We Have been Hyphy celebrates huge hits like E-40’s “Inform Me When To Go,” nevertheless it doesn’t miss the deep cuts. We hear from artists like Mistah F.A.B. and Keak Da Sneak — the latter of whom launched the phrase “hyphy” to the plenty — in addition to the turf dancers, unbiased label bosses and sideshow drivers on the coronary heart of the grassroots subculture. Interviews with Sacramento State College’s Dr. Andrea Moore and KQED’s Pendarvis Harshaw take the narrative a layer deeper, displaying how artistic innovation thrived despite oppressive circumstances. And testimonies from big-name artists raised on the hyphy motion, together with G-Eazy and Kamaiyah, create a throughline to its enduring affect.
We Have been Hyphy shouldn’t be the primary hyphy movie. Within the 2000s, whereas the motion was ongoing, Mac Dre’s Treal TV and the sideshow doc Go Dumb USA captured the great occasions. Madrigal was a youngster in Antioch in these days, when hyphy made its means from internal cities to the suburbs, and onto the radio and MTV. Now, with the present of hindsight, he and his collaborators evolve the dialog.
