With the Showtime documentary Cypress Hill: Insane In the Brain premiering on Wednesday, April 20th, I figured I'd list their studio albums according to what I like. No critics. No record sales. Me. So here we go.
10 - BACK IN BLACK (2022)
The album is just ten tracks long and Muggs is nowhere to be found. There's solid cuts on their newest album but nothing that really makes you point to as one of their top performances. "Open Ya Mind" is one of their more political sounding songs, while "Come With Me" uses Tupac's "Hail Mary" to a nice effect. There's nothing spectacular on this album and it barely sounds like a typical Cypress joint.
Favorite song: "Open Ya Mind"
9 - STONED RAIDERS (2001)
Stoned Raiders, to me, is kind of all over the place. This is the first Cypress Hill album to feature rap and rock songs mingled together on the same album. As someone who is not a big fan of their rock stuff (note: I do love "Real Thing" when it came out as well as when they rocked out their hits on their live album, but I'm really not into the other stuff). Saying that, "Trouble" was one of the better attempts at the rap/rock mix, but the others really fall flat. This album had more features than what you're used to on a Hill album, though it is a nice roster of Method Man, Redman, Kurupt, MC Ren, King Tee and Kokane. "Here Is Something You Can't Understand" is a great callback to their first major hit and bumps really well with Kurupt's flow. Still, the best track is "Lowrider" which is so catchy and chill, but still hits hard.
Favorite song: "Lowrider"
8 - TIL DEATH DO US PART (2004)
This album has some outstanding tracks on it ... and then filler the rest of the way. One of my favorite Cypress Hill songs of all time is "Street Wars". It combines Muggs' eerie sound with B-Real's potent gangsta swagger to perfection ... and it moves quickly. "Latin Thugs" may be their best spanglish song since "Latin Lingo". "What's Your Number" adds a reggae touch and puts B-Real in a different position -- chatting up a girl at a bar/club. I mean, I applaud the group for branching out and trying new stuff, but "Ganja Bus" seems out of place. Now, when I originally bought the album, "Ready To Die" ... one of my favorite Hill tracks ... wasn't on it. It is now.
Favorite song: "Street Wars"
7 - RISE UP (2010)
I'm in the minority by saying I really like a lot of this album. It is the first non-Muggs album and it really shows. However, it is interesting to hear B-Real and Sen work off a different style of hip-hop beats -- though just like their later albums, it is uneven. I absolutely adore the hard hitting tracks like "It Ain't Nothing", "Get Em Up" and "Carry Me Away". "Take My Pain" with Everlast knocks, and "Armada Latina" is a cool anthem. Again, there are several rock-based songs that I skip which gives the album a weird flow. I will say that "KUSH" may be their most fun pot anthem, especially with all the name drops.
Favorite song: "KUSH"
6 - SKULL & BONES (2000)
This is a double-album with the first CD (Skull) filled with cleaner and hard-hitting rap tracks (just ten songs and an intro) and the second, Bones, containing six hard rock songs. Just my taste, but I don't listen to the rock CD at all ... but will say that "Rock Superstar" is better than "Rap Superstar" just due to Sen Dog's verse is included. I don't like that they took it out of the rap version. There are some really good tracks on here that hit hard, but the album is very short ... especially if you aren't into the Bones album. I do love "Cuban Necktie", "Stank Ass Hoe" and "Certified Bomb", but it's an album filled with solid songs but not many greats.
Favorite song: "Rock Superstar".
5 - ELEPHANTS ON ACID (2018)
It took eight years after Rise Up for us to get a new Hill album, and this didn't disappoint. While their last album (and their next) were without Muggs ... this is all about Muggs. He even has the trippy "Muggs Is Dead" which was accompanied by a fantastic animated video. Now, there are a ton of interludes on Elephants and several short tracks, but this is their most concept-y album which makes it seem like one long soundscape. For me, there are a couple of huge moments -- "Band of Gypsies" is something I'm sure you've never heard before. When I did, it just grabbed me. "Oh Na Na" and "Reefer Man" are the go-to stoner songs while "Crazy" is a fun trip. "Pass the Knife" begins like it is an interlude and then turns into ... something. "The 5th Angel" may be the most beautiful piece of music Muggs has ever produced.
Favorite song: "Oh Na Na"
4 - IV (1998)
The song most affiliated with this album is "Dr Greenthumb", which not only introduced B-Real's alter ego but became the catalyst for now-legal business ventures among other things. Continuing with the darker sounds of their second and third albums, IV is more ... eerie, with Halloween-type squeals and noises. There are some droplets of rock sounds which will become a major part of their next several albums. Barron Ricks is featured heavily on this album ... and then never heard from again on a Hill track. "Audio X" has B-Real speed rapping, "Looking Through the Eye of a Pig" is sort of a sequel to "Pigs", but from the view of a cop. I worked at Target at the time and this CD came in my shipment two weeks before street date. And I was loving having this album before the masses (back before leaks).
Favorite song: "Dead Men Tell No Tales"
3 - III: TEMPLES OF BOOM (1995)
The third album continued with Black Sunday's dark sound, but mixed with a more Hindu sound and imagery. Songs like "Illusions" were slower and had more of a hazy tempo, while dealing with darker subject matter. There's also the Ice Cube diss track, "No Rest For The Wicked" which opened up one of the better beefs in the mid-1990s. Temples Of Boom also began DJ Muggs' interest in placing more short interludes throughout the album. I bought this on Halloween and didn't listen to anything else through Thanksgiving.
Favorite song: "No Rest For The Wicked"
2 - BLACK SUNDAY (1993)
This was their most popular album with their most popular song. While their first album had a lot of gang stuff mixed with faster-paced party songs, Black Sunday was a lot darker. This album came out just a week before my 18th birthday and was my soundtrack for the summer. I remember first hearing "Insane In the Brain" on the radio like it was yesterday -- driving my car on Albemarle Road in Charlotte, right in front of The Regency. I didn't know a hip-hop album could sound so dark. The wailing sounds mixed with their typical gun play and weeded content made for an exceptional album.
Favorite song: "Cock The Hammer"
1 - CYPRESS HILL (1991)
There's nothing better than the original. I remember first hearing Cypress Hill on BET's Rap City and I was hooked. Obviously it was "How I Could Just Kill a Man", and B-Real's voice was nothing like I had ever heard before. I was 16 years old when I tried to buy the album. The record store wouldn't let me because I wasn't 18 years old (that was B.S.). My mom was in the store, so I gave it to her to buy. She looked at the track listing and saw "How I Could Just Kill a Man", "Hand On the Pump" and "Hole In the Head" and said "should I be buying you this?". She did.
Favorite song: "Light Another"
