I mixed an hour-long, hyphy-themed DJ set live in one take in honor of the premiere of We Were Hyphy, a documentary that will be screening online during the CINEJOY Virtual Fest on April 1-17 (here’s the ticket link).

In the process of selecting songs, the mix naturally became a “best of” list of a special moment in time centered in the Aughts, when local artists strived to create a fairly unified and celebratory sound.

Included are songs that influenced or were influenced by hyphy music—like the work of Mac Dre, who was killed in 2004 before the national music spotlight briefly turned to the Bay Area.

If you still don’t exactly know what the word hyphy means, you’ll understand more about the music and vocabulary part of the culture by the time you finish listening — and you’ll also want to check out that documentary for even more clarity.

Press play below and keep reading for some background on these hyph...