The Bay Area ain't over

The mainstream, middle-class subsumption of street culture continues apace. It's on the worn-indoors Carhartt beanie of every gormless grad grinding knowingly to Future. It's on the sidelines of Madison Square Garden, as Cara Delevingne selfies her way through another Knicks defeat (shout to Beno Udrih - I still believe). It's the endless Buzzfeed listicles on Beyonce, littering the internet like spacejunk in orbit.

The mainstream's creeping assimilation of subversive urban culture is certain to go on, but perhaps in 2014 we might at least make our appropriation of urban style and music a little more heartfelt. After listening to the following selection of Bay Area hip-hop tracks, you should be able to string together a rudimentary conversation about the sub-genre, just in case somebody decides to ask why you're wearing an Oakland Raiders jersey and a HUF five-panel. 

Repping Oak-town

All cynicism aside, the Bay Area, centred around San Francisco and Oakland, has fostered one of America's most distinctive scenes. Bay Area rappers, often overlooked outside of Northern California, have carved their own niche within hip-hop, with often-eccentric MCs delivering the local slang over snappy beats and flamboyant samples. These five tracks are just the tip of the iceberg. 

1. I.M.P. - Frisco

This influential posse cut, which features Bay Area stalwarts Young Cellski and Andre Nickatina, serves as an ideal excellent introduction to San Francisco: both its geography and its slang. The notorious boroughs of Lakeview and Hunter's Point "HP" are shouted out, and smoking "chewy" (cannabis sprinkled with cocaine) is discussed at length. 

The track is built around a crunching up-tempo drum beat, and a menacing, G-funk synth. The lyrics are sharp too, as Young Cellski proposes to listener: "you can be the baseball, I can be the batter". Bonus points are also earned for the song's inclusion in not one but two famous Bay Area-centric skate parts, as well as the single's fantastic cover art.

2. RBL Posse - Don't Give Me No Bammer Weed

This track from 1994's outstanding A Lesson To Be Learned, edges out The Luniz's crossover hit 'I Got 5 On It' as the Bay Area's finest drug anthem on account of the RBL Posse's more discerning attitude to weed. The rather confusingly-named duo of Black C and Mr. Cee encourage the listener to reject 'bammer' (bad) weed in favour of 'dank', recounting their personal experiences of both strains as supporting evidence.

Powered by a beguiling drum loop, the two MCs overlap brilliantly on a track which became a cult hit in the Bay, and was even sampled on Dre Dog's 'Smoke Dope and Rap'. A group who could combine rich beats with intricate wordplay, RBL struggled to maintain their high standards after Mr. Cee was murdered in 1996.

3. Keak Da Sneak - Super Hyphy

While RBL's 'Bammer Weed' tells the listener that "dank ain't medicine, but it'll ease the pain", Super Hyphy could be deployed by the anti-drugs lobby as a warning of the perils of "smoking purp and sippin' Yac", with Keak Da Sneak's voice so raspy that his lyrics are almost unintelligible on first listen. This 2005 hit, however, is a strangely compelling song, as Keak complains of other rappers stealing his slang.

The track is perhaps the finest example of the more club-orientated "hyphy" movement, which originated in the Bay Area and enjoyed brief popularity in the mid-2000s. Now largely forgotten, the sub-genre's most relevant recent appearance came when Messy Marv's 'Get On My Hype' soundtracked the house party scene in the above-average Ryan Gosling vehicle The Place Beyond The Pines.

4. Mac Dre - Too Hard (Young Black Brotha)

The pimpster aesthetic has long been popular in the Bay Area (just ask Dru Down), with Vallejo's Mac Dre and Oakland's Too $hort the most successful exponents of the style. Out of Mac Dre and Too $hort, Dre is the more flamboyant and charismatic, while $hort is the foulmouthed, dead-eyed, screw-faced one who would probably be more effective as a real-life pimp. 

This track, which was Dre's break-out hit in 1989, sees the energetic rapper on boastful form as he claims to be "making much more than a minimum wage" and staying "full of the Hennessy". It marked the beginning of a fine career, as Dre would remain a prolific and popular figure in the Bay Area hip-hop scene until his tragic death in 2004, despite a four-year spell behind bars after an armed robbery conviction in 1993.

5. Saafir - Light Sleeper

Together with Souls of Mischief, Oakland MC Saafir is proof that rappers from the Bay Area can be thoughtful as well as fun. 'Light Sleeper', taken from 1994's unfairly overlooked Boxcar Sessions album, sees Saafir discuss his multiple personalities over a slurring beat and discordant scratching. The rapper's verses are loaded with double entendres, and his self-conscious lyricism recalls A Tribe Called Quest when he admits "I'm dope... I'm arrogant and outspoken".

Saafir's case for inclusion is further strengthened by his part in one of the greatest West Coast rap battles, when he faced off with fellow Oakland native Casual and his Hieroglyphics crew over unreciprocated features.                 

Is Cai Zhenhua the answer to the Chinese National Team's problems?

This Tuesday, the Chinese Football Association unveiled their new president, and the man charged with dragging the national team out of the mire. At the press conference, he spoke of "determination, confidence and perseverance" and bringing "Chinese soccer back to its right track". The new president's name is Cai Zhenhua, he is a former table tennis world champion, and he has never worked in football before.

Cai Zhenhua, newly elected president of the Chinese Football Association

Cai will be responsible for overhauling a footballing culture which is still struggling with lingering corruption and poor coaching at grassroots level, as well as a managerless national side currently ranked 92nd in the world. Former president Yuan Weimin, who retires aged 75, had presided over the disastrous appointment of former Spain coach Jose Antonio Camacho as manager of the national team, who was to plumb new depths in heavy defeats at home to teams as varied as Uzbekistan, Brazil and Thailand.

With Yuan and Camacho now departed, Chinese fans will hope that Cai can replicate his success from his 13-year tenure as national table tennis coach, where he helped turn China into an Olympic powerhouse after retiring as a player. He also has experience in handling the bureaucracy which is intertwined with Chinese football, having worked as a director within the powerful State Administration for Sport.

Despite this experience, Cai should not expect an extended honeymoon period at the helm of the Chinese Football Association. A new manager needs to be appointed before the crucial Asian Cup qualifier away to Iraq in March, where China need a draw to secure qualification to the 2015 tournament in Australia. Italian World Cup-winning manager Marcello Lippi has long been linked to the manager's position, particularly after success in both the Chinese Super League and the Asian Champions League with Guangzhou Evergrande, and is the outstanding candidate to take over.

Frontrunner: Marcello Lippi

However, interim coach Fu Bo has steadied the national team with wins against Australia and Indonesia after Camacho's departure, and the CFA could be tempted to select a domestic manager after Camacho's alleged difficulties with translators. The Spaniard's eight million dollar salary also drew criticism from the Chinese media, and it is likely to take a similar outlay to tempt Lippi away from Guangzhou. Former Dalian Aerbin manager Aleksandar Stanojevic, meanwhile, could be an interesting third option for Cai and his colleagues. The Serbian coach, who was recently fired by Beijing Guoan despite finishing third in the league and progressing to the knockout stages of the Champions League, has experience of working in China and plays progressive, attacking football.

Furthermore, appointing Stanojevic would reunite him with two of China's most important young players, Yu Dabao and Zhang Xizhe, whom he managed at Dalian and Beijing respectively. Yu, who scored in recent victories over Australia and Singapore, has emerged as China's most consistent goal threat, while Zhang has the potential to be the creative heart of the team. The 22-year-old playmaker, who has recently been linked with a move to Celtic, plundered 11 goals from midfield under Stanojevic at Guoan last season. Along with Shanghai East Asia's Wu Lei, these two players could make a formidable attacking trio behind the mercurial Gao Lin in a modern 4-3-2-1 formation.

Defensive linchpin: Guangzhou Evergrande's Zhang Linpeng

In defence, meanwhile, Zhang Linpeng and veteran Zheng Zhi both excelled for Guangzhou Evergrande in their triumphant Asian Champions league campaign, playing with a rare blend of aggression and composure. In goal, the promising Wang Dalei will hope his recent move from Shanghai Shenhua to league runners-up Shandong Luneng will allow him to challenge Yang Zhi for the goalkeeper's jersey. Indeed, it is clear that the talent within the current Chinese squad means qualification for not only the Asian Cup but the 2018 World Cup should be realistic goals for Cai Zhenhua and whoever he appoints as the national team's new manager.

Evergrande's success at continental level has renewed China's appetite for footballing success after the lean years following the nation's sole World Cup appearance in 2002, and Cai will be under immediate pressure to transfer his undoubted expertise in table tennis to a wholly unfamiliar sport. Radical changes to China's footballing culture are needed, but before he can begin to address the nation's shortcomings at youth level, the CFA's new president must choose his manager wisely.