How Bay Area Hip-Hop Found Its Sound in the 1980s | KQED

Casio keyboards, homemade tapes and the boundless creativity of Bay Area youth flourished in the 1980s hip-hop scene.

That's My Word How Bay Area Hip-Hop Found Its Sound in the 1980s Casio keyboards, homemade tapes and the boundless creativity of Bay Area youth flourished in the 1980s hip-hop scene. Apr 5, 2023 Updated Aug 5, 2025 Mosi Reeves In the mid-1980s, after years of street dance, DJing and graffiti sharing equal space, rapping took center stage. The Bay Area's bass-heavy sound would arrive at the end of the decade. (Clockwise from top left: Too Short, MC Hammer, Dominique DiPrima, Club Nouveau, and Motorcycle Mike.) (Steve Ringman/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images; Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Arch

related reading

• Bop Spotterwalzr.com
• Pitchfork Staffers on Their Most Formative Rap Albums | Pitchforkpitchfork.com
• How J Dilla humanized his MPC3000youtube.com
• The Jazz Samples That Built Hip Hopopen.spotify.com
• Why Daytime Raves Were So Important For Asian Club Culture | The FADERthefader.com
• How daytime raves introduced clubbing to a generation of young British South Asians - Mixmag.netmixmag.net
• Chesa Boudin Recall: How San Francisco Became a Failed City - The Atlantictheatlantic.com
• A Century of Art and Technology in the Bay Area | by Ken Goldberg | Silicon Valley Robotics | Mediummedium.com
• How ‘Urban Renewal’ Decimated the Fillmore District, and Took Jazz With It | KQEDkqed.org
• Tupac Shakur - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
• Interview: Myke C-Town (Dead End Hip Hop)unknownpassage.wordpress.com
• Hyperpop & Dubstep mix in an NYC Nail Shop | Tiffany Dayyoutube.com