These performances include activities such as donuts, ghost-riding (an action that has proven fatal on multiple occasions) [4] and street racing, while others dance and "go dumb" around them.
For many Bay Area natives, rapper Mac Dre is cited as the individual who spearheaded the general public's interest in Hyphy music after his sudden death in 2004.
[5] Many artists, such as Drake and DJ Mustard, pay homage to Mac Dre due to his huge influence in their musical career.
[6] With the start of Mac Dre's label, Thizz Entertainment, he was able to shine a light on local talent such as E-40 and Andre Nickatina, prominent members of the Bay Area rap scene.
[9] The production style of DJ Mustard is adapted from hyphy music and played a role in bringing West Coast hip hop back to national attention.
[10][11][12] DJ Mustard has been attached in producing for popular artists' singles, which include: Tyga's, "Rack City," 2 Chainz's "I'm Different," Young Jeezy's "R.I.P.," B.o.B's "HeadBand," YG's "My Nigga" and "Who Do You Love?"
Among the local, more peripheral acts that achieved success outside of the Bay Area include Lil B, a member of the Berkeley rap group The Pack that has built a strong cult following on the Internet; the Richmond-based hip hop collective HBK Gang with individual members Iamsu!, Kehlani, Sage the Gemini, and P-Lo making their marks in the mainstream; Oakland-born pop rapper G-Eazy, who has gained two Billboard Top-10 hits with "Me, Myself & I" and "No Limit" (the latter featuring ASAP Rocky and Cardi B); and the Vallejo-based quartet SOB x RBE, who found mainstream attention after being featured on the track "Paramedic!"
In November 2011,[13] Canadian hip hop artist Drake released the song "The Motto," featuring Young Money labelmate Lil Wayne, as the fourth single for his sophomore album Take Care.
The song's instrumental (produced by T-Minus) takes major influence from hyphy music, and was a commercial success in the US—having sold 3,113,000 copies in the US as of April 2013—due to the meteoric popularity of the catchphrase YOLO during that time.
It featured many of the well-known artists of the Hyphy movement, including Keak da Sneak, Mistah F.A.B and Rick Rock.