I remember when I was in high school all I would listen to was Bay Area rap. I didn't wanna hear no Jay-Z or Nas, I wanted to hear 11/5 and UDI. I have extended my radar since than, but there is no question that when it comes to the indie game the bay runs shit.You could always tell if somebody a fan of bay area rap, and ususally it turns into a long conversation, than an argument. We all come to this board and do the same on here. Bay Area rap is not just music from a region, it is a culture, and to the vets on here it's a lifestyle. It is different now since I was in school, and it hasn't been that long. The two major radio stations have bay shit in constant rotation, and for years that was unheard of. Baby Bash known all over, E-40 is signed with Lil john, and you got young cats like Ya Boy and Sky Balla bout to make a statement. It's our time to shine....Baltimore is gonna have to wait
The Bay Area Rap Culture
- Thread starter cHeWdOGG
- Start date
4 realz. i respect wut they doin out there on tha west: this comin from an atlanta cat. i fell in love wit tha west coast when nwa came out. jus that gangsta shit always appealed to me. i had some homeboys from cali that moved down here years ago and they put me onto tha northern cali shit. they introduced me to 51.50 and i thought they wuz tha best shit i ever heard in my life. then they introduced me to dre dog and from there it was over, i got hooked to imp, totally insane, jt tha bigga figga, and so on. i was feelin that sacramento shit also when blacc market had tha shit on locc. first time i heard mac dre was on west coast bad boys 2 and i went out and copped some uv his shit. but year, i respect tha bay and it's culture. i like how ya'll doin yo own thang and not givin a fucc bout gettin "commercialized" and i always respected that. it's also nice that there's so many indies out there puttin shit out, seems like somethin new comin out every other week, if not every week, give me some new shit to add to my collection all tha time. keep doin ya thang, much respect. fold.
I remember being about 9 years old and hearing "Playaz Club" and "Game Recognize Game" on KMEL. The first CD I ever bough was Operation Stackola and to this day its one of my favorites. When I was in 5th grade my homies aunt put us on to IMP and RBL and used to shoot us mixes with 40 and the Click. By the time I was 12 or 13 I was up on everything from Dre Dog to 11/5 to Mac Dre. I remember coppin 17 Reasons after seeing the commercial for it on CMC. Now Im a grown ass man gettin dumb out here in San Diego. To me its one of the most overlooked aspects of our music because it is to some extent a lifestyle. During my socialization as a youth I learned about Bay Area hip hop, about sideshows and slang and tight whips, about drugs, partying, alcohol, to sport Giants and 49er gear, how to be your own person and find your own taste, to pay attention to politics and the news and watch Dennis Richmond. I think everyone on this board and most people in the bay would agree that our music has significantly influenced our whole culture and for the better, and as a result we stand out and are individuals wherever we are.
I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ADD THAT I THINK THE BAY IS SO VERSITYLE WITH SO MANY TYPES OF RAP THAT IT WONT BE EASY TO BE PLAYED OUT. THE BAY RECREATES ITSELF ALL THE TIME I MEAN ITS NOT LIKE THE ATL WITH THE CRUNK SOUND I KNOW THERES OTHER UNDERGROUND RAPPERS IN THE ATL BUT THE CRUNK THING SEEMS TO BE WHAT THEY HAVE TO OFFER. ONCE THE BAY BLOWS UP PEOPLE ARE FIND OUT THAT "HEY THERES THIS PLACE CALLED SACRAMENTO" AND THE CENTRAL VALLEY
WTFEEZY? So just cuz Jacka doesn't make stricly mob music he dont have a Bay sound? So I guess Too Short, early Spice 1, Pac, Richie Rich (on Def Jam), Digital Underground, Paris, Heiroglyphics, etc.. all didn't make Bay music right? WRONG! They just displayed the different types of music in the Bay.
How could someone thats born and raised in The Bay, has nothin but Bay features on his album (except a couple others), made a song called The Bay Area, and reps The Bay in damn near every song not make Bay music? Excuse the run on sentence lol. And tell me what exactly classifies the Bay sound? Is it turf music, or is it hyphy music, or wait a minute its mob music right? The fact is that the Bay has a plethera of sounds and types of music. Its just that Bay fans put Bay music in a Box and act like if it dont sound exactly like a certain way it aint official. Thats the problem wit the Bay right there. Everybody want the artist to sound stricly one way and make music just for them. That backwards ass mentality is the sole reason we haven't blown yet. Let these artist try to get further and do bigger things instead of sayin "oh that dont sound Bay enough" and "why people like him so much that aint Bay music" etc.... I can see it now. Someone blows nationally in the Bay and becomes #1 hated artist in the Bay at the same time.
Jackas music is Bay Area wit a mainstream appeal and thats exactly why people like his music so much. Good music is good music period. Cats act like in order for people in the Bay to show you love you gotta have a stereotypical "Bay sound" and thats not the case at all. Look at The Team, Frontline, Balance, etc... They all make Bay music wit a mainstream appeal and thats why they are the hottest cats (keak included) makin moves in the Bay right now. This whole new sound of Bay music has a more mainstream appeal than it ever had. I aint mad at it cuz it means there's finnaly some growth in the music, and some artist wakin up, and understanding if you want to be successful nationally you gotta broaden your musical horizon.
Xxtramanish I aint callin you a hater either so dint go there. This is for anbody that fits this mentality. 100
How could someone thats born and raised in The Bay, has nothin but Bay features on his album (except a couple others), made a song called The Bay Area, and reps The Bay in damn near every song not make Bay music? Excuse the run on sentence lol. And tell me what exactly classifies the Bay sound? Is it turf music, or is it hyphy music, or wait a minute its mob music right? The fact is that the Bay has a plethera of sounds and types of music. Its just that Bay fans put Bay music in a Box and act like if it dont sound exactly like a certain way it aint official. Thats the problem wit the Bay right there. Everybody want the artist to sound stricly one way and make music just for them. That backwards ass mentality is the sole reason we haven't blown yet. Let these artist try to get further and do bigger things instead of sayin "oh that dont sound Bay enough" and "why people like him so much that aint Bay music" etc.... I can see it now. Someone blows nationally in the Bay and becomes #1 hated artist in the Bay at the same time.
Jackas music is Bay Area wit a mainstream appeal and thats exactly why people like his music so much. Good music is good music period. Cats act like in order for people in the Bay to show you love you gotta have a stereotypical "Bay sound" and thats not the case at all. Look at The Team, Frontline, Balance, etc... They all make Bay music wit a mainstream appeal and thats why they are the hottest cats (keak included) makin moves in the Bay right now. This whole new sound of Bay music has a more mainstream appeal than it ever had. I aint mad at it cuz it means there's finnaly some growth in the music, and some artist wakin up, and understanding if you want to be successful nationally you gotta broaden your musical horizon.
Xxtramanish I aint callin you a hater either so dint go there. This is for anbody that fits this mentality. 100
THE BAY is A Culture but it consists of a multitude of sub-cultures within.
shit....motha fuckas don't know and some just ain't ready to grasp the actual truth of the bay. my boy J-Dash sais somethin along the lines of "they want us to stay local...mabie it's because we speak nothin but truth in our vocals." The bay is a place that every city got's its own aditude and within every city each section and hood has its own aditude and this reflects in our music.you could go through an album and hear one artist rap on some summertime cruising beat, and then compleately flip it a few tracks down on some straight knowledge lyrical shit. with E-40 and the rest of the break through artist hittin the top, it's just a matter of time before we start hearing gangsta ass Mob music, lyrical Hip-Hop, smooth songs 4 the bitches and party/club Bangers all coming from the same region....THE BAY....shit the versatility around his is our strength but the politics and standards of our fans is what holds us down. but the strongest poin of our culture is that we won't compromise our art...and i believe that will take us a long way. of course we gotta give the public what they wanna hear, but we can only do that to a certain extent. MAKE WAY 4 THE BAY.......WE COMING.
shit....motha fuckas don't know and some just ain't ready to grasp the actual truth of the bay. my boy J-Dash sais somethin along the lines of "they want us to stay local...mabie it's because we speak nothin but truth in our vocals." The bay is a place that every city got's its own aditude and within every city each section and hood has its own aditude and this reflects in our music.you could go through an album and hear one artist rap on some summertime cruising beat, and then compleately flip it a few tracks down on some straight knowledge lyrical shit. with E-40 and the rest of the break through artist hittin the top, it's just a matter of time before we start hearing gangsta ass Mob music, lyrical Hip-Hop, smooth songs 4 the bitches and party/club Bangers all coming from the same region....THE BAY....shit the versatility around his is our strength but the politics and standards of our fans is what holds us down. but the strongest poin of our culture is that we won't compromise our art...and i believe that will take us a long way. of course we gotta give the public what they wanna hear, but we can only do that to a certain extent. MAKE WAY 4 THE BAY.......WE COMING.
what also helps our scene is that the San Francisco Bay Area is a fuckin big ass meltin pot of different cultures.Zion I repped that shit in their The Bay track,that shit is hard."We got canibus clubs,Philipinos and Black/Latinos from all over the map/Chinese and Vietnamese so dont get jacked/Samoans,Indians,Tongans,Thai's/Its The Bay homie and we multiply"
LA got the same type scene cept they got that fucked up gang shit keepin folks from kickin it
LA got the same type scene cept they got that fucked up gang shit keepin folks from kickin it
I think you took that the wrong way. I aint sayin that he shouldnt get no love or his music should sound like somethin else, I just think its surprising that with a sound like his that he gets that major love out here. You aint tellin me nothin new about the bay being diverse but any way you wanna look at it, that is not the sound that people think of when you talk about Bay Area rap. I aint sayin that it aint bay music, cause it is. Just sayin its a more typical East Coast type sound. Thats all I got to say on it, aint tryna be arguin all over this shit.
I live in Albuquerque, NM now and The Team is the most requested down here next to that Mike Jones shit. I didn't even know they were from Oakland till they mentioned Hammer, Keek, and Richie Rich is on their album in a radio interview. I honestly thought they were down south. But I think it's good the bay is going in different directions with their sound.