Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
The United States is a big country, and different musical styles develop in particular regions. The world learned about the San Francisco Bay Area’s unique style of hip hop when rapper E-40 released the hit song “Tell Me When To Go” in 2006.
His new album, Revenue Retrievin’, is divided into two discs, one called Day Shift and the other called Night Shift. Your shift is the time of day when you work, and the album shows the rapper standing outside of a store. It’s a modest theme for an album that has guest appearances by Too Short, Snoop Dogg, and Björk!
Ella is a big fan of E-40 and has recently been to San Francisco. Listen to her tell Devan about the hip hop scene there.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
![]() |
![]() |
Ella: So I just got the new E-40 album. It’s pretty awesome. It comes in two parts, a day shift and a night shift, so we’ve got like 36 songs of awesomeness.
Devan: Wow. Do you have a loyalty to the East Coast rap or the West Coast rap? Like are you a left coast girl?
Ella: Being from Florida, I honestly like Southern rap a lot better. But West Coast seems to have a lot more party types of styles and then the East Coast rap seems to be more lyrical. I’m not judging one over the other, but West Coast music definitely makes you want to dance. That’s what E-40 does.
Devan: But even the San Francisco Bay Area, where E-40 is from, it seems like they even have their own unique thing going on there too.
Ella: It’s hyphy music. It’s like its own style that can’t be replicated anywhere else.
Devan: Say that again. It’s what?
Ella: Hyphy.
Devan: Hyphy music? What does that mean?
Ella: It’s just like thizzin’.
Devan: Thizzin’? Is this, like, the updated version of Snoop Dogg lingo, like fo’ shizzle?
Ella: No, it’s its own thing. Like when I was in Frisco, everyone has their thizz. I don’t even know how to explain it.
Devan: So you call San Francisco “Frisco,” you call it hyphy music and it’s thizzin’?
Ella: Yes! You’re catching on. I’m so proud of you. But my favorite song on the album is “Whip It Up.” It’s just so amazing. All the lyrics are catchy and it’s fun and he’s just got some really smart, funny lyrics.
Grammar Point
Go Super to learn "Phrasal Verbs" from this lesson
Quizzes
Lesson MP3
The iTEP® test
-
Sponsored by
Discussion
Since Ella is from Florida, her favorite kind of hip hop is Southern rap. But she also likes West Coast rap because it has fun lyrics about partying and beats you can dance to.
One of Ella’s favorite artists is E-40, who is part of a new kind of hip hop called hyphy. Hyphy is all about dancing very fast and energetically. It even has its own slang. When a hyphy show is going well and people are having fun, you can say it’s thizzin’. Devan has never heard of hyphy or thizzin’ before, but Ella assures her it’s a big deal in the Bay Area.
What’s your favorite kind of hip hop? Is there a regional kind of music where you live?
Comments
Brazil |
Brazil |
Ukraine |
Spain |
Brazil |
Saudi Arabia |
Brazil |
Thailand |
Mexico |
Brazil |
China |
China |
Iran, Islamic Republic Of |
Iran, Islamic Republic Of |
Share this lesson:
Post Ebaby! lessons on your blog:
