Cypress Hill

In 1991, Cypress Hill released his first eponymous album. We then discover a Latin trio composed of two MC's (B-Real and Sen Dog) and a Dj (Dj Muggs). From the beginning, the band is catalogued in the "rap chicano", due to the Mexican/cuban origins of its protagonists, and thus stands out widely from black-American productions, with a sound universe both funky, hispanizing and, let's say, "ghetto". Violence, high blood pressure, humor... these are the ingredients of the combo's most important rics, which do not stand out from other productions by its texts, despite the fact that it gives a very special importance to marijuana! Sold at 2 million copies, this album is a success notably marked by the single How I could Just Kill A Man or Latin Lingo . Two years later, in 1993, the band did not waste time and released what would prove to be the album of posterity, Black Sunday. With this album, the band takes a new direction because the atmosphere is all at once dark and playful, lancinating and rhythmic, crumbling, psyched... Crépitements, alarm sirens and cattle cries tint the fourteen titles of this little jewel of inventiveness, against the background of hymns at the top and gun stories. More than a very good Hip-Hop album, this Black Sunday is a separate entity in the history of Hip-Hop, an inimitable and therefore timeless strangeness! The album sells 3.5 million copies, with Insane In The Brain single or less officially, I Wanna Get High . In 1994, Eric Bobo (then percussionist for the Beastie Boys) met Cypress Hill on a tour. He decided to join the group, for their live performances first, and then became a permanent member. It is none other than the son of the great jazz percussionist, Willie Bobo, who in those hours played for Carlos Santana, Tito Puente and others. In 1995, Cypress Hill carefully avoided the trap of sound redundancy by releasing Temples Of Boom, their third album. The public is able to see the break with the two previous opus. In fact, apart from a few scattered animal screams, the band kept almost nothing from Black Sunday. The sound is smoother than before, the more felt atmosphere, with a dark and light atmosphere very oriented towards high ground. Past the obstacle of surprise, this album turns out to be a new pearl, deliciously psychedelic, calm and enchanting. Cypress Hill follows the evolution of Hip Hop, without losing its identity, and even better, by asserting it. It also seems that the band closed the trilogy of its first three albums, very different from each other, and that's why in 1998, their fourth album I V is a new eponym. This fourth album is a turning point for the band. In fact, the year 98 evokes the appearance of new sizes of Hip Hop which will gradually become commercially established as the leaders of style (e.g. Eminem ...). Cypress Hill then released an album with obviously more banal sound, but at least very effective. The singles Tequila Sunrise and Dr. Greenthumb will make it a cult album. In 1999, the band released an album with all their Spanish songs: Los Grandes Exitos En Español . The result is interesting, without transcendence because without anything new. Some titles do well, others do not. It should be noted that they were the first Latino group in history to have had platinum and multi-platinum discs. Then, in 2000, released the album Skull & Bones, a double album including a first Hip-Hop album and a second Metal-oriented album from which the single Rock Superstar will be extracted. Live At The Fillmore , also released the same year, the only live album by Cypress Hill , this album is a success. The band then recaptures all its old songs, such as How I Could Just Kill A Man , Insane In The Brain , but also other songs less known from their first two albums. In addition to four members of the band, there are two guitarists and a bassist of the combo SX-10 (rap-metal group set up by Sen Dog in 1996). This gives a very Metal tone to this sulphury live, excellent quality. Then, in 2001, Stoned Raiders was released. The most metal album in the band. Note the title Red, Meth & B with Redman & Method Man .
Finally, in 2004, when they were only three in the band (DJ Muggs having temporarily left the combo), Cypress Hill released Till Death Do Us Part , a varied album that sounds lighter than all the others, however rather sought-after variety level with Reggae/Ska, Gangsta-Rap, and some Rock. Throughout their career, they will have made a multitude of sensations especially with Rage Against The Machine, Pearl Jam or Sonic Youth. The next album is scheduled for October 2009.