CD Odyssey Disc 76: Cypress Hill

More urban music is at hand. I have a lot of driving to do tomorrow morning, so when I didn't quite finish the latest disc I took it upstairs, and painted figures until I was finished. I think it benefited from the headphones. Anyway,

Disc 76 is...Cypress Hill (Self-Titled)

Artist: Cypress Hill

Year of Release: 1991

How I Came To Know It: As I noted in my first Cypress Hill review back at Disc 57, I heard about these guys because my friend Spence did an album with all the original tracks that were remade on Rage Against the Machine's "Renegades" album. This was the first Cypress Hill album I bought, chosen because it has the original "How I Could Just Kill A Man." It happens to be their first album, but that was just a happy accident.

How It Stacks Up: Cypress Hill has a bunch of records, but I've only got 5. I'd say this one is probably #2 on the list, but very close to #1. Depending on my mood, it is the best.

Rating: 4 stars.

As I have noted previously, today Cypress Hill sings about 4 things. These things are:

• Killin' folks
• Smokin' dope
• Killin' folks trying to steal your dope; and
• Scorin' girls.

However, back "in the day" they only sang about the first three. I could give lyric examples, but I think a few song titles should suffice:

"Hole in the Head", "Light Another", "Stoned is the Way of the Walk", "How I Could Just Kill A Man".

You get the idea.

Anyway, I really like this album, which has some great samples mixed with some funky beats. I think back in 1991, you could sample without legal ramifications. While I'm less a fan of "stealin'" than "rhymin'", there is no denying that it created a lot of great music that couldn't be done today.

In addition to at least 3 or 4 James Brown samples (long live Soul Brother #1), a couple of notable samples are "Duke of Earl" which is part of the bass line in "Hand on The Pump", and Parliament's "Aqua Boogie" which is sampled on "Psycobetabuckdown" - which is the earliest reference to "Buck" I personally have found. It is now used by judges on "So You Think You Can Dance" - meaning it has gone mainstream.

And, yeah - I watch "So You Think You Can Dance" - and not because my wife makes me. I like it. Don't make me get my gat'.

Speaking of "gat'", I think this word is pretty interesting and appears in a fair bit of the early nineties gangsta rap I've heard. I think it is a derivative of "gatling gun" which is probably slang for automatic weapons. I could be wrong on the etymology, but that makes sense to me.

One thing this album would benefit from would be better production - which is why I think their second album "Black Sunday" is so much more acclaimed, even though it really has less artistic range. "Black Sunday's songs aren't better - in fact it has a song "Hand on the Glock" which is largely a remake musically of "Hand on the Pump". Yet "Hand on the Glock" has better production, so it ends up sounding better - and that matters.

This album also has one of my pet peeves - too many tracks, with 16. It would be next to perfect with about 12. I'm not gonna beat this dead horse any further (speaking of beating dead horses, Nickelback sucks).

It makes up for this with some really innovative stuff for its time, and lyrics that range from scary to funny. One that always makes me chuckle is from "Hand on the Pump"

"I'm headin' up the river with a boat and no paddle
And I'm handin' out beatdowns."

I don't know why - but that image is funny to me. (Less funny to the person getting the beatdown, but let's face it - if you can't outrun a guy heading up river in a boat with no paddle, you need to seriously give your cardio some attention).

Bottom line, if I were to try to get someone into Cypress Hill who wasn't sure about Rap, I'd get them "Black Sunday." But for someone who already appreciates rap, I think I'd say to get this one.

And they'd say that they've been listening to it for years - and where the hell have I been. And I would be suitably chastened - and ask them what I should get next.

Best tracks: How I Could Just Kill A Man, Hand On the Pump, Hole In the Head, Psycobetabuckdown, The Funky Cypress Hill Shit, many others.