Rewind: Cypress Hill 'Cypress Hill' (Part 3)

Welcome to our last look at Cypress Hill's 1991 debut album 'Cypress Hill' produced by DJ Muggs.

'Psycobetabuckdown' is a mouthful of a title, but it samples a track that has an even longer title: Parliament's 'Aquaboogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)' from 1977's 'Motor-Booty Affair'. The track also samples 'Foxy Lady' from Willie Hutch's excellent blaxploitation soundtrack to 'Foxy Brown'. 'Something for the Blunted' finds Cypress on samples of Curtis Mayfield's 'Future Shock' and the essential b-boy cut 'Smokin' Cheeba Cheeba' from the Harlem Underground Band's lone 1976 album 'Harlem Underground'. The single 'Latin Lingo' finds Muggs using another Sly and the Family Stone sample, 'Sing a Simple Song' from 'Stand!', in addition to samples from 'Mongoose' from the rock band Elephant's Memory, 'Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On' from Motown artist Edwin Starr, and 'A Gritty Nitty' by Pazant Brothers and the Beaufort Express. For 'The Funky Cypress Hill Shit', Muggs samples the Village Callers' 'Hector' from their 1968 'Live' album, the post-Curtis Mayfield Five Stairsteps track 'The New Dance Craze', and Mandrill's excellent 'Fencewalk'. Finally, 'Born to Get Busy' finds the crew rhyming on Booker T. and the M.G.'s early Stax single 'Bootleg' from their 1966 album 'And Now!'.

Although not big upon its release, Cypress Hill's debut album gained sales momentum as their following albums, 'Black Sunday' and 'Temples of Boom' became hits. To date, 'Cypress Hill' has sold 2 million copies in America and is seen as one of the most essential hip-hop albums of 90s.

The Lowdown:
Cypress Hill 'Psycobetabuckdown', 'Something for the Blunted', 'Latin Lingo', 'The Funky Cypress Hill Shit', and 'Born to Get Busy'
from 'Cypress Hill' (1991) (MP3/CD)
Parliament 'Aquaboogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)'
from 'Motor-Booty Affair' (1977) (MP3/CD)
Willie Hutch 'Foxy Lady'
from 'Foxy Brown' (1974) (MP3/CD not available)
Curtis Mayfield 'Future Shock'
from 'Back to the World' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Harlem Underground Band 'Smokin' Cheeba Cheeba'
from 'Harlem Underground' (1976) (MP3/CD not available)
Sly and the Family Stone 'Sing a Simple Song'
from 'Stand!' (1969) (MP3/CD)
Elephant's Memory 'Mongoose'
from 'Take it to the Streets' (1970) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Edwin Starr 'Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On'
from 'Involved' (1971) (MP3 not available/CD)
Pazant Brothers and the Beaufort Express 'A Gritty Nitty'
from 'Loose and Juicy' (1975) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Village Callers 'Hector'
from 'Live' (1968) (MP3/CD)
Five Stairsteps 'The New Dance Craze'
from 'Our Family Portrait' (1971) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Mandrill 'Fencewalk'
from 'Composite Truth' (1973) (MP3 not available/CD)
Booker T. and the M.G.'s 'Bootleg'
from 'And Now!' (1966) (MP3 not available/CD)

Five On It: June 2009's Essentials

Welcome to our latest installment of Five On It, the five essential beats covered in the last month that you need to add to your library of samples. Five On it has been running strong, every month I worry about picking five new breaks that haven't been given Five On It status before, but we always easily come up with five more, June being no exception.

This track is the second early hip-hop joint given Five On It status, but it's huge: Kurtis Blow's 'The Breaks'. Whether it's the opening handclap shout outs or its many breakdowns, 'The Breaks' is full of samples and still rocks the party hard. This track was sampled by DJ Premier for KRS-One. Next is another big 80s tune that still resonates with kids who were born after the 80s: Mtume's 'Juicy Fruit', famously sampled by the Notorious B.I.G. and Warren G. Lil Wayne's 'Tha Carter III' is responsible for breathing a little more life into Nina Simone's already amazing read of 'Don't Let Me Be Understood'. Look below for more on this classic song. Dilla sampled the hitting song 'I Got Some' by Billy Garner, one of my favorite funk cuts which has a solid intro break and a memorable sample. Finally, we had a post dedicated to Edwin Starr's 'Easin' In'. More blaxploitation bangers are sure to follow, we've covered a few, but there are plenty more to talk about.

The Lowdown:
Kurtis Blow 'The Breaks'
from 'Kurtis Blow' (1980) (MP3 not available/CD)
Mtume 'Juicy Fruit'
from 'Juicy Fruit' (1983) (MP3/CD)
Nina Simone 'Don't Let Me Be Understood'
from 'Broadway - Blues - Ballads' (1964) (MP3/CD)
Billy Garner 'I Got Some'
from 'I Got Some' 7" (1971) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Edwin Starr 'Easin' In'
from 'Hell Up In Harlem' (1974) (MP3 not available/CD not available)

Bonus Cuts:
Even though Nina Simone was the first person to record the song 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood', the recording is probably best known for its versions by the Animals (1965) or Joe Cocker (1969). I'm usually not into disco songs and especially disco covers, but Santa Esmeralda delivered a quality version of 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' in 1977. Bonus, a new re-release of the single features instrumental and acapella versions of Santa Esmeralda's cut.

Source Material: Edwin Starr 'Easin' In'

This post is a sequel, of sorts, when you consider the movie Edwin Starr's 'Easin' In' was originally a part of. 'Black Caesar', the 1973 Fred Williamson film with a soundtrack produced by James Brown (which was covered in depth here and here), had a lesser known sequel titled 'Hell Up in Harlem'. James Brown was originally set to produce the soundtrack for the film, but the film makers opted for Motown artist Edwin Starr who had previously scored a series of anti-war protest hits. Joined with production team Fonce Mizell and Freddie Perren, the soundtrack to 'Hell Up in Harlem' yeilded the single 'Easin' In', which has been used frequently by hip-hop producers.

On his landmark 1988 album 'Power', Ice-T used 'Easin' In' on his hit single 'High Rollers'. In the same year, Michael Ross and Matt Dike (half of the production superduo the Dust Brothers) produced the beat for Tone Loc's 'Loc'ed After Dark' from the album of the same title. Five year later, the Digable Planets would sample 'Easin' In' for 'Reachin'''s excellent single 'Nickel Bags'. On their debut single in 1997, Evidence of the Dilated Peoples used 'Easin' In' on their B-side track 'Global Dynamics' from the 'Third Degree' 12" single. Finally, in 1998, Irv Gotti and Lil' Rob sampled Edwin Starr for DMX's album cut 'Crime Story' from his hit release 'It's Dark and Hell is Hot'.

The Lowdown:
Edwin Starr 'Easin' In'
from 'Hell Up in Harlem' (1974) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Ice-T 'High Rollers'
from 'Power' (1988) (MP3/CD)
Tone Loc 'Loc'ed After Dark'
from 'Loc'ed After Dark' (1988) (MP3/CD)
Digable Planets 'Nickel Bags'
from 'Reachin'' (1993) (MP3/CD)
Dilated Peoples 'Global Dynamics'
from 'Third Degree' 12" (1997) (MP3/CD not available)
DMX 'Crime Story'
from 'It's Dark and Hell is Hot' (1998) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'Crime Story'

Bonus Cut:
Dilated Peoples 'Global Dynamics' (Instrumental).

Related Posts:
Source Material: James Brown 'Black Caesar' (Part 1)
Source Material: James Brown 'Black Caesar' (Part 2)