Their first album, which was self-titled, was released in August 1991. Its single was "Phuncky Feel One", but it was the B-side "How I Could Just Kill A Man" (formerly "Trigga Happy Nigga") that attracted more airplay on urban radio and college radio. Based on the success of the single and other tracks such as bilingual track "Latin Lingo" and X-rated Spanish track "Tres Equis", the album sold two million copies in the US alone. Subsequently, DJ Muggs produced the first House of Pain album, then worked on other projects like Funkdoobiest. The band made their first appearance at Lollapalooza on the side stage in 1992.
Black Sunday, the group's second album, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in 1993, recording the highest Soundscan for a rap group up until that time. Also with their debut still on the charts they became the first rap artists to have 2 albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 at the same time. With "Insane in the Brain" becoming a crossover hit, the album went triple platinum in the U.S. and sold about 3.25 million copies.
Cypress Hill was banned from Saturday Night Live after Muggs smoked cannabis on-air and the band trashed their instruments while playing their second single "I Ain't Goin' Out Like That". The band headlined the "Soul Assassins" tour with House of Pain and Funkdoobiest as support, then performed on a college tour with Rage Against the Machine and Seven Year Bitch. In 1993, Cypress Hill also had two tracks on the Judgment Night soundtrack, teamed up with Pearl Jam and Sonic Youth.
The band played at the 1994 Woodstock Festival introducing their new member Eric Bobo, formerly a percussionist with the Beastie Boys. Bobo is the son of salsa musician Willie Bobo. Rolling Stone magazine named the band as the best rap group in their music awards voted by critics and readers. Cypress Hill played at Lollapalooza for two successive years, topping the bill in 1995. They appeared on the The Simpsons episode "Homerpalooza".
Their third album Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom was released in 1995 selling 1.5 million copies and reaching number 3 on the Billboard 200 on the strength of the hit single "Throw Your Set in the Air". Cypress Hill also contributed a track "I Wanna Get High" to the High Times sponsored Hempilation album to support NORML.
Feud With Ice Cube
Ice Cube asked to put "Throw Your Set in the Air" on his Friday soundtrack, but B-Real refused, prompting Cube to record a new song "Friday" with a similar chorus; Cypress Hill responded with the track "No Rest For The Wicked." Westside Connection replied with the diss track "King Of The Hill" and "Cross Em Out & Put a K", to which Cypress Hill replied with "Ice Cube Killa," which uses the same beat as "King Of The Hill" and disses Ice Cube and Mack 10. "Ice Cube Killa" has never been released officially. In 1997 B-Real of Cypress Hill and Ice Cube were invited to a late night talk show in order to reconcile their differences for the benefit of the hip hop community, and the feud thus ended. Cube And B-Real would work together later that year as guest features on the track "Men of Steel" for the soundtrack of Shaquille O'Neal's film Steel. B-Real and Cube did even feature as guests in Warren G's single "Get U Down" which also featured Snoop Dogg.
Continued career
Sen Dog took a break from the band to form a Los Angeles based punk-rap band SX-10. Meanwhile in 1996, Cypress Hill appeared on the first 'Smokin' Grooves' tour, featuring Ziggy Marley, The Fugees, Busta Rhymes and A Tribe Called Quest. The band also released a nine track EP Unreleased and Revamped with rare mixes. In 1997, band members focused on their solo careers. Muggs released Muggs Presents ... the Soul Assassins featuring contributions from Wu-Tang Clan members, Dr. Dre, KRS-One, Wyclef Jean and Mobb Deep. B-Real appeared with Busta Rhymes, Coolio, LL Cool J and Method Man on "Hit Em High" from the multi-platinum Space Jam Soundtrack. He also appeared with RBX, Nas and KRS-One on "East Coast Killer, West Coast Killer" on Dr. Dre's Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath album, and released an album entitled "The Psycho Realm" from his side project of the same name. Though the focus that year was not on Cypress Hill, the band played Smokin' Grooves with George Clinton and Erykah Badu.
Cypress Hill released IV in 1998 which went gold in the U.S., even though the reviews were somewhat negative,[citation needed] on the backs of hit singles "Tequila Sunrise" and another tribute to smoking cannabis "Dr. Greenthumb." Sen Dog also released the Get Wood sampler as part of SX-10 on the label Flip. In 1999, Cypress Hill helped with the PC crime/very mature video game Kingpin: Life of Crime. Three of their songs from the 1998 IV album were in the game ( "16 Men Till There's No Men Left", "Checkmate" and "Lightning Strikes"). B-Real also did some of the voices of the people in the game. Also in 1999, the band released a greatest-hits album in Spanish, Los grandes Γ©xitos en espaΓ±ol. Cypress Hill then fused genres with their two-disc release, Skull & Bones, in 2000. The first disc, "Skull" was comprised of rap tracks while "Bones" explored further the group's forays into rock. The album reached the Top 5 on the Billboard 200 and number 3 in Canada. The first single was "Rock Superstar" for rock radio and "Rap Superstar" for urban radio. The band also released Live at the Fillmore, a concert disc recorded at the Fillmore (in San Fransico) in 2000. Cypress Hill continued their experimentation with rock on the Stoned Raiders album in 2001. However, its sales were a disappointment, as the disc did not even reach the top 50 of the U.S. album charts. In 2001, the group appeared in the film How High.
Cypress Hill recorded "Just Another Victim" for the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as a theme song for Tazz. At the time, WWE was using original music for almost all of the wrestlers, so this was an unusual step for the company to take, but it remains one of the more memorable songs to emerge from the wrestling organization. The band released Till Death Do Us Part on March 23, 2004. The album saw the band experiment with reggae especially on the lead single "What's Your Number". The track features Tim Armstrong of Rancid on guitar and Rob Aston of The Transplants on backup vocals. It is based on the classic song "Guns of Brixton" on The Clash's London Calling and has proven to be a success on the modern rock charts. However, the album represented a further departure from the signature sound of their first four albums. The album also features appearances by Damian Marley, son of Bob Marley, Prodigy and Twin of Mobb Deep and producer the Alchemist.
In 2004, the song How I Could Just Kill A Man was included in the popular videogame Grand Theft Auto San Andreas created by Rockstar Games, playing on West Coast hip hop radio station Radio Los Santos. In December of 2005 a best of compilation album titled Greatest Hits From the Bong was released including 9 hits from previous albums and 2 new tracks. The group's next album was tentatively scheduled for an early 2007 release. In the summer of 2006, B-Real appeared on Snoop Dogg's single "Vato". Pharrell Williams produced the track, and originally sang the hook, but because of the video idea, B-Real was asked to sing the hook. Sen Dog is now currently touring with the Kottonmouth Kings, Kingspade and Dogboy on the Joint is on Fire Tour
In 2007 Cypress Hill toured with their full line up as a part of the Rock the Bells tour, held by Guerilla Union, and headlined with Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, and a reunited Rage Against the Machine. Other acts included Immortal Technique, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, The Roots, EPMD, Pharoae Monch, Jedi Mind Tricks, Erykah Badu, MF Doom, Sage Francis, Brother Ali, The Coup, Blue Print, Lucky I Am, Living Legends, Felt, Cage, Mr. Lif, Grouch & Eligh, and Hangar 18.
Departure from Sony
Having fulfilled their contractual obligations with Sony Music, Cypress Hill will release an as-yet untitled album through a different record label in 2008.
Recently, it was announced that Cypress Hill will be members of the Kannabis Kartel along with the Kottonmouth Kings and Potluck. Their album will be released on Suburban Noize Records.
STYLE
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Production
One of the band's most striking aspects is B-Real's exaggeratedly high-pitched nasal vocals, which fits and emphasizes the lyrics' concentration on parodied gangster stories.
Sen Dog's lyrics are progressively more violent and tend to involve fewer rhyme schemes compared with B-Real's. In addition, as the style is today, some words are emphasized by adding a background voice to say them, however, Sen Dog's emphases are always more prominent, mostly shouted alongside with the rapping.
The sound and groove of their music, produced by Muggs, is also notable for its influence and stoned aesthetic; with its bass-heavy rhythms and odd sample loops ("Insane in the Brain" is notable for having a horse neigh looped in its chorus), it carries a psychedelic value, which lessened in the later albums.
The band is also known for involving rock instruments in their songs. This has caused the band to sometimes be classified as a rapcore group. In IV, there is Lightning Strikes which doesn't truly use electric guitars, but a synthesized version of it. Skull & Bones has an entire disc using such instruments, labeled Bones. As for their later works, their involvement in rock ended with the album Stoned Raiders (the tracks Trouble (also the first single of the album), Amplified and Catastrophe being the songs).
The band's music is constantly subject to change; while the first album follows a more minimalistic and funky sound, Black Sunday, the successor, has a slightly darker side to it. III (Temples of Boom) and IV are mostly influenced by psychedelic music. The band abandoned that on Skull & Bones and got closer to the modern rap as it is today. Stoned Raiders has a more authentic sound than the rest, and Till Death Do Us Part carries reggae influences.
The band is also known to involve horns in their songs, and often have guitar and horns together in the instrumentals. What's Your Number?, Trouble, Tequila Sunrise, and (Rock) Superstar have become some of the bands most popular songs featuring these elements. Cypress Hill's experimenting in different genres of music even includes reggaeton in their track "Latin Thugs" which features Tego Calderon.
Some fans feel that the band has drifted somewhat from the values of their earlier albums. For example in "Strictly Hip Hop" from Temples of Boom, the band complain about hip hop artists who have an album of hardcore tracks but have one or two pop songs which just so happen to be the singles. Cypress have arguably fallen into this trap with the single "What's You Number?"
The sound contribitions of DJ Muggs seems to be clearly influenced by marijuana consumption. Since one of the effects of a cannabis high is an altered audio sensual perception, the often slow paced and deep bass can be better appreciated. Furthermore, psychedelic sequences underly some parts of certain tracks such as "I Wanna Get High" for example. This is an interesting feature of their music, that had also been used before, especially during the 60's and 70's (e.g. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles).
Lyrics
The lyrics of tracks like "How I Could Just Kill A Man" offer an insight into the cultural expression of social stratification in L.A. at that point in history. Many other songs have cited topics such as police brutality, racial profiling, gang violence and anecdotes about invasion of privacy by police.
Furthermore the celebration of marijuana consumption is what they are often associated with in songs like "I Wanna Get High", "Stoned Is The Way Of The Walk" or "Hits From The Bong", the themes of recreational use of marijuana are prevalent.
Many of their songs also protest the current marijuana laws and voice their opinions on the hypocrisy of drug enforcement institutions.
Their lyrics often reflect the hip hop culture of Los Angeles in their earlier work such as their self-titled album and Black Sunday, which were very influential not only to Latino hip hop of the time but to many other hip hop groups around the world as well.
Throughout their career they have commonly incorporated Spanish into their lyrics as well as slang used by some Latinos in Los Angeles on songs like "Latin Lingo". Their album "Los Grandes Exitos En Espanol" features Spanish translations of many of their hit songs.
Years active 1987 - present.
Can't get the best of me
Cypress Hill Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You can't handle a man of my superior strength
I've been rockin' for years, now it's time to go to length
Bitin' emcees in their tracks I stop 'em
My rhyme style makin' turn dropper?
My concepts come sick like Dennis Hopper
I jack fools up and stick em like dirty coppers
Like I said before I'm takin' you lame whores
Only one way to deal with these softies
Take they ass out like heroes and they flossin'
And when you tell me you better bring styles
'Cause mine can go on and on and on for miles
[Chorus: x3]
You can't get the best of me
Can't get the best of me
You can't get the best of me [Repeats]
(Can't hold me down)
Can't get the best of me
(Can't hold me down)
Five roll with the weakest
What you need is ? the chrome plated heater
So you can peep this
Tragedy had to be in your mind soakin' in
Sad to see you broken down
Not at least broken in
Can't stop some hill shit
From comin' though
The reality is out with the old
And with the new
Ways and things change
With strange haids of braids shade?
Switch place life and life plays with thumb pain?
Does and untrues, the mobb leaves no clues
In the dark confused, we choose to eat you
Out the whole stroke away so I can listen-a
We don't stop if you can't fuck commissioner
[Chorus: Repeats]
Nigga get up on a rhymin' ?
Takin' out crews who think they are baddest
Mad dog Sen for real is the maddest
Fuck you punk and you're A&R status
I stand in a zone though I'm never alone be
Real got my back checkin' at your dome
So when it comes down to who's (Spanish)
I'm down for the pound and slangin' the (Spanish)
(Whole line in Spanish)
Gonna make a move and smoke your fuckin' hot-show
Remove that sucker and the wack-ass shit
'Cause every time I see he's actin' like a bitch
So let's get it straight I smoke the competition
Breakin' down fools in my muthafuckin' mission
One by one they'll all come out missin'
You can't fuck with this here kid I ain't bitchin'
[Chorus: x12]
(Can't hold me down)
You can't get the best of me
(Can't hold me down)
Can't get the best of me
(Can't hold me down)
You can't get the best of me
You can't get the best of me
In the song "Can't Get the Best of Me" by Cypress Hill, the lyrics express confidence in the rapper's superior strength and ability to take down any opponents. The line "bitin' emcees in their tracks I stop 'em" suggests a powerful presence in the rap scene, where there is no room for weak imitators. The lyrics go on to describe the rapper's unique style that is so sick it's like Dennis Hopper. The song also touches on the theme of challenging authority and resisting being held down by anyone. The chorus repeats the message that no one can get the best of the rapper, and the song ends with a warning to anyone who thinks they can challenge him.
Line by Line Meaning
Hell nah
Absolutely not
You can't handle a man of my superior strength
My strength is unmatched
I've been rockin' for years, now it's time to go to length
I've been in this game for a long time and it's time to take it to the next level
Bitin' emcees in their tracks I stop 'em
I shut down any rapper who tries to copy my lyrics or style
My rhyme style makin' turn dropper?
My rhymes are so good, they make the audience go wild
My concepts come sick like Dennis Hopper
My ideas are so sick, they're on par with actor Dennis Hopper
I jack fools up and stick em like dirty coppers
I beat fools up and leave them feeling like they've been messed up by dirty cops
Like I said before I'm takin' you lame whores
As previously stated, I'm taking down weak rappers
Down to the phone, knock his ass on your good balls
I'll take someone down so hard, they'll feel it in their balls
Only one way to deal with these softies
The only way to deal with these weak rappers is to take them down
Take they ass out like heroes and they flossin'
I'll take these rappers out like heroes, even if they're acting like they're big
And when you tell me you better bring styles
If someone wants to challenge me, they better have some strong skills
'Cause mine can go on and on and on for miles
My skills are so strong, I can keep rapping for miles
Five roll with the weakest
I hang out with the weakest and still come out on top
What you need is ? the chrome plated heater
You need a gun to protect yourself
Tragedy had to be in your mind soakin' in
You're constantly thinking about hardship and tragedy
Sad to see you broken down
It's sad to see you so low
Not at least broken in
You're not even used to the hardships
Can't stop some hill shit
You can't stop the Cypress Hill style
From comin' though
We're going to keep going strong
The reality is out with the old
The old ways are gone
And with the new
We embrace new ways
Ways and things change
Things are constantly changing
With strange haids of braids shade?
In inexplicable ways
Switch place life and life plays with thumb pain?
The ups and downs of life can be painful
Does and untrues, the mobb leaves no clues
We do what we need to do and leave no trace
In the dark confused, we choose to eat you
We'll take you down when you least expect it
Out the whole stroke away so I can listen-a
I want everything to be quiet so I can listen
We don't stop if you can't fuck commissioner
We keep going, even if you can't stop us
Nigga get up on a rhymin'
Someone trying to rap against us
Takin' out crews who think they are baddest
We'll take down any group who thinks they're better than us
Mad dog Sen for real is the maddest
We're the craziest and most fearless
Fuck you punk and you're A&R status
We don't care about your silly record label job
I stand in a zone though I'm never alone be
I'm always confident, even when alone
Real got my back checkin' at your dome
My homies are always watching my back
So when it comes down to who's (Spanish)
When it's time to see who's the best
I'm down for the pound and slangin' the (Spanish)
I'm ready to fight and win
(Whole line in Spanish)
Gonna make a move and smoke your fuckin' hot-show
We're going to take you out
Remove that sucker and the wack-ass shit
Get rid of the trash
'Cause every time I see he's actin' like a bitch
He's always acting weak
So let's get it straight I smoke the competition
I take down the competition
Breakin' down fools in my muthafuckin' mission
My goal is to take down anyone who opposes me
One by one they'll all come out missin'
They'll all disappear one by one
You can't fuck with this here kid I ain't bitchin'
You can't take me down, and I'm not complaining about it
(Chorus repeated over and over)
You can't defeat me
Lyrics Β© Wixen Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BRADLEY J. WILK, ERIC LANCE CORREA, LARRY MUGGERUD, LOUIS M. FREEZE, SENEN REYES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Maggie Trayanova
Hell nah
You can't handle a man of my superior strength
I've been rockin' for years, now it's time to go to length
Bitin' emcees in their tracks I stop 'em
My rhyme style makin' turn dropper?
My concepts come sick like Dennis Hopper
I jack fools up and stick em like dirty coppers
Like I said before I'm takin' you lame whores
Down to the phone, knock his ass on your good balls
Only one way to deal with these softies
Take they ass out like heroes and they flossin'
And when you tell me you better bring styles
'Cause mine can go on and on and on for miles
You can't get the best of me
Can't get the best of me
You can't get the best of me [Repeats]
(Can't hold me down)
Can't get the best of me
(Can't hold me down)
Five roll with the weakest
What you need is ? the chrome plated heater
So you can peep this
Tragedy had to be in your mind soakin' in
Sad to see you broken down
Not at least broken in
Can't stop some hill shit
From comin' though
The reality is out with the old
And with the new
Ways and things change
With strange haids of braids shade?
Switch place life and life plays with thumb pain?
Does and untrues, the mobb leaves no clues
In the dark confused, we choose to eat you
Out the whole stroke away so I can listen-a
We don't stop if you can't fuck commissioner
Nigga get up on a rhymin' ?
Takin' out crews who think they are baddest
Mad dog Sen for real is the maddest
Fuck you punk and you're A&R status
I stand in a zone though I'm never alone be
Real got my back checkin' at your dome
So when it comes down to who's (Spanish)
I'm down for the pound and slangin' the (Spanish)
(Whole line in Spanish)
Gonna make a move and smoke your fuckin' hot-show
Remove that sucker and the wack-ass shit
'Cause every time I see he's actin' like a bitch
So let's get it straight I smoke the competition
Breakin' down fools in my muthafuckin' mission
One by one they'll all come out missin'
You can't fuck with this here kid I ain't bitchin'
You can't get the best of me
(Can't hold me down)
Can't get the best of me
(Can't hold me down)
You can't get the best of me
You can't get the best of me
π―ππππΉπ²πππππ½
Rap y Metal han sido dos de los generos fusionados mas exitosos de la historia de la musica, sin duda.
jesus morales
siempre lo he dicho...
mis mejores amigos rockeros y raperos
pero en gral escucho de todo a muchisima gente no le agrada esta musica pero se adaptarme facilmente
Jonny Pop
Y menos explotados
Alejandro EcheverrΓa
Cuando la escuchΓ© por primera vez esta canciΓ³n, pensΓ© que habΓa una colaboraciΓ³n de HAUSE OF PAIN
Zoe Zzzarko
Yessssssssss sir !!!
Diego Leyva
Se llama Nu Metal
BarΔ±Ε YalΔ±nkΔ±lΔ±Γ§
It has been almost 20 years, and I am still listening to this song! A real masterpiece.
Luna Goodhart
A masterpiece it definitely is. Its also my mantra song
Wasko Sucio Guapo
good taste.
David Nissim
Fun fact: the guitar on this song was done by Dino Cazares from Fear Factory, and the drums were done by Brad Wilk from Rage Against The Machine