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 U Want from Me
Cypress Hill Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Huh
What you want?
What you want?
Want you want from me?
Tell me what, tell me what
Want you want from me, huh?
What you want?
Tell me, tell me, tell me doggs
Want you want from me?
What you want?
What you want?
What you want?
What you want from me?
[B-Real]
Want you want from me?
want to live my life
Drive my car, with my jewels
Now you're holding my wife
What you got for me? Fame!
Opportunity I guess that ain't enough for ya
You want the loot and weed
What you need from me?
To bleed and die quickly
Here I turn my back here's the knife
For you to stick in me
What you do for me?
Stab me in the back (Spanish)
Over little shit you do
Pretty hitting in me
What you done for me?
Robbery (Spanish)
Acting like it was my homie
Just a fucking phoney
What you see in me?
A weakness so you can damage me
And discarnate me so you can take advantage (yeah)
What you need to see?
The Nina milli six-a
Show ya how I don't give a fuck about you
You talk now, what you need to be?
Running away from the leader
Before you're getting warm by my heater
[Chorus]
What you want from me?
What you want from me?
Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me
What you want from me?
What you want from me?
What you want from me?
What you, what you
What you want, what you want from me?
[B-Real]
What you want from me?
Money and the record deal
Free tickets to the shows and the free meal
What you got for me?
Besides your hang ups and sob stories
The violins play 'em baby
What you want to be?
Everything I am now
But you never worked for it
The live it, you fucking gimmick
What you want -- disease?
For me and my homies
Niggaz want to act, damn
You don't even know me
What you need to breathe?
To think it over clearly
You can hear me over the speaker
It's best you don't come near me
What you got for me?
Back up and a lot of weight
But now, you hating on me
In every single way
What you have with me?
To make me turn the switcher
Funny how money makes a fucking little picture
What it's got to be?
You get disconnected over methods you choose
To make yourself get ejected
[Chorus: x2]
[Sen Dog]
What you want from me?
Pictures and the demos
You want to act funny?
And hear my ?
What you got to see?
I need a little privacy
You don't even know of the shit that driving me
What you need from me?
Someone to put your shit on
Never forget what I've done for you
Before you get on
What you have to be?
True to the family
And fuck 'em and feed 'em
If you ain't understanding me?
What you want to be?
Hard or a pop star
Going out and doing the same shit
That's a love song
What you want from me?
Nothing but burn riches now
I should snap your jaw
And knock it off the hinges
What you after me?
Doctors and nurses and hearses
And the worst thing you feeling
The blood curses
What you have to be?
Gone another memory
Remember this if I gotta choose over them or me
I'll choose me motherfucker you understand
[B-Real]
What you want from me?
What you want from me?
What you want from me?
Tell me what you want
What you want from me?
What you want from me?
[Chorus]
What you want from me?
What you want from me?
Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me
What you want from me?
What you want from me?
What you want from me?
What you, what you
What you want, what you want from me?
In the song What U Want From Me, Cypress Hill raps about the struggle to trust people around them who want to be friends, but really just want to use their fame and success to benefit themselves. The lyrics ask “What you want from me?” multiple times and the response from the singer is that these people want things like their money, record deals, and free tickets to their concerts without really caring about the connection they have with the artists themselves. The song explores themes of trust and betrayal, as well as the idea of fame and success being used as a tool for others to take advantage of those who have achieved it.
The lyrics of the song do an exceptional job of conveying the sense of betrayal and mistrust that the artists feel towards those who want to use them for their own personal gain. The use of repeating the question “What you want from me?” throughout the song helps to emphasize the feeling of the artists being used and their struggle to trust those around them. Additionally, the contrast between the desire for fame and the rejection of those who want to use it makes for an interesting exploration of the human psyche.
Line by Line Meaning
Huh
Intro
What you want?
Asking the listener what they want
What you want?
Repeating the question
Want you want from me?
Asking what the listener wants from the artist
Tell me what, tell me what
Asking for clarification on what the listener wants
Want you want from me, huh?
Asking again what the listener wants
What you want?
Repeating the question
Want you want from me?
Asking what the listener wants from the artist
Tell me, tell me, tell me doggs
Urging the listener to communicate their desires
Want you want from me?
Repeating the question
What you want?
Repeating the question
What you want?
Repeating the question
What you want from me?
Asking again what the listener wants
Want you want from me?
Repeating the question
Want you want from me?
Asking what the listener wants from the artist
want to live my life
B-Real is being asked by someone what he wants from him, and B-Real says he just wants to live his life
Drive my car, with my jewels
The person B-Real is talking to is trying to take advantage of his wealth and status
Now you're holding my wife
The person B-Real is talking to has taken B-Real's wife hostage
What you got for me? Fame!
B-Real's success and fame are not enough for the person he's speaking to
Opportunity I guess that ain't enough for ya
B-Real is offering the person he's speaking to an opportunity but they still want more
You want the loot and weed
The person B-Real is speaking to wants money and drugs
What you need from me?
To bleed and die quickly
Here I turn my back here's the knife
For you to stick in me
The person B-Real is speaking to wants to harm him for their own gain
What you do for me?
Stab me in the back (Spanish)
Over little shit you do
Pretty hitting in me
The person B-Real is speaking to has turned on him and is hurting him over small things
What you done for me?
Robbery (Spanish)
Acting like it was my homie
Just a fucking phoney
The person B-Real is speaking to has taken advantage of him like a thief while pretending to be his friend
What you see in me?
A weakness so you can damage me
And discarnate me so you can take advantage (yeah)
The person B-Real is speaking to sees him as weak and vulnerable so they can take advantage of him
What you need to see?
The Nina milli six-a
Show ya how I don't give a fuck about you
B-Real doesn't care about the person he's speaking to and wants them to know that
You talk now, what you need to be?
Running away from the leader
Before you're getting warm by my heater
B-Real is warning the person he's speaking to to leave before he gets violent
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me
Urging the listener to communicate their desires
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
Want you want from me?
Asking what the listener wants from the artist
Money and the record deal
The person B-Real is speaking to wants money and a record deal for themselves
Free tickets to the shows and the free meal
The person B-Real is speaking to wants to be treated to things that B-Real has earned
What you got for me?
Besides your hang ups and sob stories
The violins play 'em baby
The person B-Real is speaking to is only offering sob stories and excuses for their own lack of success
What you want to be?
Everything I am now
But you never worked for it
The live it, you fucking gimmick
The person B-Real is speaking to wants to be like him, but hasn't earned or worked for it
What you want -- disease?
For me and my homies
Niggaz want to act, damn
You don't even know me
The person B-Real is speaking to wishes harm upon him and his friends, despite not knowing them personally
What you need to breathe?
To think it over clearly
You can hear me over the speaker
It's best you don't come near me
B-Real is telling the person he's speaking to to think things through and stay away from him
What you got for me?
Back up and a lot of weight
But now, you hating on me
In every single way
The person B-Real is speaking to previously supported him, but now hates him for his success
What you have with me?
To make me turn the switcher
Funny how money makes a fucking little picture
The person B-Real is speaking to has made him angry and caused him to become violent
What it's got to be?
You get disconnected over methods you choose
To make yourself get ejected
The person B-Real is speaking to will be cut off if they continue to try and make money off of him without his consent
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me
Urging the listener to communicate their desires
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
What you want from me?
Asking what the listener wants from the artist
Pictures and the demos
You want to act funny?
And hear my ?
The person B-Real is speaking to only wants pictures and demos and is toying with him
What you got to see?
I need a little privacy
You don't even know of the shit that driving me
B-Real needs privacy and is frustrated with the person he's speaking to not understanding what he's going through
What you need from me?
Someone to put your shit on
Never forget what I've done for you
Before you get on
The person B-Real is speaking to is ungrateful for B-Real's help and is trying to use him but may not have realized B-Real's contributions
What you have to be?
True to the family
And fuck 'em and feed 'em
If you ain't understanding me?
The person B-Real is speaking to needs to be loyal to him and his friends, or get out of his life if they don't understand him
What you want to be?
Hard or a pop star
Going out and doing the same shit
That's a love song
B-Real is questioning the person he's speaking to on their motives and whether they want to be tough or commercially successful
What you want from me?
Nothing but burn riches now
I should snap your jaw
And knock it off the hinges
B-Real is angry at the person he's speaking to for only wanting money, and wants to inflict violence on them
What you after me?
Doctors and nurses and hearses
And the worst thing you feeling
The blood curses
The person B-Real is speaking to is causing him pain and harm, and B-Real wants them gone
What you have to be?
Gone another memory
Remember this if I gotta choose over them or me
I'll choose me motherfucker you understand
The person B-Real is speaking to needs to leave him alone and remember that B-Real will always choose himself over them
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me
Urging the listener to communicate their desires
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
What you want from me?
Asking what the listener wants from the artist
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
Tell me what you want
Asking the listener to clearly communicate their desires
What you want from me?
Asking what the listener wants from the artist
What you want from me?
Repeating the question
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LARRY MUGGERUD, LOUIS M. FREEZE, SENEN REYES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind