Ay Bay Bay: A Cultural Movement?

Shrevport rapper Hurricane Chris has recruited a star-studded team of artists from various regions for the remix to his hit single "A Bay Bay."



The new version of the track features cameos from The Game (Compton, CA), Baby (New Orleans), E-40 (Vallejo, CA), Jadakiss (Yonkers, NY), Lil Boosie, (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), Pitbull (Miami, Florida), Lil Jon (Atlanta) and new comer Angie Locc, also of Shrevport.



According to Hurricane Chris, the remix’s diverse roster falls in line with the direction his Shreveport -based genre of Hip-Hop titled "Ratchet music" is expanding towards.



"All of the artists featured on the remix were people I've wanted to work with for a long time," Hurricane Chris said. "With out hesitation, they all came through to the to the shoot and that was when I knew 'A Bay Bay' and Ratchet City was more then what's hot right now, but a cultural movement for Hip-Hop music."

Ratchet music, for those who are unfamiliar, is the New Orleans take on hyphy or crunk that is currently jamming airwaves across the nation. Now it's highly interesting. When my brother Omar first revealed the song to me, he just identified the artist as Hurricane. I thought he was talking about the former Beastie Boys DJ, Hurricane. My brother, also holds a soft spot in his heart for any rap coming out of the south.

I too have a soft spot and guilty pleasures bin of Southern hip hop. I enjoy a bit of Lil' Jon in the spare doings (don't front, you know you listen to him), and I must say that as far as the New Orleans generation is concerned, Lil' Wayne does warrant an occasional listen. But lately, there has been this kind of increase of the New Orleans rapper, first with Baby Boy Da Prince and his rather relaxed hit, "This Is The Way I Live" which has caught a ton of attention for the post-Hurricane Katrina generation. Baby Boy Da Prince happens to have the most dramatic of stories, having written his entire album "Across The Water" in a FEMA trailer.

Hurricane Chris however, has a slick story for how the song's idea for "Ay Bay Bay" came about:

The song pays homage to DJ Hollyhood Bay Bay, who spins records at KoKo Pellis, a club in Shreveport, La. The crowd would chant "Hey, Bay Bay, hey, Bay Bay" whenever he'd enter the club, and it soon became part of the local lexicon.

Pretty interesting story. But I'm glad to see this new breed of south creeping up through the cracks, and also a great thing to see some new blood in New Orleans changing the game for folks down there.