STREETFIGHT....
I think hyphy is a movement....and one strong point you made in your initial statement was that when the dust settles, people are basically going to think bad about the bay......Only thing I can say is I hope not.....They won't either since most people, i think/hope, DO know that the bay's uniqueness goes way past the music, but back into the historical movements that have taken place here involving Many cultures, (from Japanese being held on angel island to the black panthers/huey newton, etc etc, the list is too deep to start).
Seems like this hyphy thing is mainly for younger audiences....I'm 27 years old, which aint young, but really aint that old either.....Don't get me wrong, I stay blappin ALL bay songs, from early and mid nineties, (which is where I grew up), to now......
Mainly, I believe that this is a reflection of the southern movement, and crunk or whatever....etc etc etc. We see they're making all the rap/party music and making money, so the hyphy thing, (although purely BAY all day), is an extension of that. Rappers trying to commercialize and popularize something that was part of the street culture in the Bay, mostly Oakland IMO. (However, people in Vallejo, in my recollection, were "Thizzing" since like '99, so it's all the bay that influences the bay culture, not just oak.....like richmond's "yee"). Where am I going w/ this? I don't know, just got off work and got loaded, but I said what I have to say.