If you’ve ever been to a party in SF or Oakland, you’ve most likely heard the all-too familiar melodies of Too Short’s “Blow the Whistle” or E-40’s “Tell Me When To Go.” Both artists represent a larger musical phenomenon called “Hyphy,” a cultural hip-hop movement that took its roots in the Bay Area. 

For over 30 years, the Hyphy movement has put the Bay on the map with its distinct sound. The subgenre is filled with synth and bass heavy sounds but is faster, with themes leaning towards partying and sideshows rather than showing out. 

But as the changing dynamics of San Francisco shift, so does the culture. Although hyphy remains relevant, it’s slowly losing its presence. And it begs the question of what the hyphy movement will look like in the coming years. 

“There are still communities in the Bay with Bay Area native lineages that are still making music and still kind of helping hyphy to thrive but also Bay rap to continue to evolve,” said Felicia Viator, a cultural historian at San Francisco State University. 

One of the groups keeping the legacy of Hyphy and Bay Area culture alive is Family Not A Group, a 17-person collective that aims to create safe spaces and community through their artistry. 

In this audio narrative, Ahbree Innis and Gabriela Calvillo Alvarez dive into the evolving cultural landscapes of the Bay Area and where hyphy fits within that puzzle.

A version of this story previously published on KQED. 

Podcast Script: 

Ahbree Innis: The mission was quiet, the 49ers had just lost the superbowl, and the disappointment was palpable. I had just washed down my third vodka soda and I stumbled down Valencia with a burning question. 

Ahbree Innis: Excuse me! Can I ask you a question? Taylor Swift or E-40?

Gabriela Calvillo: Oh, easy! E-40! 

Ahbree Innis: You would think after the entire Bay Area was rallying for the niners, the obvious answer would be E-40. Gaby, you would not believe how many Taylor Swift’s I got. Some people didn’t even know who E-40 was!

Gabriela Calvillo: [Gasps] What do you mean?! 

Ahbree Innis: I know! I was rocked to my core, and in the Mission that night I asked myself: where is the culture?

Gabriela Calvillo: The Bay Area has always been an epicenter for community and self expression. Take the hippie movement, the beatnik movement, and the hyphy movement. 

Ahbree Innis: … Short for hyperactive, the hyphy movement is a 30-year old musical and cultural Bay Area hip-hop movement. But it’s more than just a short definition. So what is Hyphy, really?  

Gabriela Calvillo: Hmm, good question! I spoke to Felicia Viator, a cultural historian at SFSU to help explain what the hyphy movement is to the Bay. 

Felicia Viator: Hyphy, in terms of music, is certainly a Bay phenomenon. Hyphy is a subgenre of Bay Area rap with roots in what’s called M.O.B. music. They sound really similar in a lot of ways like synth heavy, bass heavy but hyphy is faster. And the lyrics in hyphy are a lot less about like the day-to-day hustle and they’re more about partying and sideshows and showing out.

Ahbree Innis: 

The Hyphy Movement is marked by Bay Area native artists such as…. E-40, 

Subject: Tell me when to go!

Mac dre …

Subject: I’m in the building and I’m feeling myself! 

Too Short…

Ahbree: What’s your favorite word?

Subject: Bitch!

And many, many more. 

Felicia Viator: There are still communities in the Bay with Bay Area native lineages that are still making music and still kind of helping hyphy kind of to thrive or like the kind of the legacies of hyphy to thrive but also Bay rap to continue to evolve.

Gabriela Calvillo: In a small backyard bar in the mission, we found a group of young artists keeping the legacies of Hyphy and Bay Area culture alive. 

Gabriela Calvillo: “We are at El Rio in the Mission and Family Not a Group is about to perform. It’s 4/20 and people are hyped up!” 

Ahbree Innis: You can find the new generation of artists keeping hyphy culture alive today in “Family Not a Group.” 

Gabriela Calvillo: We talked to three members… 

Mike Evans Jr.: My name is Mike Evans Jr.

Oscar Caudra: I’m Grand-O The Snack Sensei.  

Afterthought: I’m Afterthought, I’m from San Francisco, California… and Family Not a Group is a 17-person artist collective that creates safe spaces, create community, do activations and, promote our love of San Francisco, which is our home and like, hope to inspire others to love wherever their home is. 

Ahbree Innis: The members of Family Not a Group were raised right alongside the Hyphy movement. Hyphy music reflected their culture and the inspiring artists that were able make it out of the mud on their own and show out for their region. 

Mike Evans Jr.: If you ask a lot of us, like where our parents are from, the vast majority of us in Family Not a Group will say the Mission or Fillmore or Hunters Point.

Afterthought: The hyphy movement itself to me was anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist and anti-government, you know. It’s very much like, we’re gonna sell our own CDs out of our own trucks and we’re going to represent ourselves and we have our own dance moves, our own style, our own producers, and we don’t need Hollywood.

Oscar Cuadra: I didn’t understand at the time but it really represented and was a reflection of the culture, you know. And for those artists to break through that barrier and put on for the Bay Area, I would imagine, inspired a ton of people, like hey, I could do this too. I could really put on for what I believe in, in my culture, and the people that look like me, talk like me, dress like me, you know. So the hyphy movement I think for the Bay Area was so positive. 

Gabriela Calvillo: But the people who look like him and dress like him can’t afford to live here anymore. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bay Area has had the fastest rising cost of living in the country since 2015, and Mike Evans Jr. has seen his region transform before his own eyes. 

Mike Evans Jr.: It’s always tripped me out that like, obviously San Francisco is a hotspot for techies to move into. But I’ve always wondered like, what culture do you think is still gonna be here if you come here and try to push shit out? You buying an old mom and pop and making it into your own personal coffee shop like, that’s not adding to the culture, that’s taking away the culture that was already here.

Ahbree Innis: And that’s why Family Not A Group is so adamant on keeping hyphy culture alive through their music. 

Mike Evans Jr.: Through that, through growing up with that music, I think we keep trying to keep it alive because it’s like art is damn near the only thing we have left. It’s hard to feel like this place is still your home until you go to concerts like this, like we’re at right now. These are moments where I feel like the Bay Area is still alive. It’s through the artists that are still here. 

Gabriela Calvillo: Family Not a Group represents an entirely new generation of Bay Area artists who hold hyphy in their hands. So when we asked what hyphy will look like in the future, Afterthought says it needs a total transformation.

Afterthought: I’ve had the privilege of like working with a lot of OG artists. And I think a lot of the OG’s are giving the torch to the younger generation. With all love to it, like I think, the hyphy movement needs to be put to bed. Like, I think we need to move on and, and like, create a new hyphy movement.

Oscar Cuadra: Aft, did you really just say what you just said? Did you really say the hyphy movement needs the baton passed down? [Laughs] If Aft said that, then I gotta back my brother up. I think maybe what he meant by that is that sound always changes, culturally shifts so we’re not in the hyphy era no more. It’s like love, love doesn’t stay the same, people evolve and things start to look different. So to love something, is to see the rebirth of it 1000 times. 

Ahbree Innis: As this new generation of musicians ushers in a fresh version of Hyphy, the members of family not a group are excited to see how hyphy will evolve.

Oscar Cuadra: Us being like, the newer generation of artists, it’s like a ricochet when you throw a, you know, like a rock inside of water, it ripples out. It’s only so long that that can ripple out until you need to throw a new rock. So F and G the rocks, we throwin stones.

Afterthought: Hyphy music will get a resurgence. Hyphy drops a seed and we need to water that seed and let it grow.