Second studio album by Cypress Hill, a group formed by B-Real in rapping, DJ Muggs in production and Sen Dog who makes random sounds in the middle of the record. The album comes out two years after their debut, made with 14 tracks for a total of about three quarters of an hour, and is distributed by Ruffhouse and Columbia Records.
T-Ray, producer member of the Muggs Soul Assassins group, realizes the rhythm of the second song, for the rest, the album has no guests. The production chosen by DJ Muggs is quite consistent, not to say it sounds the same for about 45 minutes: simple funky boom bap, with decent samples, heavy bass line, hard, minimal slow and tight drum machine, with the addition of some random whimsical sounds. This raw musical carpet seems to mesmerize, giving East Coast and rock vibes, and attracting a wider audience than that of Cali.
The group keeps vibes and themes similar to the debut, with the difference that here, B-Real decides to randomly mix weed and guns in order to lyrically fill the project: there are fourteen braggadocio cuts quite similar to each other, the group frequently alternates pro-weed tracks and gangsta-thug ones, with raw and violent bars, stupid and extravagant verses, also creating some stanzas in Spanglish. The record quickly becomes repetitive: compared to the debut, it's already redundant from the first songs, if it weren't for his half-blood-gangsta soul. B-Real boasts nasal flow who's decent, if listened to for a few minutes, but annoying if listened to continuously for almost an hour: his rapping style is mediocre and soporific, these guys bring out a relaxed O.G. rapping that makes them sound fake gangstaz like all the other studio thugs in the game in '93. B-Real feels at his best — I've no idea if he really is — and delivers the first 4/5 tracks in an excellent way, blessed with DJ Muggs' rhythms: the disc seems to be destined for the «classic» label, however, it drops in quality since the immediately following tracks, emerging again from mediocrity in "Hits From the Bong", tense boom bap coupled with a relaxed delivery.
Among the first four strong points, "Insane in the Brain" stands out above all: simple funky rhythm, DJ Muggs sampled House of Pain's "Jump Around", hit produced by himself, and puts some annoyingly cheap synths on the hook, in one of his most mesmerizing and at the same time bad beats of the project. The song is extracted as a single, and reaches the first place among the Hot Rap Singles, being certified gold by the RIAA and being nominated for a Grammy as Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, where it loses against the Digable Planets. The album is a major international commercial success, peaking #1 on the Billboard 200 and hip-hop records, selling millions of physical copies and achieving platinum certifications in the US (3), UK and Canada. Dark effort with violent and relaxed moments, boring most of the time and even exhausting, despite the reduced playing time: overall, it's a discreet listening, but very distant from a classic LP, despite several great moments. Not essential.
Highlights: "I Ain't Goin' Out Like That", "Insane in the Brain", "When the Shit Goes Down", "Hits from the Bong".
Rating: 7/10.
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