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 éxitos en español. 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.
Throw Your Set in the Air
Cypress Hill Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Some ain't got enough heart let me ask you this
Would ya be down like a soldier
Loyal, and do everything I told ya
I can mold ya into a warrior
Down for your neighborhood
Workin' up to a G with the flava
Criminal behavior, on the mind
Throw ya set in the air (come on)
Wave it around like ya just don't care
Throw ya set in the air (throw it up homes!)
Wave it around like ya just don't care
It's time to exit that busta nigga
Get ya hands out ya pockets and your finga on the trigga
Let one fly, we don't die, we multiply
Throw yo set up in the sky
I ask you kid cause you can't fuck wit this
Nigga when I got the Glock ya betta duck quick
Cause I ain't havin' it
If ya got ya gat ya betta start grabbin' it
I can handle it
Soy numero uno, mero mero
You know I run wit Muggs and the perro
Firin up that heater
When I'm throwin' up a set I got my nina millemeter
Los scandalous, killafornia, where I'm from
Dum ditty dum ditty ditty dum dum
I'm buckin' on ya ass now ya know where I'm from
Dum ditty dum ditty ditty dum dum
Throw ya set in the air (come on)
Wave it around like ya just don't care
Throw ya set in the air (throw it up!)
Wave it around like ya just don't care
Throw ya set in the air (throw your hood up!)
Wave it around like ya just don't care (got come on on!)
Throw ya set in the air (give it up!)
Wave it around like ya just don't care
Nigga throw your set in the air, nigga you know I'm sayin'
If you're scared nigga take your muthafuckin' punk ass to church
Cause this one from a nigga on the east side
Every muthafuckin' day is a job nigga
Gotta handle your business, niggas you get don't
You muthafuckin' cap on get peel back
And it ain't no bullshit
If you wanna test a nigga, bring it on nigga, you know I'm sayin'?
Fuck your muthafuckin' set up in the air
Let me take ya to the dark side of the moon
Tell mama that ya won't be comin home anytime soon
Cause I got ya under my thumb
Nigga what set ya claimin'
Betta be the same set I'm claimin'
Take a look around count this amount of soldiers
When I'm chillin on the east side of town
And it won't stop till I'm done
Dum ditty dum ditty ditty dum dum
Throw ya set in the air (come on)
Wave it around like ya just don't care
Throw ya set in the air (throw it up!)
Wave it around like ya just don't care
Throw ya set in the air (throw your hood up!)
Wave it around like ya just don't care
Throw ya set in the air (give it up!)
Wave it around like ya just don't care
Yeah, that's right
Straight givin' up the 'hood all day fool!
Cypress Hill muthafucka watcha wanna do?
Uh huh
Givin' my shit to be in your face fool!
In Cypress Hill's Throw Your Set in the Air, the lyrics talk about the loyalty that comes with being part of a gang or crew. The song demonstrates how membership in a gang demands complete dedication from its members as they should be willing to do anything required of them, commit crimes, or stand up against rivals to protect the neighborhood. The song's title "Throw Your Set in the Air" refers to the act of throwing up a gang sign into the air as a symbol of one’s allegiance to the group. The song encourages all people who want to join the gang to show their loyalty by throwing their set in the air.
The song's chorus repeats the phrase "Throw Ya Set in the Air" to instill pride in the gang members for belonging to their brotherhood, and that they should never run away from their responsibility. B-Real raps about "criminal behavior" and tells listeners to "wave it around." This phrase means that the members should be vigilant and aware of any rival gang activity while also showing some level of strength, similar to puffing out one's chest. The song also talks about guns and the importance of protecting themselves and their "hood" from outsiders. It ends with a chant that boasts about the gang's strength and says "Straight givin' up the 'hood all day fool! Cypress Hill muthafucka watcha wanna do?"
Line by Line Meaning
Every nigga out there wanna be down with the crew
Many individuals want to join a gang.
Some ain't got enough heart let me ask you this
Not everyone has the courage to be part of the group.
Would ya be down like a soldier
Are you willing to be loyal like a soldier?
Loyal, and do everything I told ya
Remaining faithful and following all commands.
I can mold ya into a warrior
I can shape you into a fierce fighter.
Down for your neighborhood
Committed to your local community.
Workin' up to a G with the flava
Working up to earn $1000 while acting in a rebellious manner.
Criminal behavior, on the mind
Thinking about committing unlawful acts.
When I got ya back ya know I got ya back each and every time
Supporting and protecting each other endlessly.
Throw ya set in the air (come on)
Represent your gang by throwing your hand sign in the air.
Wave it around like ya just don't care
Make a gesture without concern or fear.
It's time to exit that busta nigga
It's time to leave behind weak individuals.
Get ya hands out ya pockets and your finga on the trigga
Take your hands out of your pockets and hold your gun.
Let one fly, we don't die, we multiply
Shooting your weapon and the gang will continue to grow in numbers.
Throw yo set up in the sky
Displaying your gang sign in the air.
I ask you kid cause you can't fuck wit this
Asking someone if they can handle the lifestyle that comes with the gang.
Nigga when I got the Glock ya betta duck quick
When I have a gun, you better protect yourself quickly.
Cause I ain't havin' it
I won't tolerate disrespect or disobedience.
If ya got ya gat ya betta start grabbin' it
If you have a gun, you better hold onto it tightly.
I can handle it
I am capable of managing any situation.
Soy numero uno, mero mero
I am number one, the boss.
You know I run wit Muggs and the perro
You know I associate with Muggs and the dog.
Firin up that heater
Shooting the gun or lighting up some drugs.
When I'm throwin' up a set I got my nina millemeter
When I'm flashing my gang sign, I have my gun with me.
Los scandalous, killafornia, where I'm from
I am from scandalous Los Angeles, California.
Dum ditty dum ditty ditty dum dum
Nonsense and repetition in the lyrics.
Let me take ya to the dark side of the moon
Let me show you a different, darker side of life.
Tell mama that ya won't be comin home anytime soon
Tell your mother you won't be coming home for a while.
Cause I got ya under my thumb
I have complete control over you.
Take a look around count this amount of soldiers
Examine the number of gang members around us.
When I'm chillin on the east side of town
When I'm relaxing in the eastern area of the city.
And it won't stop till I'm done
The gang activity and violence won't end until I am finished.
Yeah, that's right
Affirming the previous statement made.
Straight givin' up the 'hood all day fool!
Showing loyalty and respect towards the gang all day.
Cypress Hill muthafucka watcha wanna do?
Questioning what someone wants to do, with a reference to the band Cypress Hill.
Uh huh
An affirmation of an agreement.
Givin' my shit to be in your face fool!
Being provocative and confrontational in public.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Larry Muggerud, Louis M. Freeze
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@nalinbadyal4434
This used to be me and my mother's favourite song.. RIP in heaven my angel
@panzerwaffen2873
Rip 😢
@zacharydoering6622
Damn Yo Momma was an OG then... That's the hardest moms I ever heard of.
@VictorGarcia-ld9qi
Ice cube likes this song! 👌🏼
@horaciosalinas8145
Victor García he loves so much that he stole the hook
@GLo1991
I change my profile pic every time when I comment
Ice Cube straight jacked the hook and slightly changed the lyrics, didn't sample it
@archiehughes8429
Victor García dude u can copy my homework just change it abit
@goldsurfer48
Victor García b real let him hear his song and cube got inspired to make his own version of the it. He could of changed it a lil more though, reason why him and b real had beef.
@erikguevara1326
I change my profile pic every time when I comment lmfao dont even try to talk that smack. B real speaks on kausion or w/e where there were lines basically word for word in this track. When he went outside to make a phone call and came back in they erased it and then he was sure what was going on. Later when they dissed him he called B real and was like yo this is just hip hop blahblahblah. You know what conviction is? B real speaks with it the whole time. Cube beats around the bush saying it was a misunderstanding etc etc cos he knows what he did. Both are amazing artists in their own right but you just dont do that shit.
@ImyManzProductions
B Real is one of my favorite rappers simply because he has a very unique voice and expression. He has that eerie, creepy goblin-ass sounding subtone, and it works well in just about any track.