Start the Day Off RIGHT-------->

Whether you smoke weed or not, the first Cypress Hill record oughta be in your hip hop library. As for me, I was instantly sold when I heard the record's first single, The Phuncky Feel Ones. Like everyone else, I was irked by B-real's strained nasal delivery, but by the end of the song, I was hooked nonetheless...

For most people, they weren't really sure about the latin rap trio until the classic party banger, How I Could  Just Kill a Man.

The video showcased lead emcee B-real flowing nicely on the kind of ominous punching beat DJ Muggs has since built his career on, and propelled their self-titled debut album Cypress Hill to sell two million copies in the states.  With songs like Hand On the Pump and Latin Lingo rounding it out, this album is pure fire.

of course this was all before some genius decided that you shouldn't show guns in videos on daytime teevee (who knew?), but by the time they figured it out it was way too late to do anything about Cypress. Their second album Black Sunday debuted at number one on Billboard in 1993, recording the highest Soundscan ever for a rap group, and making them the first hip hoppers to have two records in the top 10 at the same time. That's the record that crossed Cypress over based on the suburban stoner appeal of Insane In the Brain. Black Sunday and subsequent records had their appeal, but for me, it doesn't get any better than Cypress Hill.
have a nice day!
samax.
@

3 comments:

  1. Vee (Scratch)10:49 AM CDT

    Do not sleep.
    Cypress Hill material after their first two discs are pretty good. Yeah, fans felt they were trying to cross-over - what was really more about how they were being marketing than anything else - they have a lot of cool cuts in their catalog.

    Cypress Hill is STILL one of the best live hip hop acts with a phenomenal stage show.

    Check out
    - (2000) Skull & Bones
    - (2004) Till Death Do Us Part

    They're sound has not changed dramatically from from their debut disc and Black Sunday, I just think that they're no longer a novelty act that fans abandoned them and move on to the next new act.

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  2. Samax11:54 AM CDT

    DJ Muggs is a brilliant producer, so I'm sure the records are good. I liked the first record a lot more than Black Sunday, but I liked both pretty well.

    I've heard some really nice stuff from Cypress over the years, but nothing that blew my socks off like that first joint.

    But that's why I'm always so positive about hip hop when people are groaning. I know good and well that no matter what genre I want to listen to, there's more of it than I can possibly consume out there waiting.

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  3. chanson presley6:23 PM CDT

    now you're talking.....classic material right here......prob in my top 5 rap albums

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