federation (Warner Bros.). All have CDs coming this year. As a tease, TVT Records just released "Hyphy Hits," the first national compilation covering the style. Last week the new MTV reality show "I'm From Rolling Stone" featured footage of the scene.


Observers say the style has special appeal since it's not only about a sound, but a whole culture. It's joined-at the hip with a phenomenon known as ghost riding, in which


participants hide alongside a slow-moving car, making it look like the car is driving itself. There's also slang to certify hyphy as an insider's demimonde (see above). "People love to say those words," says Arnold, "even if they're not quite sure what they mean."


Hyphy has street cred, too. "It's street-tested and block-approved," says Arnold.


But along with that street connection comes a drug connotation. One word that's popular in this world (Thizz) refers to Ecstasy. Yet Arnold insists there's no more reason to be concerned about this than there was with acid rock in the '60s. "It's a youth-driven culture and that's what youth do."


In fact, hyphy's youthfulness may be its strongest calling card. "It's fun music," says Peters. "It's all about being outlandish and showing your personality to the nth degree."


All it really needs now, says Caramanica, is a homegrown producer to hone that sound and make sure hyphy becomes more than mere hype. "If they can come up with a Timbaland or a Neptunes, someone who can trademark the sound," he says, "then this goes national."

Hyphy guide


THE STARS:


The Az
Dem Hoodstarz
Federation
Mistah F.A.B.
Keak da Sneak
The Pack


THE DANCE MOVES:


A wacky, improvised series of moves, devised by each individual, that go for a wild look.


THE SLANG:


Gas-break dippin': Driving while quickly switching between pressing the gas and the brake.


Yokin': Alternate term for gas-break dippin'.


Going or getting dumb/stupid/retarded or hyphy: Having a good time by acting ridiculous.


Runner/ripper: A loose girl.


Scrapers: A pimped-out car.


Slapper/slumper: A track with a prominent bass hook.


Stunna shades: Oversized dark glasses worn by hyphy types.


Thizz: Being on Ecstasy.


Yadadaymean: A phrase for "Do you know what I mean?"


Yay Area: The Bay Area.

[Sparegeez]

This story has the same information that any other article any big newspaper has come up with. Just not imformative.