Revisiting Cypress Hill's Smoking Hot Catalogue

    

    Maybe it's the recent Halloween with its horror themes and skeletons. Or maybe it's the fact that the group recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of their 3rd and most critically/commercially successful studio album "III: Temples of Boom" (released on 31st October 1995, same day as Halloween). Recently I have found myself listening to a lot of Cypress Hill, which is bringing back a lot of great memories from my first years getting into Hip-Hop, and has inspired me to write on this blog again.

    I first got into Cypress Hill while spending some time in Austria on a school exchange programme. Back then I was listening to a lot more Alternative Rock and Metal than I did Hip-Hop. My only reference was Eminem... I remember watching TV from time to time and leaving it on a channel playing back to back music videos (probably because I could not take watching any other German-speaking TV channel then). Besides a music video from some Austrian DJ singing just outside what looked like a chalet in the Tirol mountains, videos for Bloodhound Gang's "The Ballad of Chasey Lain" and for Cypress Hll's "(Rock) Superstar" were probably the ones that got the most playtime on the channel. I immediately got hooked to music style and B-Real's high-pitched vocals. First thing I did when coming back home, was going out to buy the album the song was on, Cypress Hill's "Skull & Bones" double CD. The rest is history.

    The concept of "Skull & Bones" was that of a double album on which disc one consisted of Rap songs and disc two of Metal/Rap Fusion songs. Naturally at first listen, I was more a fan of disc two, but ended playing a lot of disc one too, eventually spending a lot more time with this one than the other. I guess I can credit Cypress Hill in part of making me a Hip-Hop/Rap music fan. So here, I want to pay tribute to the phenomenal group by revisiting their unique catalogue and listing some of my favorite songs along the way.

Skull & Bones (2000)

    Obviously this one's not their first album chronologically, but it will remain one of the most impactful to me given the history explained above. From the opening track "Another Victory" to the album's closer "Worldwide", there's not one song I'd skip. The whole disc is very consistent throughout with hard hitting beats fusing West Coast vibes with Spanish-influenced instrumentals, altogether sounding very polished. This may not be the most standout music of theirs and DJ Muggs is playing safer than on their earlier albums, but the "Skull" disc is sure to have your head nodding and feeling invincible while cruising in your car. The "Bones" disc is the perfect way to bring Rap and Alt Rock fans together, as it brings down barriers between the two genres. Across the two discs, B-Real's inimitable voice and flows sound more perfected and less forced than on their previous efforts.

Cypress Hill (their 1991 self-titled debut)

    This is the album that started it all, introducing the world to B-Real's high-pitched voice and DJ Muggs' unique sound signature. The album's sinister and psychedelic ambiance carried themes of street violence, police injustice and also introduced Cypress Hill's as militants for the widespread legalization of marijuana. Gangsta rap tales alternate with stoners' anthems across a 15-track album whose best moments for me are the successive "Pigs", "How I Could Just Kill A Man" and  "Hand On the Pump", "Light Another", "Stoned is the Way of the Walk" and the Spanish raps of "Latin Lingo".

Black Sunday (1993) 

    The group's sophomore featured one of their most popular singles in "Insane in the Brain" and took them further into a dark music style as the instrumentals take on a less festive vibe in comparison to their debut. This is particularly noticeable on tracks like "Cock the Hammer", "A to the K" or "Hand on the Glock". Mixing and mastering are just as underground and unpolished as on the first album, making the album, albeit not so crispy-sounding to the ear, even darker. On top of the previously-mentioned songs, "Hits From the Bong" and "I Wanna Get High" are  my favorite tracks on the album.

Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom (1995)

    This one is by far Cypress Hill's best album. Each track flows seamlessly into the next one, alternating songs with skits making for a very cohesive listening experience. The group deliver their darkest effort across 15 tracks featuring some of DJ Muggs' best production on songs like "Throw Your Set In The Air", "Illusions", "Boom Biddy Bye Bye" or "Killafornia". Temples of Boom also marks the first time the group would collaborate with artists outside the camp, inviting RZA and GZA on the track "Killla Hill Ni***s". What made the album even more eventful was that it sparked a beef with Ice Cube and his Westside Connection crew with the song "No Rest For the Wicked". On the track Cypress Hill dissed Ice Cube for stealing the hook to their song "Throw Your Set In the Air". Ice Cube responded with the song "King of the Hill" together with Westside Connection on their debut album Bow Down and Cypress Hill unleashed one more diss track before both camps squashed the beef. If you only pick up one Cypress Hill album, this is got to be the one.

Cypress Hill IV (1998)

    The Souls Assassins came back 3 years after their last album with this divisive 4th album. Rapping over some more bass-heavy beats than on their previous projects and enlisting the support of fellow California rappers Barron Hicks, MC Eiht and Chace Infinite, Cypress Hill delivers an opus that to many sounded like more of the same and disappointed. They were increasingly under pressure to change the formula and in some ways played it safer than ever, bringing a sound and raps that weren't too different from what other hip hop acts were bringing at the time. This was also a period of descent for westcoast rap, following the passing of 2Pac, departure of Snoop Dogg to No Limit Records. Still though, the Hillside formation came through on the first 4 tracks ("From the Window of My Room" and "Prelude to a Come Up") and the album brought us great singles with "Dr. Greenthumb" and "Tequia Sunrise". This is where they began to experimental with heavy metal sound on a couple of songs, opening the door for a return in great form with the Skull & Bones project 2 years later. I remember bumping a lot of this album when I first got it, but now, outside of the aforementioned 6 songs, I am not as much of a fan as I used to be.

Stoned Raiders (2001) 

    Just a year after Skull & Bones, Cypress Hill followed up with this album, once again mixing westcoast rap songs with heavy metal tracks, this time all on one disc. This is probably the time the group sounded the most commercial when on DJ Muggs beats (he was absent from their other more mainstream sounding 2010 "Rise Up" album). The rap songs boast some of the most polished and hard hitting production from DJ Muggs and all carry a definite westcoast vibe with guest raps from Kurupt, King Tee and MC Ren, Kokane. Besides the single "Lowrider", an ode to the Hispanic car culture of L.A., this album carried a banging with Method and Redman, simply titled "Red, Meth & B" which is sure to have everyone going crazy every time it comes on.

Till Death Do Us Part (2004)

    For their last album on Columbia Records, Cypress Hill delivered yet again another type of sound, this time featuring Reggae influences on songs like "Ganja Bus" and "What's Your Number?" and bringing an even more Funk feeling with the project. The album is ok overall but does not hit quite as much as the group's previous projects for me. I did like the first set of 3 songs as well as the Prodigy-featured track, but the aforementioned single "What's Your Number?" comes across as thorough misstep for the group to me. It sounds overdone and too commercial, almost as if it were not Cypress Hill (if it wasn't for B-Real's unmistakable vocals).

 

Rise Up (2010)

    Executive produced by B-Real and released while Snoop Dogg was creative chairman for Priority Records, Rise Up was the group's first album after departure from Columbia. The album stands out due to the limited involvement of DJ Muggs who produced only a couple of tracks as the group turns to more politically charged and activist themes, most evident on songs "Rise Up" and "Shut 'Em Down". It is nice to hear the group over a great beat selection courtesy of Pete Rock, Jake One or Jim Jonsin. The latter delivered two smashing instrumentals for "Get It Anyway" and the radio-ready "Armada Latina". Unfortunately the formula does not quite work everywhere and you end up with a load of forgettable songs like the boring "K.U.S.H.", "Get 'Em Up" or the Mike Shinoda-assisted "Carry Me Away".

Elephants On Acid (2018)

    Their latest release and first album in 8 years saw the group revisiting the vibe of their magnum opus "Temples of Boom", this time giving it an even more psychedelic twist. The result is some of the group's best work since their 1995 album. Especially as DJ Muggs, back on the production tip, provides yet again an impeccable and cohesive soundscape both paying homage to Cypress Hill's legacy and helping them stand out from the bulk of the music that came out that same year. There's an amazing collection of songs on this album: "Band of Gypsies", "Put 'Em In the Ground", "Pass the Knife", "Oh Na Na", "Locos" with Sick Jacken, "Reefer Man", "Crazy" or the trippy instrumental interlude "Muggs is Dead".

 

Alright folks, and there you have it: hopefully this comes in handy as you consider diving for the first time into or revisiting Cypress Hill's catalogue (minus the numerous Greatest Hits compilations, the Soul Assassins albums and a couple of EPs). If I had to try and rank all these albums from my most to least favorite, that list would probably look something like this:

1. III: Temples of Boom

2. Elephants on Acid

3. Black Sunday

4. Cypress Hill

5. Skull & Bones

6. IV

7. Stoned Raiders

8. Rise Up

9. Till Death Do Us Part