The big story in rap last year was Houston. For years, the city had developed its own aesthetic, code words, and sui-generis star system, all while out of sight of the East Coast's cultural gatekeepers. When the rest of the country suddenly took notice, local stars Mike Jones and Paul Wall became national stars, and rappers all over the world started talking about codeine cough syrup and DJ Screw. The same thing is now supposed to happen to California's Bay Area. The region has its own sound, hyphy, which involves lots of berserk, scattered drum-machines, enormous synth-riffs, and brittle, burbling hooks. Like Houston, the city also has its own look and slang and locally based distribution networks. Lil Jon certainly did his best to package the scene and sell it to the rest of the world when he signed E-40, a local legend whose claim to national fame had previously been inventing handfuls of popular hip-hop slang terms. But the album has been out for a month now, and it's not even halfway to gold, so the results are in: The Bay Area is not this year's Houston.