Cypress Hill

Rating

Album: Cypress Hill
#	Song Title		Time
	Disc 1
1)	Pigs	More Info...	0:02
2)	How I Could Just Kill a Man	More Info...	0:04
3)	Hand On the Pump	More Info...	0:04
4)	Hole in the Head	More Info...	0:03
5)	Ultraviolet Dreams	More Info...
6)	Light Another	More Info...	0:03
7)	The Phuncky Feel One	More Info...	0:03
8)	Break It Up	More Info...	0:01
9)	Real Estate	More Info...	0:03
10)	Stoned Is the Way of the Walk	More Info...	0:02
11)	Psycobetabuckdown	More Info...	0:03
12)	Something for the Blunted	More Info...	0:01
13)	Latin Lingo	More Info...	0:04
14)	The Funky Cypress Hill Shit	More Info...	0:04
15)	Tres Equis	More Info...	0:02
16)	Born to Get Busy	More Info...	0:03

Album: Cypress Hill
#	Song Title		Time
	Disc 1
1)	Pigs	More Info...	0:02
2)	How I Could Just Kill a Man	More Info...	0:04
3)	Hand On the Pump	More Info...	0:04
4)	Hole in the Head	More Info...	0:03
5)	Ultraviolet Dreams	More Info...
6)	Light Another	More Info...	0:03
7)	The Phuncky Feel One	More Info...	0:03
8)	Break It Up	More Info...	0:01
9)	Real Estate	More Info...	0:03
10)	Stoned Is the Way of the Walk	More Info...	0:02
11)	Psycobetabuckdown	More Info...	0:03
12)	Something for the Blunted	More Info...	0:01
13)	Latin Lingo	More Info...	0:04
14)	The Funky Cypress Hill Shit	More Info...	0:04
15)	Tres Equis	More Info...	0:02
16)	Born to Get Busy	More Info...	0:03

Performer Notes

Cypress Hill: B-Real, Sen-Dog, D.J. Muggs.
Recorded at Image Recording, Los Angeles, California.
Latinos have been flexing their influence within hip-hop culture at least since the late '70s, when deejays like Charlie Chase and b-boy crews like the Rockwell Association and the infamous Rocksteady Crew made their presence felt at block parties and battles in the Bronx and uptown Manhattan. Throughout the '80s, Spanglish rappers like Kid Frost and (Sen-Dog's older brother) Mellow Man Ace saw some commercial success. But it wasn't until 1991 that a crew brought the Spanish language and sensibility into a hip-hop context at the level where it not only reached mainstream audiences, but also transcended ethnic lines within the inner city. Cypress Hill is that crew.
Their production style (crafted by DJ Muggs, a transplant to LA from the east coast), takes lessons from Prince Paul and the Bomb Squad, but tempered with a distinctly west coast feel reminiscent of the Los Angelino funk of War and Carlos Santana. Vocally, B Real and Sen-Dog achieve an off-kilter balance not unlike the counterpoint between Chuck D's boom and Flavor Flav's singsong interjections. Similarly, their lyrical content negotiates a truce between the urgency of NWA and the playful taunts of the Beastie Boys, interlaced with Spanish vocabulary.

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.72) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."

Rolling Stone (10/3/91) - 3 Stars - Good - "..an album that is innovative and engaging in spite of its hard-core messages.."

Spin (9/99, p.148) - Ranked #57 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s."

Spin (9/91) - Highly Recommended

Q (12/99, p.70) - Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s."

Q (5/97, p.137) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...the logic of Cypress Hill's 1991 debut is absolutely undeniable; and if it came along for the first time today it would probably ignite the hip hop scene with just as much force..."