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.) - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D