What Is It! (No…Really…Que Es?)
San Jose Chicanos Get Hyphy
Story by David Madrid

Walking through the gates of the Santa Clara county fair grounds to the Street Low magazine car show, I was surprised to see the contrast of new and old Chicano identities that made up the massive crowds.

The meshing of the two cultures was as blunt as the car show flyer which had booked two headline musical acts, the Bay's own “Keak Da Sneak” with his hyphy hit “That's my Word” and the latin soul of “Malo” with there timeless cruising classic “Sauvecito.”

The hyphy movement is changing not just car shows, but the Chicano identity of San Jose itself. There is a new generation of young Chicano's that are into hyphy music and supped up muscle cars opposed to their neighborhood and family traditions of lowriders and oldies.

Hyphy is a style of energetic hip hop music that's regional to the Bay Area, but its more then just a genre of music to the youngsters of Northern California, it's a way of life, and is considered to be a unifying movement to put the Bay Area hip hop scene on the map.   For those who haven't heard hyphy, its party music with a thug twist, with lyrics that promote dancing, drug use, and all out craziness.   You can catch homies all over town sporting their long T shirt's, grills, while sagging their jeans as they dance in the streets “ghost ridin' the whip.” This style and mentality is rapidly spreading through out California and nationwide, with the help of the late “Mac Dre,” “E-40”, and “Keak Da Sneak” who's rap music introduced this bayed out phenomenam to a whole new generation.

This hyphy movement and way of life does not belong to any particular ethnicity or people, it's not a black or brown thing, it's a straight up Bay thing.   Although originating out of Oakland and Vallejo, hyphy has grown through out San Jose within the last few years. Its not just about clothes and music, its about representing your town and showing Bay love. And it's that Nor Cal unity that has made it even possible for this multi-cultural hip hop style to manifest in primarily Mexican and Chicano communities, that have for generations maintained a distinct cultural fashion and style unique to its own city. As a result, San Jose may even be more connected to the rest of the Bay Area culturally then ever before.

Being part of the Bay is somewhat new for San Jose. Although geographically San Jose is considered the southern part of the bay, it has always seemed to be disconnected from the rest of the San Francisco and Oakland region. Much of it has to do with the distance and the difference of ethnic cultural history. The South Bay, Central Coast, and Central Valley have always been defined by their stronger Mexican and Chicano histories. Chicano identities shaped the South Bay culture, from the apricot fields to modern day low-riding, and that is why even today young Chicanos in San Jose have some of the same interests and fashions that their elders have. What other culture is there where you can find a sixteen-year-old boy listening to the same music that his grandfather did when he was a kid? But with the arrival of hyphy, some Chicano youth are stepping away from their traditional identity.

Mrs. Allen, staff person at Fischer Junior High, a predominantly Latino school on the East Side, says that hyphy is quickly becoming the most prominent way young people are representing themselves. “Before, it was easy to know who's who by the way they dressed, but now different kinds of groups all got a bit of hyphy.” Even the gangsters have caught on. Both Surenos and Nortenos, she says, are suited in hyphy gear – hanging up their Cortez's for Jordan's.

And because of that, a lot of folks in San Jose say that the hyphy movement is a welcomed new alternative for the Chicano community, because it is a different identity than the one that has taken over so many of our youth -- gang-banging. In that way, this bay identity has seemed to succeed where most gang intervention programs have failed. Although it may not be a positive alternative, because the hyphy mentality is still that of a thug, and one of being rowdy and partying with drugs, it's still an alternative to killing each other over gang conflict.

Although many are placing hope in the hyphy movement, some are still critical of the whole phenomenon's effect on San Jo Chicano culture. Joey Martinez, a young home boy from East San Jose is not alone when he says,   “That hyphy sh** got a lot of homies out here acting like they're black, that's not who we are.” He, along with others, embrace their Chicano heritage and feels that hyphy has no place in the authentic San Jose Chicano lifestyle. Joey says that hyphy is merely a fad anyhow, and adds, “Real homeboys don't sag.”

Like it or not, the hyphy movement is here in San Jose.   Who decides to get on the yellow bus is up to them.

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