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.
What's Your Number?
Cypress Hill Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I met her at the club, her friend liked me but she didn't
She noticed a lot of girls giving up their phone digits
She didn't want to be one of those hoes in clothes
Exploiting the body from head to toes, she had glossy lips
She was swaying her hips on the dance floor and every nigga
Flashing the grips trying to impress her in vain
I thought to myself, "Let it go, the girl on beat"
But like Smoky said,"She really had a hold on me"
I couldn't stop staring I started to fantasize with her
Voices in my head said, "She's tantalizing ya"
Even if I moved to the other side of the party
I had pictures in my head of her moving that body
I was beside myself with conquer pain
So I slowly walked over and I asked her name
What's your name? What's your number?
I would like to get to know you
Can we have a conversation?
The night is young
Girl give me a chance
What's your name? What's your number?
I would like to get to know you
Can we have a conversation?
The night is young
Girl give me a chance
She gave a smile but I got no answer though it took a while
Before she gave a chance, she's actin' cold
I offered her a drink, she turned me down flat
She said, "If you want my name, you gotta do better than that"
I said, "Okay, now your shit don't stink"
I'ma walk away, only tried to buy you a drink"
As I began to walk away she said, "I'm sorry for real
But every guy in the club tries slipping me pills
I don't trust that each and everyone would lie to you"
I said "I understand but that's not what I tried to do
I wasn't even gonna go to your table but
If I didn't, I knew that I'd regret it later
I go after what I want but I got class
For me no need to slip a pill and if I want ass"
She gave me a funny look, I couldn't tell what it meant
She let her guard down and on the conversation went
What's your name? What's your number?
I would like to get to know you
Can we have a conversation?
The night is young
Girl give me a chance
What's your name? What's your number?
I would like to get to know you
Can we have a conversation?
The night is young
Girl give me a chance
She said, "I want a man with the plan and ambition"
Not an immature nigga on a pussy head mission
I'm too good for that, I have so much to offer
Got a good job, working at my mom and dad's law firm
"You got goals?" That's what she asked
"Yeah, I want to fill my home with platinum plaques
It takes hard work but you know it's coming after"
She said "Oh My God! You must be a famous rapper"
"I do alright, but I'm never satisfied
I'm told when you still love what you do, it never gets old
I strive for more but that's enough about me
Why don't we skip out the club, take a walk on the streets?"
We slipped outta the club with no worries
Seemed she wanted to get out in a hurry
We hung all night till we lost our friends
Until they caught us banging in the back of a Benz
What's your name? What's your number?
I would like to get to know you
Can we have a conversation?
The night is young
Girl give me a chance
What's your name? What's your number?
I would like to get to know you
Can we have a conversation?
The night is young
Girl give me a chance
What's your name? What's your number?
I would like to get to know you
Can we have a conversation?
The night is young
Girl give me a chance
What's your name? What's your number?
I would like to get to know you
Can we have a conversation?
The night is young
Girl give me a chance
Let's go!
The lyrics of "What's Your Number?" by Cypress Hill describe a story of a man who meets a woman at a club and is immediately enchanted by her. At first, she is standoffish, rejecting his advances and offers to buy her a drink, due to the prevalence of other men attempting to slip pills into her drink. As they continue to talk, however, they discover a mutual attraction and shared ambitions. They leave the club to take a walk, eventually ending up hooking up in the back of a car. The song's chorus, "What's your name? What's your number?", serves as a persistent refrain throughout the story, implying that the man is determined to win her over, even in the face of her initial rejection.
On a deeper level, the song may be interpreted as a commentary on the difficulties of dating and the challenges faced by women in particular. The woman in the song is constantly harassed by other men at the club, leading her to be suspicious of any potential advances. The singer of the song, however, manages to prove himself to be a genuine and respectful person and ultimately wins her over.
Overall, the song is a catchy and relatable tale of romance and persistence, set against the backdrop of a pulsating club beat.
Line by Line Meaning
I met her at the club, her friend liked me but she didn't
I encountered her at the club, her friend had an interest in me but she didn't.
She noticed a lot of girls giving up their phone digits
She took notice of the many girls giving out their phone numbers.
She didn't want to be one of those hoes in clothes
She didn't desire to be seen as one of those who dress to be objectified.
Exploiting the body from head to toes, she had glossy lips
She knew these women were showing off their bodies for attention, while she had a subtle beauty of her own.
She was swaying her hips on the dance floor and every nigga
She enjoyed dancing, and every guy in the club was trying to get her attention.
Flashing the grips trying to impress her in vain
The men were showing off their possessions, trying to impress her, to no avail.
She gave no play, niggas tend to offer numbers and she said no way
She turned down every guy who offered to give her their number.
I thought to myself, "Let it go, the girl on beat"
I told myself to let it go, as she was a beautiful woman living life to its fullest.
But like Smoky said,"She really had a hold on me"
Like the character Smoky from Friday, I was captivated by her charm.
I couldn't stop staring I started to fantasize with her
I couldn't help but stare at her and fantasize about being with her.
Voices in my head said, "She's tantalizing ya"
I heard a voice in my head say that she was enticing me.
Even if I moved to the other side of the party
Even if I changed my position in the club.
I had pictures in my head of her moving that body
I had images in my mind of how she danced on the dance floor.
I was beside myself with conquer pain
I was consumed with the pain of desiring something that I could not have.
So I slowly walked over and I asked her name
I approached her slowly and asked for her name.
She gave a smile but I got no answer though it took a while
She smiled at me, but it took her some time before she answered me.
Before she gave a chance, she's actin' cold
Before she agreed to talk to me, she acted distant.
I offered her a drink, she turned me down flat
I suggested that we have a drink together, but she declined.
She said, "If you want my name, you gotta do better than that"
She replied that if I wanted her name, I would have to give her a better reason to give it to me.
I said, "Okay, now your shit don't stink"
I became defensive and said that she was not better than me.
I'ma walk away, only tried to buy you a drink"
I chose to walk away, disappointed that my kind gesture was not appreciated.
As I began to walk away she said, "I'm sorry for real
As I started to leave, she apologized sincerely.
But every guy in the club tries slipping me pills
She explained that many men try to slip drugs into her drinks at the club.
I don't trust that each and everyone would lie to you"
She said that she doesn't trust every male who approaches her, so she's hesitant to talk to them.
I said "I understand but that's not what I tried to do
I told her I understood but that wasn't my intention.
I wasn't even gonna go to your table but
I didn't even plan on coming over to her table.
If I didn't, I knew that I'd regret it later
If I hadn't come over, I would have been disappointed in myself later on.
I go after what I want but I got class
I chase after what I desire, but I do it with respect and dignity.
For me no need to slip a pill and if I want ass
I don't have to use drugs to obtain sex.
She gave me a funny look, I couldn't tell what it meant
She looked at me in a peculiar way that I didn't understand.
She let her guard down and on the conversation went
She relaxed and continued the conversation with me.
She said, "I want a man with the plan and ambition"
She stated that she wants a man with goals and aspirations.
Not an immature nigga on a pussy head mission
She doesn't want a guy who only thinks about sex and nothing else.
I'm too good for that, I have so much to offer
She knows she's worth more than immature men who only think about sex.
Got a good job, working at my mom and dad's law firm
She boasts about having a great job at her parents' law firm.
"You got goals?" That's what she asked
She asked me if I had any aspirations.
"Yeah, I want to fill my home with platinum plaques
I told her I wanted to be successful in my music career.
It takes hard work but you know it's coming after
I acknowledged that hard work is necessary to achieve success.
She said "Oh My God! You must be a famous rapper"
She exclaimed that I must be a well-known rapper.
"I do alright, but I'm never satisfied
I admitted that I'm content with my success, but I always want more.
I'm told when you still love what you do, it never gets old
I explained that if you still have passion for what you do, it never gets boring.
I strive for more but that's enough about me
I told her I strive for more, but that the conversation shouldn't be about me alone.
Why don't we skip out the club, take a walk on the streets?
I suggested that we leave the club and go for a walk outside.
We slipped outta the club with no worries
We left the club carefree and without any problems.
Seemed she wanted to get out in a hurry
It seemed like she wanted to leave the club quickly.
We hung all night till we lost our friends
We spent the entire night together until we couldn't find our friends anymore.
Until they caught us banging in the back of a Benz
We were caught having sex in the back of a Bentley.
What's your name? What's your number?
I asked her for her name and phone number.
I would like to get to know you
I expressed an interest in getting to know her better.
Can we have a conversation?
I asked her if we could talk more.
The night is young
I acknowledged that there's still plenty of time for us to spend together.
Girl give me a chance
I pleaded with her to give me a chance to get to know her better and pursue a relationship.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LARRY E. MUGGERUD, LOUIS M. FREEZE, PAUL GUSTAVE SIMONON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
John Punt
When they kick at your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun?
When the law break in
How you gonna go?
Shot down on the pavement
Or waiting in death row
You can crush us
You can bruise us
But you'd have to answer to
Oh, the guns of Brixton
The money feels good
And your life you like it well
But surely your time will come
As in heaven, as in hell
You see, he feels like Ivan
Born under the Brixton sun
His game is called survivin'
At the end of "The Harder They Come"
You know it means no mercy
They caught him with a gun
No need for the Black Maria
Goodbye to the Brixton sun
You can crush us
You can bruise us
But you'll have to answer to
oh, the guns of Brixton
When they kick at your front door
How you gonna come?
With you
daoust26
I love this song, the story behind it is great. Tim went through so much during time plus the cameos in this video is awesome
Animasana
Do you care to explain more??
daoust26
@Animasana his messy divorce of Brody Dale and the loss of joe strummer deeply effected him during that time.
Iron Lung
@daoust26 well the beat it pretty much guns of brixton
Nus Vivin
@Iron Lung oh fck i knew i heard it but it IS FCKN GUNS OF BRIXTON
sandra aparecida
show de clipe
Donvale
How well this story is told, how great the hook is, how well its rapped. Underrated song.
CinematicMaj
Stop saying “underrated “
Dawid Lisiecki
Genialny utwór... Nadja na basie mistrzostwo :)
eduardo gomes
top song