Although the hyphy movement has been around in the Bay Area at least since 2000 (the term's origins are a little uncertain, though it is argued that it was coined by Oakland rapper
Keak da Sneak in 1997 as a variant of "hyper"), it only started to gain national attention later, especially in 2006, which then makes sense that obscure area label Rah Muzic decided it would try its hand at releasing a hyphy-based album. Although the label is missing some of the style's bigger names like E-A-Ski and
Mac Dre, both
Keak da Sneak and
E-40 make appearances on
The Hyphy House (albeit the latter only once, on the opener, "Where They At"), which gives the record some legitimacy. But besides this, the overabundance of relatively unknown artists like BA Sports and DG3 makes
The Hyphy House seem like bit of a second-hand release. There are songs that are definitely good for ghostriding, including a remix of
Keak's "Super Hyphy," and overall the album has a pretty nice beat, but it's certainly not a "best-of" or "most representative" collection of the music or the scene. ~ Marisa Brown