Has Hyphy Gone Too Dumb With This One?

After I was offered this job, I had to write a sample blog (which you can find below) to submit with my resume. I had heard one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard in my life earlier that week, so I decided to write about that. Then, today -- two and a half months later -- I got an email that the video was currently being shot for said song. I can’t imagine what exactly the video will be like, but I’m fairly sure that it will be every bit as terrible. While we here in Northern Cali have been randomly subjected to hearing the track on the radio, the rest of the nation will soon feel its wrath; may God have mercy on our souls.

Now without further ado...

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It’s official like a referee whistle: the hyphy movement has reached an all time low. I understand that every rapper in Northern Cali is trying to jump on the bandwagon as quick as possible, as they very well should; the public and the press are going to pay attention to this about as long as they paid attention to reggaeton (although reggaeton still gets much love from the bootleggers in Santee alley in Los Angeles). But please. The ridiculousness needs to stop here.

When The Federation jacked Corey Hart’s... ahem... “timeless” classic and mutated it into “Stunna Glasses at Night” it appeared that going dumb had reached record dumbness. But the masses approved, the single was thrust into the top ten charts of radio stations up and down the West Coast, and it became apparent that anything would go at this point. But then came “Ghostride It.”

Mistah Fab has been a stalwart when it comes to Bay Area Rap; he came up under Mac Dre, undeniably the father of all hyphyness, and his last album, Son Of A Pimp was on point as was his recently-released mixtape Recess. “Super Sic Wid It” (featuring E-40 and Turf Talk) enjoyed heavy airplay, and he even popped up with Too Short and E-40 on the remix to Wolfpack’s “Vans.” He got signed to Atlantic. Everything seemed to be going his way- until now. 

Set to the one of the weakest beats ever, “Ghostride” sends up the theme song to Ghostbusters, with busting ghosts replaced by scrapers, grills, stunner shades, ghostriding, and everything else you need to throw on a single to let people know you’re a card-carrying member of the hyphy movement. And Fabby doesn’t come that bad on it lyrically; it's just that the idea to make the song should have been rejected from jump.

The Bay has made dope music for decades, but the current trend in Northern Cali seems to be that you have to drop hyphy catch phrases in order to catch notice. It’s a team effort -- established rappers like San Quinn, Too Short, E-A-Ski, and E-40 are stepping up to give virtual unknowns a hand, and the Bay is finally getting noticed by the rest of the nation. But hopefully Bay Area artists can use the momentum they’ve gained from following “Tell Me When To Go” with a barrage of like-minded insta-hits and can cover some new ground, without damaging their credibility along the way. Bay Area, stand upppppp!