Listen along with our 
Bay Area Mobb Music Sampler playlist.Ever since Oakland rapper Too Short started slanging cassette albums like Players out of his car trunk in the early 1980s, the San Francisco Bay Area rap scene has been a source of curiosity and fascination. Centered in the city of San Francisco; East Bay cities like Oakland, Berkeley and Vallejo; and Peninsula cities like East Palo Alto, it's a region truly unlike any other.
While other underground scenes in the South and on the East Coast focus on mixtapes, the "Yay Area" (somewhat fancifully nicknamed for the hustlers who slang coke or "yay yo") produces hundreds of full-length albums a year from both well-known and obscure artists that employ cryptic yet imaginative local slang. Vallejo artist E-40, perhaps the best known Bay Area rapper next to Too Short and 2Pac (who moved to Los Angeles before his 1996 death), even put out a dictionary of "slanguage"; terms like like "D-boy" and "captain save a ho" have been adopted into the hip-hop lexicon.
Bay Area rap dates back to the 1980s, but its most crucial development took place during the '90s. This was the golden age of West Coast hip-hop, when G-funk pioneers like L.A.'s Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube and Coolio enjoyed a near-monopoly on the rap music charts. In the Bay Area, producers like Ant Banks, Studio Ton, Mike Mosley, E-A-Ski and Tone Capone developed what became known as mobb music. It was a derivation of G-funk's emphasis on "funky worm" keyboard melodies and Zapp-like trunk-rattling bass, yet the bass seemed deeper and the funk arrangements were less dependent on P-funk samples and interpolations. Since most Bay Area artists, like JT the Bigga Figga ("Game Recognize Game") and R.B.L. Posse ("Don't Give Me No Bammer"), recorded for independent labels like In-A-Minute, Sick Wid It and C-Note, they created a hardcore sound rawer than L.A.'s slick, major-label-funded gangsta rap.
The mobb music era roughly breaks down into three overlapping periods that are most easily defined by the style of certain landmark tracks: the N.W.A.-like sampling of the early 1990s and hits like Too Short's "Money in the Ghetto," an Ant Banks production that culled from Kool & the Gang's "Hollywood Swinging"; the sluggishly monolithic trunk bass of Luniz and Tone Capone's "I Got Five on It"; and the bouncy, wholly original funk of 3 X Krazy's "Keep It on the Real." The latter period, which picked up in the late '90s, came from a wave of area artists briefly signing to major labels, and was a response to "jiggy era" hits like Diddy's No Way Out and the resulting influx of mainstream-rap fans. This set the stage for the Bay Area hyphy movement of the 2000s.
Much like the Los Angeles scene that was permanently damaged by the East Coast-West Coast rivalry between Dr. Dre's Death Row label and Diddy's Bad Boy Records, Bay Area rap isn't as popular as it once was. But the players who emerged during the mobb music era continue to thrive as regional stars. In the Bay, independent hustle is a must, and the region will continue to pump out dope music for the streets, whether the pop market pays attention or not.
E-40In a Major Way
E-40 greatly improved on his early Sick Wid It releases with In a Major Way. The beats from Studio Ton and Mike Mosley sound louder and bang harder, and 40 wrote some of his best songs, including the poignant "1-Luv," where he raps from the perspective of a convict who sends him a letter; and "Sprinkle Me," a hit collaboration with his sister Suga-T. He busts shots on "Dusted 'N' Disgusted" with Mac Mall, 2Pac and Spice 1, but as usual the emphasis is on his dizzyingly imaginative slang and satirical hood stories, not violent gangster rap. [Mosi Reeves]
LunizOperation Stackola
This is one of the most renowned and popular hip-hop albums ever to come out of the Bay Area, thanks to hit single "I Got 5 on It." Listening to it a decade later, it's amazing how modest hip-hop was at the time. There's "Broke Hos" and "Broke N*gg*z," and on "I Got 5 on It" the emcees (Yukmouth and Numskull) offer to split a dime bag of weed (hardly big pimping). The production is G-funk-lite, suffused with the sort of washed-out synths and rolling basslines that would become emblematic of the Bay's post-Tupac mobb music. [Sam Chennault]
Rappin' 4-TayDon't Fight the Feelin'
It's "a Bay thang" as one of the San Francisco Bay Area's premier artists takes his 1994 bow. There are touches of the G-funk revolution (the whirring harmonics of "Sucka Free" and fat, loose basslines throughout) that enveloped the West Coast in the early to mid-'90s, but 4-Tay's quick flow also points to his earlier East Coast brethren. The themes are familiar: weed ("Dank Season"), partying ("Tear the Roof Off") and loose women ("She's a Sell Out"). The jewel of the collection is the god-like "Playaz Club," with its infectious sample from the opening bars of William Bell's "Private Number." [S.C.]
Spice 1187 He Wrote
It's depressing that the overwhelmingly violent 187 He Wrote isn't even the bloodiest example of '90s gangsta rap, but a harsh reflection of the era. One of the better rappers to emerge from the Bay Area, Spice 1 runs through "Trigga Gots No Heart" and "Smoke 'Em Like a Blunt" with a style that mixes ragamuffin inflections with double-time flows. Meanwhile, producers like Too Short (the famed Oakland rapper in a mentor/beat-making role), E-A-Ski and Ant Banks accompany him with mordant, bass-driven funk. There's no morality here, just "reality rap" pumped up to an extreme. [M.R.]
Dru DownExplicit Game
Dru Down's 1994 hit includes the seminal "Pimp of the Year," which still gets played throughout the Bay Area. The rest of the first half is rough -- Explicit Game seems designed as a C-Note Records showcase, and the Luniz (who hit the next year with "I Got Five on It") appear on several tracks telling stories more amusing to them than us. However, the second half soars with standout tracks like "No One Loves You" and "Ain't No Stoppin'," funk beats from Ant Banks and Tone Capone, and Dru Down's indelible, Bootsy Collins-influenced voice and game-droppin' raps. [M.R.]
The ClickDown and Dirty
When Jive re-released The Click's tape-only 1992 release Down and Dirty in 1994, they clipped and polished, pairing some of the raps with new beats and eliminating five of the tracks altogether. This edition restores this G-funk classic to its full glory. You get more of E-40's rubbery, mind-melting flow (check out "Mr. Flamboyant"), and more of D-Shot, B-Legit and Suga-T's tales of balling, "bitches" and 'hood bravado. Songs such as "Let's Get Drunk" and "Old School" prove that the Bay was getting hyphy before the word even existed. [S.C.]
R.B.L. PosseRuthless by Law
R.B.L. Posse's second album didn't have a national hit like their debut's "Don't Give Me No Bammer," but it was arguably more intense. The heavy, rippling woofer bass and ominous "funky worm" melodies underline "Blue Bird" and "I Got My Nine." Mr. Cee and Black C's simplistic lyrics rarely vary beyond smoking weed, slanging rock and basking in the afterglow of local success, but the menace they communicate is irresistible. The success of Ruthless by Law helped R.B.L. Posse land a major-label deal, but their momentum effectively ended when Mr. Cee was murdered in 1996. [M.R.]
Celly CelHeat 4 Yo Azz
Released on E-40's Sick Wid It label, Celly Cel's debut opens with one of the all-time mobb music classics, a hard-funkin' maelstrom of bass wallops and gat-clap threats. Unfortunately, Heat 4 Yo Azz doesn't advance beyond its impressive title track. Producer Studio Ton's whimsical funk worked wonders for E-40 (who appears on "How to Catch a B*tch" and "Retaliation"), but it's the wrong formula for Celly Cel's gangbanging rhymes. One exception is "What Am I Supposed to Do," where Mike Mosley and Sam Bostic (as Mob Boss Productions) help the Oaktown rapper break down the D-boy lifestyle. [M.R.]
JT the Bigga FiggaPlayaz N the Game
The 1994 debut from one of San Francisco's biggest movers and shakers is a gritty survey of Bay Area street life. JT comes "straight out of Frisco," "strapped with the nine" and here to "take what's his." His collaboration with Mac Mall, "Game Recognize Game," is the most recognizable track here, though nearly every song bangs. The production is lo-fi G-funk, full of fat basslines and whizzing harmonics, and owes more than a little to Dre's Chronic template. [S.C.]
San QuinnThe Hustle Continues
The Hustle Continues is one of the Bay Area mobb music scene's underrated gems. San Quinn may nominally be a street rapper, but he spends more time breaking down his life in thoughtful and introspective terms than touting his gangsta credentials. He openly hungers for the success he never quite achieved on "Now or Neva" and "Hitz I'm Making," and rues his crack-dealing origins on "No Glory," all over beats from mentor JT the Bigga Figga. And if you thought E-40 was the only '90s Yay Area rapper who could spit, then listen to San Quinn rock hard on the crackling "Shock the Party." [M.R.]
Mac MallIllegal Business?
Mac Mall may be the "Mac" the world forgot -- his friend, Mac Dre, ended up having a much larger impact -- but this is quintessential Bay Area mobb music. Terse yet bubbly beats are too grimy to be straight G-funk, but nimble and funky enough bump in your ride. Mac's flow falls somewhere between Ice Cube's sneer and Too Short's leer. He has an undeniable presence on the microphone, even if the lyrics for individual songs tend to blur into a long, nearly nightmarish blur of felonies and misogyny. This isn't an accepted classic on par with 1996 follow-up Untouchable, but it's still indispensable for fans of the Bay. [S.C.]
Dre DogThe New Jim Jones
Before he was one of the Bay's most beloved independent artists, Andre Nickatina was known as Dre Dog, and he was a bit of a wild card. On his satanic 1993 debut, he calls himself "the devil's son" on "Most Hated Man in Frisco," busts a furious "hophead" freestyle on "Off That Chewy," and brags about doing coke on "The Ave." over an instrumental of Mtume's "Juicy" (and uses The Isley Brothers' "Between the Sheets" for "Lips," too ... all before The Notorious B.I.G. used those samples). "Selling dope is our only job/ Dank and drank is our only god," he says on "Alcatraz." [M.R.]
Various ArtistsTrying to Survive in the Ghetto
Trying to Survive in the Ghetto was assembled by Herm Lewis, an activist from S.F.'s Hunters Point neighborhood known for his "stop the violence" benedictions on local rap albums. Far from censorious, Herm created a platform for young gangsta rappers to hone their craft, and a few, such as R.B.L. Posse ("I Got My Nine [9mm]"), Rappin' 4 Tay ("Call It What You Want") and Andre Nickatina ("I Smell Jealousy" with his I.M.P. crew), became significant regional artists. Though not as strong as other releases from the era, Trying to Survive in the Ghetto is a crucial document of '90s Bay Area rap. [M.R.]
Further listening:
Ant Banks, Big Thangs
Andre Nickatina, Raven - Cocaine Raps, Vol. 1
Cold World Hustlers, Cold Streets
11/5, Fiendin' 4 Tha Funk
Mac Dre, Stupid Doo Doo Dumb
3 X Krazy, Stackin' Chips
Too Short, Get in Where You Fit In
Totally Insane, Direct from the Blackstreet