By Robert Robot

Coming across a new favourite band seems to be common practice in this age of digitally downloadable music. Knowing how to spell the name of the artist is pretty much all you need to know in order to search for artist x on download site y to equal quick and easy consumption of the latest underground flavour of the day. But despite the inexhaustible music genie that is the Internet, discovering a new musical subgenre sometimes takes a little more engagement in the music milieu than bathing in the glow of a monitor and clicking the download button. Over a year ago I started hearing a new sound amongst the crunk, grime, and bastard children of the hip-hop genre.

í¢â‚¬Å“Tell me when to go,í¢â‚¬  spits the MC. The beat is slow and sharp, heavy on the base. A sample from Run DMCí¢â‚¬â„¢s í¢â‚¬Å“Dumb Girlí¢â‚¬  is looped, suggesting an affiliation to hip-hop, but definitely one I hadní¢â‚¬â„¢t heard before. í¢â‚¬Å“This is a hyphy joint,í¢â‚¬  explains the DJ on Vancouverí¢â‚¬â„¢s UBC radio station, CiTR. You might have even danced to í¢â‚¬Å“Tell Me When to Goí¢â‚¬  at a night club without knowing the word hyphy or about the huge legions of fans and talent that are devoted to this latest musical, fashion, and lifestyle trend.

The hyphy movement really started around the millennium when artists in the Bay area of California started making more up-tempo hip-hop derivative tracks often associated with the Atlanta crunk sound championed by the likes of Lilí¢â‚¬â„¢ John. Oakland artist Keak da Sneak (Charles Kinte Bowens) arguably coined the term hyphy as a shortened version of hyperactive, an adept description of his own demeanor. Legendary hip-hop pioneer, producer, and man-to-thank for the slang foí¢â‚¬â„¢ shizzle E-40 (Earl Stevens) is widely attributed as spreading the word hyphy to the masses. In fact, this modern-day hyphy renaissance man has just released E-40 and Hype on Hyphy, a documentary not only on hyphy music but the movementí¢â‚¬â„¢s take on dance, clothes, slang, and even driving styles.

Pioneers of the hyphy sound - like San Franciscoí¢â‚¬â„¢s The Federation - gained a rep in local clubs amongst hip-hop crowds bent on getting í¢â‚¬Å“yellow school busí¢â‚¬  - dancing in a kinetic and crazy style - to the new sound. Some attribute the wild hyphy style of dance to the use of psychoactive drugs like ecstasy usually associated more with the electronic dance crowd than the hip-hop scene.

Hyphy extends far beyond being just a new musical subgenre, incorporating an entirely unique lifestyle into the scene. Hyphy fans can be found í¢â‚¬Å“ghostriding the whip,í¢â‚¬  meaning walking alongside oneí¢â‚¬â„¢s slow-rolling car, giving the illusion that the car is driving itself. All the while their friends are either hanging outside the car with the doors wide open or dancing on the roof to the latest hyphy track. Sound stupid? Well, thatí¢â‚¬â„¢s the point. On the surface, hyphy fans look a lot like the Beatlesí¢â‚¬â„¢ legions of screaming female fans, except these fans doní¢â‚¬â„¢t care where they get stupid, as long as the hyphy sound is present.

If hyphy is new to you, then youí¢â‚¬â„¢ve already missed the í¢â‚¬Å“I was into hyphy when hyphy was coolí¢â‚¬  stage. Apart from E-40í¢â‚¬â„¢s film, DJ Shadow is now flying the hyphy banner, employing hyphy icons like Keak and Turf Talk on his latest full-length. But despite the big boys getting a hold of hyphy, the scene is staying innovative. The track í¢â‚¬Å“Vansí¢â‚¬  by hyphy newcomers The Pack shows that hyphy is too limiting of a label for a genre defined by innovations. With a sparse sound structure that reminds me of Snoop Doggí¢â‚¬â„¢s í¢â‚¬Å“Drop It Like Ití¢â‚¬â„¢s Hot,í¢â‚¬  The Packí¢â‚¬â„¢s rhymes about skate culture and indie rock flies in the face of the typical MC boasting and bragging prevalent in most hyphy music.

If youí¢â‚¬â„¢ve become hyped on hyphy, then a simple Internet search will get you everything Ií¢â‚¬â„¢ve left out. If you want the latest on where hyphyí¢â‚¬â„¢s going, then tune into your local campus/college station, read capitalmag.com, or simply support your local hip-hop DJ. They might just be onto something.