Cypress Hill

Cypress Hill

Cypress Hill is a hip-hop group from South Gate, United States, active from 1988 to the present. The group forms around B-Real, Sen Dog, DJ Muggs, Mellow Man Ace, Eric Correa and Mix Master Mike, and its sound spans boom bap, chicano rap, gangsta rap, hardcore hip hop, hip hop and rap rock.

History

The group starts under the name DVX before changing to Cypress Hill after Mellow Man Ace leaves in 1988. It becomes one of the first Latino groups to achieve platinum and multi-platinum albums, and one of the first rap acts to build a following among hard rock and metal fans.

The self-titled debut album arrives in 1991. Its single is “Phuncky Feel One”, but the B-side “How I Could Just Kill A Man” draws stronger airplay on urban and college radio. Other tracks such as “Latin Lingo” and “Tres Equis” help the album sell two million copies in the US.

The group plays Lollapalooza for the first time on the side stage in 1992. DJ Muggs also produces the first House of Pain album and works on other projects including Funkdoobiest.

Black Sunday, the second album, reaches number one on the Billboard 200 in 1993 and records the highest Soundscan figure for a rap group up to that point. With the debut still on the charts, Cypress Hill becomes the first rap act to have two albums in the Billboard 200 top 10 at the same time. “Insane in the Brain” becomes a crossover hit, and the album goes triple platinum in the US with sales of about 3.25 million copies.

The group is banned from Saturday Night Live after DJ Muggs smokes cannabis on air and the band damages its instruments during a performance of “I Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That”. It headlines the Soul Assassins tour with House of Pain and Funkdoobiest, then appears on a college tour with Rage Against the Machine and Seven Year Bitch.

Collaborations and side projects

In 1993, Cypress Hill contributes two tracks to the Judgment Night soundtrack, including collaborations with Pearl Jam and Sonic Youth. At Woodstock in 1994, the band introduces Eric Bobo, a former Beastie Boys percussionist and the son of salsa musician Willie Bobo.

Sen Dog takes a break from the group to form the Los Angeles punk-rap act SX-10. In 1997, DJ Muggs releases Muggs Presents ... the Soul Assassins, featuring Wu-Tang Clan members, Dr. Dre, KRS-One, Wyclef Jean and Mobb Deep. B-Real appears on “Hit Em High” from the Space Jam soundtrack, on “East Coast Killer, West Coast Killer” from Dr. Dre’s Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath, and on his side project The Psycho Realm.

The group also records “Just Another Victim” for WWE as the theme for Tazz, an unusual use of original music by the company at the time.

Albums and chart success

Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom appears in 1995, reaches number 3 on the Billboard 200 and sells 1.5 million copies, driven by “Throw Your Set in the Air”. The group also contributes “I Wanna Get High” to the High Times-sponsored Hempilation album in support of NORML.

IV follows in 1998, goes gold in the US and includes “Tequila Sunrise” and “Dr. Greenthumb”. In 1999 the group works on the game Kingpin: Life of Crime, contributing three songs from IV and voice work by B-Real. That year also sees the Spanish-language greatest-hits release Los grandes éxitos en español.

Skull & Bones arrives in 2000 as a two-disc set: Skull contains rap material, while Bones extends the group’s rap rock direction and engages with nu metal. The album reaches the Top 5 on the Billboard 200 and number 3 in Canada, with “Rock Superstar” and “Rap Superstar” as the lead singles. The concert release Live at the Fillmore is also issued in 2000.

Stoned Raiders follows in 2001 and continues the rock influence. The group appears in the film How High and records “Just Another Victim” for WWE as Tazz’s theme song.

Till Death Do Us Part is released in 2004 and includes reggae elements, especially on “What’s Your Number”, which features Tim Armstrong of Rancid on guitar and Rob Aston of The Transplants on backing vocals. The track is based on The Clash’s “Guns of Brixton”. The album also includes guest appearances by Damian Marley, Prodigy and The Alchemist.

In 2005, the compilation Greatest Hits From the Bong appears with nine previously released tracks and two new songs.

Style and themes

Cypress Hill is known for B-Real’s high, nasal vocal delivery and Sen Dog’s more forceful style. DJ Muggs shapes the group’s production with bass-heavy rhythms, unusual sample loops and a stoned, psychedelic feel, while the band often uses rock instruments, horns and guitars in its arrangements.

Their early work tends to use a minimal, funky sound, while later records move through darker textures, psychedelic influences, rap rock, nu metal and reggae. The lyrics often address police brutality, racial profiling, gang violence, invasion of privacy by police and marijuana use, with songs such as “I Wanna Get High”, “Stoned Is The Way Of The Walk” and “Hits From The Bong” becoming closely associated with cannabis themes. Spanish language and Latino Los Angeles slang also appear frequently, including on “Latin Lingo” and on the Spanish-language compilation Los grandes éxitos en español.

Recognition and cultural presence

Rolling Stone names the group the best rap group in its music awards voted on by critics and readers. Cypress Hill also performs at Lollapalooza in consecutive years, including as headliners in 1995, appears on the Homerpalooza episode of The Simpsons, and takes part in the first Smokin’ Grooves tour in 1996 alongside Ziggy Marley, The Fugees, Busta Rhymes and A Tribe Called Quest. In 2007 the group tours as part of Rock the Bells with Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan, Nas and a reunited Rage Against the Machine.

Feuds and guest appearances

The group becomes involved in a dispute with Ice Cube over “Throw Your Set in the Air” and the song “Friday”; the exchange leads to diss tracks from both sides before the feud ends in 1997 after the two acts meet on a late-night talk show. Later that year, B-Real and Ice Cube work together on “Men of Steel” for the soundtrack to Steel, and also appear together on Warren G’s “Get U Down”, which also features Snoop Dogg.

B-Real also appears on Snoop Dogg’s “Vato” in 2006.