A term coined in
San Francisco in the mid-sixties, neatly taking the place of
beatnic, or
beat in the popular
imagination and
speech.
There are two possibilities suggested for its origin.
First, that it somehow derived from the Haight Independant Press Service, an early underground newspaper. As in, have you read the news, yet--are you "hip."
Or just, maybe, "are you hip?" without any reference to any newspaper. After all, hippies were experimenting with new ways of thinking, seeing, and knowing:
"Turn on, tune in, drop out"