Put Yo' Stunna Shades On

Since the birth of the Hyphy movement, Southern California has yet to come up with a creative answer to the popular Nor Cal rap genre. Ghost riding the whip, making that thizz face, and going stupid are only a few examples of the trendy lingo several Bay Area rappers are popularizing through the music.

Off the top of my head, I can think of one kind of rap movement that was highly commercialized by So Cal artists: gangsta rap. I'm not a big fan of it, but I do remember growing up and listening to it on the radio. As far as "shaking them dreads" (violently moving your head so that your dread locks fly free) or "showing your grillz" (flossing those fronts or caps), gangsta rap encouraged no such fashion trends--except maybe a glock, an AK, a gat, or any combination of those.

All in all, take "California Love" for example, when Tupac had no idea there was going to be a separation of state, so to speak. Back then, it was an east coast/west coast rivalry, and Cali was unified more as a whole. That may happen with the hyphy movement, too, as you can see from my So Cal friends joining in the stunna shade fun. Though, I can't help but feel sometimes they may be mocking it more than feeling it.