Rewind: Cypress Hill 'Cypress Hill' (Part 1)

Last month we looked at Cypress Hill's second album, 'Black Sunday', their commercial breakthrough produced mostly by DJ Muggs. Over the next three posts, we'll look at Cypress Hill's debut album from 1991 titled 'Cypress Hill' produced entirely by DJ Muggs.

'How I Could Just Kill a Man' was originally a B-side, but has become one of Cypress Hill's most notable cuts. The song includes samples from several different genres smelted in the Cypress Hill cauldron. Among them is Jimi Hendrix's 'Are You Experienced' from his 1967 album of the same title, Lowell Fulsom's tremendous breakbeat track 'Tramp', James Brown's 'Escape-ism' from 1972 and J.B.'s 'I Got Ants in My Pants (and I Want to Dance)', as well as Manzel's popular break 'Midnight Theme'. Cypress Hill's single 'Hand on the Pump' famously samples Gene Chandler's doo-wop hit 'Duke of Earl' from his 1962 album of the same title and Junior Walker and the All Stars' Motown hit 'Shotgun'. 'Hole in the Head' finds Cypress Hill rhyming over Jimmy McGriff's 'The Bird' from his highly sought after 1971 album 'Groove Grease'. On 'Ultraviolet Dreams', DJ Muggs samples Muddy Waters' electrified blues cut 'Tom Cat' from his album 'Electric Mud'. On 'Light Another', the crew samples an early Kool and the Gang cut, 'Good Times', from their 1972 album 'Good Times'.

Check back for part two of our look at Cypress Hill's debut album 'Cypress Hill'.

The Lowdown:
Cypress Hill 'How I Could Just Kill a Man', 'Hand on the Pump', 'Hole in the Head', 'Ultraviolet Dreams', and 'Light Another'
from 'Cypress Hill' (1991) (MP3/CD)
Jimi Hendrix 'Are You Experienced'
from 'Are You Experienced' (1967) (MP3/CD)
Lowell Fulsom 'Tramp'
from 'Tramp' (1967) (MP3 not available/Import CD)
James Brown 'Escape-ism'
from 'Hot Pants' (1971) (MP3/CD not available)
James Brown 'I Got Ants in My Pants (and I Want to Dance)'
from 'Get on the Good Foot' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Manzel 'Midnight Theme'
from 'Midnight Theme' 7" (1975) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Gene Chandler 'Duke of Earl'
from 'Duke of Earl' (1962) (MP3/CD not available)
Junior Walker and the All Stars 'Shotgun'
from 'Shotgun' 7" (1965) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Jimmy McGriff 'The Bird'
from 'Groove Grease' (1971) (MP3/CD)
Muddy Waters 'Tom Cat'
from 'Electric Mud' (1969) (MP3/CD)
Kool and the Gang 'Good Times'
from 'Good Times' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD not available)

Related Posts:
Rewind: Cypress Hill 'Black Sunday' (Part 1)
Rewind: Cypress Hill 'Black Sunday' (Part 2)
Rewind: Wu-Tang Clan 'Enter the Wu-Tang' (Part 2) (Lowell Fulsom appearance)

Producer Profile: Kanye West (Part 5, 2003)

Welcome to our final look at Kanye West's production output from 2003 (and man, was the dude busy - for 2003 alone, there are previous posts here and here).

A relatively unknown production credit from Kanye is 'Dogs Out' from DMX's widely forgotten 2003 album 'Grand Champ'. I'm not so sure about X's delivery, but the beat is among Kanye's best from the period - it samples the Phil Spector produced 1958 hit 'Dedicated to the One I Love' by the Shirelles. Another West produced non-single from 2003 is Fabolous' 'My Life' from 'Street Dreams', which samples 'Pride and Vanity' from the early Ohio Players album 'Pleasure'. Lil Kim's 'La Bella Mafia' album cut 'Came Back for You' produced by West samples Irene Reid's 'Didn't We' from her 1971 album 'The World Needs What I Need'.

Finally, Royce Da 5'9"'s 'Heartbeat' has caused a lot of controversy from both the Royce camp and the Kanye camp. West contends that Royce never paid for his beat to 'Heartbeat' (which samples Junior Walker's 'Darling Come Back Home' from 1978), but recorded on it and released it in 2003 on his mixtape 'Build and Destroy: The Lost Sessions Part 1'.

Check back for our look at Kanye West's production credits from 2004 as well as a look at his album 'The College Dropout' coming soon.

The Lowdown:
DMX 'Dogs Out'
from 'Grand Champ' (2003) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'Dogs Out'
The Shirelles 'Dedicated to the One I Love'
from 'Dedicated to the One I Love' 7" (1958) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Fabolous 'My Life'
from 'Street Dreams' (2003) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'My Life'
The Ohio Players 'Pride and Vanity'
from 'Pleasure' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD)
Lil Kim 'Came Back for You'
from 'La Bella Mafia' (2003) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'Came Back for You'
Irene Reid 'Didn't We'
from 'The World Needs What I Need' (1971) (MP3 Not Available/CD Not Available)
Royce Da 5'9" 'Heartbeat'
from 'Build and Destroy: The Lost Sessions Part 1' (2003) (MP3 not available/CD)
Jr. Walker 'Darling Come Back Home'
from '...Smooth' (1978) (MP3 Not Available/CD Not Available)