Pubdate: Wed, 03 May 2000
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2000 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071
Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Brett Anderson, Special to The Washington Post

CYPRESS HILL'S SECONDHAND SMOKE

Cypress Hill came low-riding out of Los Angeles in the early '90s sporting 
sinister grins and trailing pungent smoke. Comprising B-Real, a Latino with 
an Afro and a comically nasal drawl, his stentorian Cuban-born sidekick, 
Sen Dog, and a white producer (DJ Muggs) with a taste for noise, the 
multi-ethnic rap trio hardly seemed built for mass consumption.

But its self-titled debut was a classic, a twisted West Coast update on the 
edgy, harmolodic hip-hop of New York's Public Enemy. On "Cypress Hill," the 
group immediately established two obsessions: ghetto nihilism and marijuana 
smoking, the latter of which turned out to be a commercial coup. While 
songs like "How I Could Just Kill a Man" spoke to the experiences of a 
particular urban underclass, pot-smoking kids in Peoria could claim "Light 
Another" as their own. "Cypress Hill," which went on to sell more than 2 
million copies, helped usher hip-hop into the mainstream and beyond. (Last 
year the group released its first Spanish-language recording, "Los Grandes 
Exitos en Espanol.")

Signs of the group's early greatness have been sporadic on subsequent 
releases, and Cypress Hill's latest, "Skull & Bones," is no different. The 
title refers to two different discs, one containing straight hip-hop 
tracks, the other forays into of rap-edged heavy metal.

Muggs is the only member who's grown measurably as an artist over the 
years, and on "Skull," the rap disc, he maintains his role as the group's 
soul. His influence as a producer has been profound enough that you can 
hear it reflecting back at him in the mixes he creates. The ethereal 
soundscapes of Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, for instance, wouldn't have happened 
without Muggs's example, and in the looped string samples of "Another 
Victory" and the eerie, octave-leaping synths of "Cuban Necktie," it's 
possible to hear RZA repaying his debt.

There are moments that hark back to the glory days. "What U Want From Me" 
is a gritty appraisal of a street dweller's narcissism, and "(Rap) 
Superstar," a hip-hopper's answer to the Byrds' "So You Want to Be a Rock 
'n' Roll Star," features some memorable sparring between B-Real and guest 
rapper Eminem.

But for the most part, Cypress Hill seems to reserve its real fire for 
sparking joints. "Can I Get a Hit" is playing to the cheap seats--it's the 
ubiquitous ganja homage you've heard at least four times before. And while 
Muggs still boasts a bulging bag of tricks, on "Skull" he only upholds his 
cohort's ghetto-tough pose where he used to transcend it. The disc's mixes 
are uniformly ominous and cold-eyed. Hearing that from a guy who once 
hammered a "Duke of Earl" sample into a singsongy murder anthem, it's hard 
not to long for the days when Muggs crafted what amounted to sonic jokes.

The six rap-metal tracks on the "Bones" disc aren't the embarrassment they 
could have been. Hill's rap music has always contained a steady rock beat, 
and the members have collaborated with rockers before, most memorably avant 
punkers Sonic Youth.

But machismo-fueled cuts like "Can't Get the Best of Me" and "A Man" are 
barely distinguishable from anything on the last Limp Bizkit record. 
Ultimately, "Bones" is the sound of Cypress Hill trying to forge a broader 
market share, not fresh artistic ground.

(To hear a free Sound Bite from this album, call Post-Haste at 202-334-9000 
and press 8174.)
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D