Best of da Bay: A Series of Slaps is one of those fairly common compilations where a major label attempts to cash in on a trend, in this case the 2006 explosion of Bay Area hip-hop, which happened primarily because of the Bay's hyphy movement. The word "hyphy" isn't on the cover because folks like the hard-thugging Spice 1 don't represent the "get dumb" attitude of hyphy, but put "da Bay" on the cover and people get it because a big part of being hyphy is being proud of the Bay Area and its hip-hop history. Luckily, Jive has two of the true hyphy godfathers on its roster, E-40 and Too Short. E-40's slang slinging and Too Short's irresponsible hedonism are key ingredients to hyphy, and their tracks included here are well chosen and representative. The rest of the disc bounces around some other flavors in the Bay's history, but it's really just the Bay music owned by the Jive/Zomba group. Still, it's a good time if you have your "stunna shades" and "thizz face" on and are ready to get "purkin" -- just don't call it "definitive." [Best of da Bay: A Series of Slaps was also made available in a clean version, with all explicit material removed.] ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide