the "virginia beach sound" (?)

here = san diego

we've contributed eddie vedder, stone temple pilots, three mile pilot and other post rock, assorted screamo of which the least obscure is the locust, and iron butterfly

we have a bad pop reggae festival and jack johnson plays here so much ppl think he's from here

all the other things you say about local culture are true. skateboarding, soccer, military, diversity, etc. but there's no homegrown music scene past derivatives of punk.

This is an odd bit of trivia but both Jewel (16x platinum) & Jason Mraz (2 Grammys, 5x platinum) both achieved prominence performing at Java Joe's open mic nights in OB, SD. Jewel was actually working there as a barista as well when she signed her first contract.

@thelategreat one slight clarification re: san diego. i meant cross-pollination/export of skateboarding and skate culture specifically.

i do think there are second order effects on music however. if you look at skate videos from that era, they were pretty eclectic and mashed up all sorts of music genres and styles. i skated as a kid too and videos produced in cali turned me to everything from east coast rap (tribe called quest, de la soul, artifacts) to daft punk to black sabbath. i say this with no evidence at all but i feel like skate video soundtracks could have been a big influence on the neptunes.

OR BMX

sorry didn't mean for that to be in all caps. or bmx:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_uDcCZDrxg

pharrell's brother was a pro skater and his nickname in high school was skateboard p

lol.

I've read some good pieces on this, will try to find:

https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2015/04/origin-stories-the-neptunes

https://ambrosiaforheads.com/2019/05/teddy-riley-pharrell-neptunes-timbaland-video/