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Crosscurrents

Thizz What It Is: A look into hyphy with Nump

Rapper Nump with producer Boawen Wang and host Hana Baba

 

In order to fully understand the sound of beat makers today, it’s important to understand their influences.

When hip-hop made it to the Bay Area it took on many forms. You had the jazzy "boom bap" sounds of Hieroglyphics, and a popular scratch-DJ scene lead by the Invisibl Skratch Piklz.

 

But the most recognized sound of all was hyphy. Coined by Oakland-native Keak Da Sneak, hyphy gained national attention as upbeat party music with heavy bass drums. Though the movement peaked nationally around the mid-'00s, hyphy continues to influence and shape budding artists today.

 

One person who was in the middle of it all was Nump. After finishing up his audio engineering degree, Nump found his way to Infinite Studios, where he worked with artists like Mac Dre, E-40, and The Federation, and other hyphy artists. Now, Nump hosts TZLR News for Thizzler.com, one of the Bay’s largest hip-hop blogs.

He sat down to talk about his experiences in the hyphy movement and where that sound is today.

"Maybe the sound [today] is a little different but the energy is there. You see everybody dancing and everybody outside. It's still the same. It's probably not called hyphy but we get hyphy for sure."

Click the audio player above to listen to the full interview. 

 

Crosscurrents