Black Sunday - Cypress Hill

Black Sunday is the 1993 album by one of the biggest ever rap acts in history Cypress Hill. Consisting of B-Real, Sen Dogg, and DJ Muggs, all three members have a Latin/Hispanic influence they represent in their music. Black Sunday on release debuted at #1 on the US billboard album charts, the first ever rap band to achieve this, and has since gone 4 times platinum in sales, one of an elite few hip-hop albums to do so, and they became the first ever ...
...The group hastily put together Black Sunday and a legend was created, even though the band members themselves believe with more time the album could have been better. One of the most influential albums in alternative music, Black Sunday sent shockwaves through both the rap and the rock world, inspiring artists from Rage Against the Machine to the Wu-Tang Clan, with the single 'Insane In The Brain' being particularly notable for turning up in both ... more

Black Sunday is the 1993 album by one of the biggest ever rap acts in history Cypress Hill. Consisting of B-Real, Sen Dogg, and DJ Muggs, all three members have a Latin/Hispanic influence they represent in their music. Black Sunday on release debuted at #1 on the US billboard album charts, the first ever rap band to achieve this, and has since gone 4 times platinum in sales, one of an elite few hip-hop albums to do so, and they became the first ever rap act to have two albums in top 10 US billboard charts simultaneously.

The group originally was called DVX and included Mellow Man Ace, but after his departure in 1988 they re-named themselves. Cypress Hill broke onto the music scene with their self titled debut album (that has also gone 4 times platinum) and a series of successful tours, after their unexpected success pressure was put on them by their label Columbia Records for them to get another album out whilst they were in the limelight. The group hastily put together Black Sunday and a legend was created, even though the band members themselves believe with more time the album could have been better. One of the most influential albums in alternative music, Black Sunday sent shockwaves through both the rap and the rock world, inspiring artists from Rage Against the Machine to the Wu-Tang Clan, with the single 'Insane In The Brain' being particularly notable for turning up in both rap and rock circles, as well as being a huge influence on the Latino music and culture. The band have never been scared of controversy and in 1993 were banned from the US TV show Saturday Night Live after smoking weed on-air and smashing their instruments up during a performance of 'I Ain't Going Out Like That'. The album booklet has 19 positive facts about marijuana which are worth the read.

The Album

(Sample information taken from Wikipediea)

1 - I Want To Get High

One of the mellowest tracks you could ever hope to hear, and a song that perfectly describes what the Hill's favourite pastime is. Like I said the beat couldn't be much more laid back, very slow and melodic, the raps work very well and you can really tell B-Real loves smoking, just a cool song.

Samples

"Get Out Of My Life, Woman" by The New Apocalypse
"Taxman" by Junior Parker
"One Draw" by Rita Marley

8/10

2 - I Ain't Going Out Like That

After the laid back first track we switch up to a faster paced, more aggressive song going right back to the gangster rap roots of Cypress, the tracks basically about life in a gang and the things gangsters do, love Sen Dogg's raps on this one, he has a crazy voice, great production on this.

Samples

"Wicked World" by Black Sabbath
"The Wizard" by Black Sabbath

7/10

3 - Insane In The Brain

The legendary track that launched Cypress to super stardom, not many people know this song is a diss track aimed at Chubb Rock who B-Real felt had mocked their style on his 'I Gotta Get Mine Yo' album, the song has a pumping baseline mixed with psycadellic sounds and some unusual samples samples, the beats one of the bounciest in hip-hop, the lyrics aren't exactly thought provoking but its still a great song.

Samples

"I'm Black And I'm Proud" by James Brown
"Good Guys Only Win In The Movies" by Mel & Tim
"All Over The World" by The Youngbloods
"Life" by Sly & The Family Stone

8/10

4 - When The Sh*t Goes Down

The first ever Cypress Hill song I heard when I bought a rap compilation album at the young age of 12, I love the beats to this one, another head nodding track, love the samples, B-Real sounds even more nasal toned than usual here, love the story telling, just a great song all-round with little to no faults.

Samples

"Stratus" by Billy Cobham
"Deep Gully" by Outlaw Blues Band

9/10

5 - Lick a Shot

A fast paced, aggressive sounding track that for me sounds like it was put together in a rush, I do like it but the production doesn't sound very polished and the raps don't really do much for me.

6/10

6 - Cock The Hammer

A wicked gangster rap song, I've loved this track since the first time I heard it, Sen Dogg kicks the song off with some of my favourite raps from him ever, quite a dark sound, you can hear the latino influence in the beats, not a happy track but a great one none the less.

9/10

7 - Lock Down

Interlude.

8 - 3 Lil' Putos

A slow track that I hated the first time I heard it but now its another I love, the very slow and almost systematic beats only amplify B-Real's tone leaving a sound like no other band/person in hip-hop, this track for me is one of the truer sound of the group and is a prelude to the darker sounds to come from their next album.

Samples

"I've Told Every Little Star by Linda Scott
"Remix For P Is Free" By Boogie Down Productions
"Ode To Billy Joe" by Lou Donaldson

8/10

9 - Legalize It

A interlude with clips from different people talking about weed.

Sample

"Hallelujah, I Love Her So" by Gene Chandler

10 - Hits From the Bong

What a cool song, love this track, its in my top 5 all time Cypress Hill songs, the music borrows heavily from "Son Of A Preacher Man" by Dusty Springfield and sounds just as good, in case you don't know a bong is a pipe with water used as a filter/cooler to smoke marijuana through, B-Real will often smoke a bong on stage when this track is on (it was a massive joint when I saw them), the song is all about smoking and a great one to kick back to and get a bit hazy.

Samples

"Son Of A Preacher Man" by Dusty Springfield
"Get Out Of My Life, Woman" by Lee Dorsey
"Don't Cha Hear Me Calling To Ya" by Junior Mance

10/10

11 - What Go Around Comes Around Kid

Another very Hispanic sounding track and another about gang life, more great production, both rappers sound very laid back when rapping despite the violent subjects they are speaking about, the song is basically about getting revenge, love the music and the raps.

Samples

"Get Out Of My Life, Woman" by Grassella Oliphant

8/10

12 - A to the K

A very violent song unsurprisingly about gun violence, a very dark sound, the siren/alarm sample that is distorted in the background really adds to the track in a way I'm struggling to describe, Cypress came into criticism for this track and the fact it supposedly glorifies violence but its just music not hate propaganda.

8/10

13 - Hand On The Glock

A good song but nothing different from anything else on here, they already have 2 or 3 very similar songs on here that are at a higher level, more lyrics about gang violence, and more good production.

7/10

14 - Break 'Em Off Some

This one makes me bounce every time, love this track, what a great way to end the album, the story telling in the lyrics is excellent and the beats always lift my mood, a perfect track to finish things off with.

Sample

"Money In The Pocket" by Joe Zawinul

9/10

Overall a 9/10 for me, this is one of the most influential hip-hop albums of all time and will forever be remembered as a classic, in my opinion they do have better work but considering this was made in 1993, still sounds fresh and can be picked up very cheap I recommend this to all rap fans.

Further Reading

http://www.cypresshill.com/
http://en.wik ipedia.org/wiki/Cypress_Hill
http://en.wikipedia.o rg/wiki/Black_Sunday_(album)

Buy the album for £2.98 -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000024A38/shoppingco0a3-21/r ef=nosim 

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