Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
1991
Album Summary
Cypress Hill is the debut studio album by the American hip hop group Cypress Hill. It was released on August 13, 1991 by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records. Recording sessions for the album were held at Image Recording Studios in Los Angeles from August 1990 to May 1991. The majority of the production was handled by DJ Muggs. The album was critically and commercially successful proving to be a major success for the group. Receiving major air-play on urban radio and college radio helped the albums popularity. The album went Double platinum in the U.S. with over 2 million units sold. The album is broken down track-by-track by Cypress Hill in Brian Coleman's book Check the Technique published in 2007, 16 years after the album release.
WikipediaI noticed some of the lyrics seem to imply that these boys are not on very good terms with the police.
This album is funky and fun stoner psychedelic rap from the streets. Amazing stuff and it has a through line that makes sense in hip hop history.
When it comes to hip-hop, I'm a fan of good lyrics. Why would you listen to someone talking for an hour if they having nothing interesting to say? Largely, this mean I'm not a fan of gangsta rap. However, I've I did have a soft spot for Cypress Hill about 15 years ago when I used to smoke weed. I had this album on CD and have fond memories of smoking bongs and playing old Sega games. Listening to it again after all these years, holy fuck I'm blown away by how consistently great DJ Muggs is. He takes short snippets of funk and soul, then transforms them into these new compositions which are quintessentially 1990s. It's amazing how much hip-hop producing had progressed since the 80s. In terms of lyrics, there is lots of stuff here about guns, drugs and cars... but it's nowhere near as obnoxious as most gangsta rap, and the two rappers have such cool, compelling flow. Overall, even though this is lyrically a little boring and even though I don't smoke weed anymore, this is an immensely enjoyable record. 4*
Tough to evaluate, as Black Sunday is my all time favourite rap album but I somehow hardly ever listened to this....and Hand on the Pump/Glock opens a whole can of worms. By definition, a cover of a song you like is unlikely to match it, but what if the cover is by the same artist and you heard the cover first! At first this seemed to be a work in progress. There is something going down but it's not as slick, witty or inventive as BS, but the second half really starts to get it's funk on and points inexorably to the masterpiece that they produced next. Probably need to be young, frustrated and stoned to get the most out of it though.
Cypress Hill is on that leading edge of gangsta rap going mainstream and, for purposes of cultural relevance, belongs on the list. That said, it's not my favorite. The boom-bap beats and devil-may-care delivery are fun but the lyrics just wear me down after a while.
I remember hearing Cypress Hill a lot on the radio and I don't think I appreciated them at the time. I'm glad to have an opportunity to listen to them as an adult when I have a great appreciation for rap music
From bossa nova to Latin hip-hop. Wow, I think I'm loving Latin music. I'm not a big fan of rap and marijuana culture. So I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed this impressive album. First of all, the beats and the sampling are awesome. Apparently, they made it marijuana-style psychedelic, which explains the trippy atmosphere of the songs. There is also something about their rapping that gets me. I like smooth yet solid nasal delivery, it's not overly angry and it fits perfectly with the beat. Overall, kudos for one of the first rap albums that I genuinely loved. PS. So that's one of the songs RATM covered. PPS. Cover art effort = 1/5; Production effort = 5/5.
Unique flow, super fun record. Gives you a lean in your step. Figured that the delivery would get old after a little, but it never really did. Favorite tracks: "Stoned Is the Way of the Walk", "How I Could Just Kill a Man"
5 out of 5 production - it is funky as fuck. The writing was pretty full on at times even by Biggie/Eminem standards but it didn't stop me nodding my head. Tres Equis and Latin Lingo are easy highlights (maybe because they're not in English - just kidding)
Distinctive, cruisy and just great beats/samples. Reminds me of high school. How I could just kill a man is my fav track
4.0 - Can’t believe I slept on this one for so long - it’s magnificent! The beats from start to finish are impeccable. The way they blend musical samples from so many sources and make it sounds that seamless? Incredible. I love the stories here. The rhymes and the flow are unique - I love that knucklehead scoundrel MC sound they got going. These songs transport you into their world briefly.
Good samples, lyrical variety with different deliveries demonstrated from song to song. Lyrical themes start off generally focused on taking tough and exacting punishment, especially on pigs, then transitions to blazing after ultraviolet dreams, offering a lighter tone to the album before finishing funky. Leans heavily on repeated choruses but the strengths are the verses. Distinct nasally vocals are occasionally distracting. Pigs, kill a man, phuncky feel one, Latin lingo
Classic! Great beats and rhymes, inane lyrics that are both too silly and too violent to know what to think, and B-real's nasally voice, you either love or hate. So many songs have built off of samples from this album, listening to this is like a greatest hits of all the hip hop it inspired afterwards.
I mean, genius stuff. Punchy, fluid. Great mixing. Inventing things and reinventing things. Gritty and angry, but playful.
It was really hard to get past all the casual homophobia but this is undoubtably a really strong album
Genre: West Coast Hip Hop 4/5 Another solid entry in the West Coast Hip Hop genre, Cypress Hill's self-titled debut is a playful and humorous album with plenty of quick rhymes and phat, boom-bap style beats. The early 90s are littered with soundalikes and imitators, as rap and hip hop were taking over the charts, as well as the culture. Cypress Hill, however, was creating their own unique lane in the rap game, and would soon find that their sound was the one which would be copied and ripped off for years to come. Regardless of how lyrically aggressive some of the tracks may be here (Pigs, Hole in the Head), the core of the record, and the messages behind most tracks, are engaging, conscious, and are handled with a biting sense of humor. How I Could Just Kill a Man, the big single and best song on the album, and a song which would become further popularized after Rage Against the Machine covered it, is a tongue-in-cheek look at gun violence and the unfortunate necessity for members of the black community to carry a weapon, with B-Real and Sen Dog trading witticisms like hobbyists trade cards. A tragic, yet quirky play on your average west coast hip hop album, while accidentally providing the sonic blueprint for many records which would follow. Really lovely record overall, and one I will certainly revisit.
I wasn't so familiar with this album, more so with Black Sunday. Enjoy the album, I kinda phased out and got into the beats. No idea what the lyrics were about, getting stoned and police harassment I guess. Good album, shame about the artwork though.
If I'm honest I got into this on the back of black Sunday which wa the album after. But after all these years sounds great. They crew a sound like no other with their funky break down and contrasting voices. Stoned is the way of the walk is still one my all time favourite hip hop songs.
Well, they have a place in this genre. It's hard to evaluate so many different sides of hip hop. They sound polished and their lyrics are quick and strong. The sound is unmistakable, and clearly they took the west coast hip-hop style and ran with it. They are the product of a violent sub-culture, and on one side, like NWA, they comment on the violence around them and the disparity between groups, and they also glorify violence both as posturing and as a way to promote the conversation. This is distressing and requires context to understand appropriately so not to consider it glorification. That being said, I think Cypress HIll lean too far into the violent side without much explanation. The gangsta side is pretty heavy handed here, but the pro-marijuana element is a nice side theme to their work. Overall, this is a pretty solid album, albeit, the emergence of the band more than what I think they were capable of becoming, which their next couple albums accomplishes. 3.5/5
Such great hip hop. Don’t think I’ve ever gone through this LP before today
Schlimmes Artwork, aber geiler Oldschool Rap-Sound! Beginn der Westcoast Ära
jag är ingen hip-hop-tjej men det här var något i hästväg. snuskigt bra.
I remember some of the singles from their second album and quite liked those, but for some reason never checked out their debut. Glad we got it on the list, because I very much enjoyed it.
Yo this jawn is fire, haven’t listened to it in a long time but Sen Dog, B Real and DJ Muggs made an absolute classic here: banger after banger. Some of the best old-school hip-hop production you’ll ever hear is on this record… straight fire
Man, that hit the spot. Some amazing beats, loved the deep bass sound, the party atmosphere. Hip hop is not my genre at all but thought it was irresistible. Music is weird like that. This is what this project is all about, finding cool stuff you wouldn't normally listen to. This is likely to become my go-to party album. Loads of great tracks but I especially enjoyed 'Light Another'.
Just about every song on here hits, and it gets straight to the point with classic 90's hip-hop. All killer, no filler.
Came to this only knowing 'How I Could Just Kill A Man'... Fun samples and just grabbed me.
From the very first track, the landmark significance of this album impresses itself on you. Just an outstanding debut which doesn’t overstay its welcome, as with so many of its contemporaries and imitators. Infectious beats, catchy hooks - a hip-hop masterpiece without question.
Like Clash's London Calling that came up a day or two ago, I want to give this a 4.5, but I can't. Again, this is a classic album, and in this case it was definitely a soundtrack to a part of my life long gone - so for that it gets the benefit of Swedish rounding.
Really great confrontational 90s hiphop. All of the sampling is great. Made me want to kill a man. 5 stars.
Beautiful album - it has wit, agression, inventive use of rhyme and samples. Excellent
Basso pömpöttää... eh... Treblehän se vinguttaa... Albumissa ei hulluja biisejä... Puuha pete...rakennetaan palikoita...toistensa päälle.... Biisit sujahtavat kätevästi toistensa perään.. Näkyy.. ALBUMI OLI HYVÄ KEKSINTÖ! näille kavereille.. siinä ero nykypäivän pömpöttäjiin.. heille ei albumi suolto ole hyvä asia... kun paskaa levytetään ja rahat kääritään suuriin kasoihin.. Roope ankan rahasäiliö konsanaan.. Lyhyet biisin nämä herrat osaavat tehdä... ahneita ei olla... roope ankan rahasäiliö konsanana....Muut hiphop albumit ovat päässet tänne kun siellä viisasteltu.. 10 min biisejä...Kriitikot ovat haltioissaan tästä.. 'GREATEST ALBUM OF ALL TIME" Pitkä biisi sopii luomaan tunnetta.. itse pidän niistä... Ei kaikki ymmärrä.. Toisaalta pitkät biiseillä saadaan helpot tähdet.. paskanen albumi pelastuu 10 minuutin päähän naulaamisella. "Heheh radio-asemat voivat lopettaa tässä vaiheessa... Laitamme teille fade outin.. avittaaksemme teidän työtänne... Beep... Noniin ne jotka nauttivat biisistä.. voivat jatkaa" - Joku toinen albumi jonka olen täällä kuullut... kriitikoiden perseitä ei olla noultu.. vahingossa tai ei.. tässä ei olla... masterointi silti huippuluokkaa... Biisien lyhyys ja kompaktiuus ei estä nauttimista.. harvinaista... ja palkittavaa.. Ansaitut 5 tähteä..
I have it on wax - it's a hip hop classic. It's the bouncing, off the wall DJ Muggs production. Even when this album isn't giving 10s it's giving interesting two minute experiments. I love it!
Great album using sampling. Usually I find it hard to vibe with album depicting black culture since there's a lot of excessive seating involved, but the lyrical content of this album is just the right balance
Another awesome album I'm very familiar with, it's been a while so looking forward to hearing it again!
This album was lit. It felt good listening to some classic hip hop again
Like all great hip hop albums this was funky as hell. Short sharp and concise!!
3.5/5. I liked this. I haven’t listened to much west cost hip hop, so it was nice to hear some new things. Definitely more violent than east coast.
Loved hearing it from back in the day ... starts off really strong and fades in the middle a bit before coming back at the ends.
How I Could Just Kill A Man es el obvio referente y ninguna de las otras canciones se le acerca en popularidad. Resaltan las canciones en español y los coros que acentúan la voz principal en ciertos momentos en la mayoría de las canciones, al igual que los sampleos, muy diferentes a lo que hemos escuchado hasta ahora. 3.5 estrellas que después de mucho debate suben a 4 porque está a la par de los otros 2 o 3 discos de hip hop que me han gustado.
Good album, good concept and good rhymes... it closes a bit claustrophobic.
It's no Black Sunday, but there are some solid jams on here. I especially love "Psycobetabuckdown"!
No pense que me fuera a gustar mucho el rap de los 90s clasico pero me sorprendio tengo varias canciones favoritas: Real State, Pigs, How I Could Kill A Man, Stoned is the Way of the Walk, The Funky Cypress Hill Shit
Great shit. Beat can get a bit monotonous song after song, but generally each song on it's own is solid and the album is great.
Phenomenal beats throughout, and every track is a lyrical blast. Opens strong and just gets stronger. Added to the rotation!
33. No me gustan las cucarachas en la oficina. Me atrapan junto a la cocina y me suben las piernas. Me quedo quieto. ¡Que te calles! ¡Que se joda la policia, viniendo bajo la tierra! MotA: Pigs "This pig harassed the whole neighborhood / Well this pig worked at the station"
Haven't listened to much rap, so I don't have a lot to compare it to, but I liked it.
Klasičan rap album gospode Cypress Hill. Odličan početak njihovog kataloga, još k tome posjedujem vinyl ovog albuma. Volim taj sirov zvuk i pucketanje na trakama.
I say goddamn... this is bread and butter meat and potatoes gangster rap. Awesome samples, hard-hitting lyrics, nasty grooves. One of the best.
First exposure to Cypress Hill past "Insane in the Membrane" which I remember from back in the 90's. Good beats on this one! This is hip-hop I can listen to, perhaps it reminds me of the Beastie Boys. 4
Mucho flow, mucho ritmo y qué onda el español metido ahí en dos canciones, jaja. 8/10
Would do 3.5 if I could. Solid rap album with an all time classic on it.
I knew of Cypress Hill as a stoner rap band, but had not really listened to them outside of a couple of their more popular songs. I liked the music and production - really funky and interesting. Not a fan of some of the lyrics which covered your standard rap topics like threatening people with guns, getting high, bragging about how cool you are, getting laid, hating cops, etc.
Great songs, and high ratio of head bobbers. I forgot that "How I Could Just Kill a Man" was their song, since I heard the RATM version first. Not sure which one I like better. The beats are just insanely catchy.
Ah, the eponymous debut album. Why do artists do it? But, that aside, this is something else - a "sonic blueprint" apparently - I get that. Musically tight, historically important. And thankfully, no 'Insane in the membrane'. It's very good. For 1991.