House of Pain "Fine Malt Lyrics" (30th Anniversary, 1992)

"We're animals trying to be men," laughs Everlast, lead rapper of the Irish-American rap act House of Pain. Explaining the inspiration for the group's name, he describes the movie "The Island of Dr. Moreau," "It's about a scientist who tries to turn animals into men, and the place where he took them to punish them was the House of Pain." Danny Boy and DJ Lethal round out the trio that produced the gold smash single "Jump Around," and a debut album filled with dense, diverse samples and a rap style that recalls the kind of shit-kicking you hear at a party or on a basketball court. "If you get on the basketball court, talking shit is half the game," Everlast says. "I look at the lyrics like a basketball, like I'm bouncing them off the beat." Everlast is sporting a basketball jersey in their video for "Jump Around," but it wasn't the jersey of his hometown Lakers. He wore Boston Celtics green, a nod to the heritage of both himself and rapping partner Danny Boy -- as is House of Pain's shamrock emblem, "Fine Malt Lyrics." "It definitely does fit the 'Irish' stereotype," Danny Boy says of their image, "but it just happens, as do we." "We don't try to be preachers of Irish history, or Irish politics," adds Everlast. "It's just two guys who happen to have Irish blood, you know, happen to have a taste for some beer once in a while, and like to kick funky rhymes." The group got together in 1990, after Everlast left the Rhyme Syndicate. "The name of the group came from an old punk band I used to have," says Danny Boy. Adds Everlast, "When I saw the name written down at his house, it clicked with me, and later on I figured out it was because of the "Island of Dr. Moreau" movie that I'd seen when I was young." // (Revisit the album while you continue reading below) .....

Everlast (Erik Schrody, age 22) and Danny Boy (Danny O'Connor, 23) met at Taft High School, which is also the alma mater of Ice Cube and Divine Styler. "There was a whole spectrum of people with different music preferences," states Everlast, "from punk rockers, to rappers to hard rocks." "You knew who was a B-boy and who wasn't," says Danny Boy. "You knew who liked rap and who didn't. Of course we weren't going to click." The House of Pain crew is rounded out by Latvian-born DJ Lethal (Leor Dimant), who worked on Everlast's previous solo projects as part of Ice-T's Rhyme Syndicate. DJ Lethal's mix changes colors from the psychedelic dub style of the "House of Pain Anthem," through the infectious "Top O' The Morning To Ya" - laced with woozy harmonica and slippery scratches - to the jazzy shifts of "All My Love." "I'm like jumping around the beat, picking out things to put in the beat," says DJ Lethal, who, at age 19, has emerged as a sampling ace, looping without reliance on drum programs. "Hip-Hop is my first love, but incorporated into hip-hop are a lot of forms of music," Lethal says of his cross-style collage. "I'll take a beat from rock, I'll take a little horn from jazz and I'll take a little organ from some old classical piece." The album produced by Lethal, Muggs of Cypress Hill, who lead rapper B-Real joins Everlast on "Put Your Head Out," and Ralph M of FunkDoobiest. "The first time people hear your record, they don't listen to the lyrics, they listen to the flow and the music," Everlast says. "And if you get in this weird (lyrical) thing, where they're going "Ooh, listen to him bug out!, THEN they're going to listen to what you said. I put a lot of thought into my style beforehand, but when I finally come down to writing the songs, I do it in a form of freestyle. I like that spontaneity. It's pure feeling rather than being over-rehearsed or over-written, or over-thinking about it," he says. "There are a few rhymes that are totally flipped around from what we thought we were starting with. But I saw that the rhymes fit the beats, and makes each part as entertaining as possible." - Press Kit, 1992. Undeniable classic.

Cypress Hill "Black Sunday" (July 20, 1993)

"Insane In The Brain" is the name of the first single and video clip from Cypress Hill's new Ruffhouse/Columbia album, Black Sunday. It's also a warning: that when it comes to the Cypress Hill crew, crazed intensity is more than skin deep; it's a state of mind and a way of life. Cypress Hill -- visionary rappers B-Real and Sen Dog, and DJ/Producer Muggs -- are back again and explosive as ever. The group's self-titled Ruffhouse/Columbia RIAA platinum debut album of 1991 has sold more than 1 million copies to date in the US, establishing them as one of the most popular as well as hardest hitting, musically innovative, hip-hop acts on the planet Earth. The Cypress Hill album remained in the upper reaches of the Billboard's Pop Album chart for over 73 weeks, earning the group the Billboard Music Award for Best Rap Artist. That's a hard act to follow, but B-Real and company remained cool under pressure. "When it came to Black Sunday, people asked 'can we top the last one,' you know? What we did was take all those questions about making a follow-up and asked ourselves that shit." "With everything that had been going on this year, we felt we should have made this album months ago but we were doing a lot of shows and that took time away from doin' the album. We were kind of frustrated that we hadn't started yet, because we were so eager to make this record. We came up with a lot of dope shit that we felt topped the last one. So being that we were hungry to do it, it brought out the best when we finally got to record." They continue, "The new album is named Black Sunday because its whole vibe is ominous. The album was recorded in Muggs' native New York in early '93. (Revisit the LP, the press release continues below)...

"Insane In The Bran" features a hydraulic bass groove and pounding beat being strafed by braying screeches -- classic Cypress Hill. "I wrote "Insane In The Brain" about when people come to our concerts they lose their mind in the adrenaline of it all. It's also talking about some of the people on the street, who are just crazy motherf#ckers." "When The Shit Goes Down," the B-side to "Insane In The Brain," and second video, is also cautionary. Cypress Hill may be stoners, but don't think for a minute they're sleeping. The rap is a reminder for everybody out there to be ready when the going gets rough. "It's saying, 'don't sleep,' because if you sleep and let somebody get the drop on you, whether it's in the business, sports, rap, or out on the street fighting, you just gotta be ready for anything." Muggs cooks up an ultra-funky mix of scratchy deep fried soul guitars and fat bass licks. "Ain't Goin' Out Like That" opens with looped feedback, giving way to saxophone screeches, a jazzy bass figure and crackling drums. B and Sen's raps reprise some of the rhymes from the debut album that helped establish them as the hardest and smartest hip hoppers on the street, promising more of the same and then some this time around. In addition, Black Sunday includes special new, never commercially available versions of "A to the K" (the original appeared on the Juice soundtrack) and "Hand On The Glock" (a radical remodeling of "Hand on the Pump"). In order to make the album more readily available to Cypress' younger fans, there will be a clean, unstickered version. - Press Kit '93. 

UFO Fev & Crisis "Sunsets In The Ghetto" (Album Stream)

Here's the latest offering from East Harlem's UFO Fev titled Sunsets In The Ghetto. Fev came up in the Jefferson Housing Projects, same building as the late Black Rob, who is alleged to have given Fev his name. The project boasts 11 solid cuts, with production entirely handled by Crisis and features from Red Inf and Cortez. You've seen the cosign from Fat Joe and consistent releases over the past few years -- including collaborative projects with Statik Selektah, Termanology, Frank The Butcher, Vanderslice and Big Ghost Ltd. --  Fev is the real deal, check him out on Sunsets In The Ghetto, streaming below. Then dig in the archives for those other collaborative projects and more...

Coolio "It Takes A Thief" (July 19, 1994)

After what seemed like an endless wave of negative attention, it seems as if the American media has decided to leave hip-hop alone (for now at least) and concentrate on more pressing issues (Bosnia, South Africa, etc.). And since things are returning to normal, many artists are once again kicking tales about their own individual realities. So it should come as no surprise that Coolio is going to be at the top of the pile this summer. Yeah, he's from Compton, but this isn't your typical gangsta record. For Coolio, Compton isn't just the spawning ground for G-rap; it's a place where the concept of comedy and tragedy can be viewed up close and personal. Where the ills of American society (unemployment, welfare, drug addiction, homelessness...) are discussed from the first person. And like Richard Pryor did years before him, Coolio refuses to let the realities of what many would consider to be a no-win situation extinguish both his artistic spirit and sense of humor. If you don't remember Coolio, you can think back to his appearance with WC on the 1990 Low Profile album. If you can't go back that far, just peep the rhymes he rocked as a member of the M.A.A.D. Circle. Even if you missed his debut, there is no reason for you to sleep on his current reality-inspired work...

While "County Line"--a humorously cool lead-off single dealing with the shortcomings of the welfare system--didn't quite evoke the anticipated response, the current single "Fantastic Voyage" really articulates Coolio's message. The video is hilarious. As the Lakeside groove carries you along, Coolio piles about six million people in the trunk of his '64 and takes them into a magical land where race, poverty, gangs or sexual orientation don't matter and everybody is cool. On the real side, tracks like "Smokin' Sticks" and "Locked In The Closet" are '70s-styled pimp tracks that have Cool kicking real-life tales about how he used to trip out smokin' sherm (cigarettes dipped in embalming fluid or PCP) and doing cocaine. Another excellent track, "Can O' Corn," speaks on his younger days, growing up in a drug-infested household with nothing to eat but a can of corn. But then it's back to the laughs. "Ugly Bitches" is one of the funniest rap records ever. Reworking the melody that 3XDope used on "Funky Dividends," Coolio pokes fun at his homies who, when their funds were low, had to settle for the not-so-fine girls. The chorus is a killer: "When I was young/I used to have fun/F#ckin' with ugly bitches/But now that I'm grown/I leave them alone/'Cause I went from rags to riches." There are also a few standout group efforts. Le Shaun stands by her man on "Mama I'm In Love With A Gangsta," Tha Alkaholiks drop by for "I Remember" and W.C. puts in work on "U No Hoo." And when added to tracks like "On My Way To Harlem" and "Ghetto Cartoon," the album seems to take on a movie soundtrack-like quality. Perhaps for the unmade Trouble Man II or Hell Up In Compton. Whatever the case, in order to capture that '70s dusty feel, you have to get some dusty n!ggas to make the tracks and the production by Dobbs The Wino, Brian G and Crazy Toones is top notch. No P-Funk. No G-Funk. Just the best of the 8-Track pimp era. - The Source (July, 1994). Revisit it today.

Biz Markie "Theory of Old School" (Mixtape, 199x)

The Diabolical Big Markie! I can't lie, it still breaks my heart knowing Biz passed away. What an exceptional personality! There will certainly never be another. Many people know him as a beatboxer, MC and all around presence in hip-hop but he certainly had a passion for music that extended to being a DJ and curating mixtapes. He put in considerable work with 45s later in his career, doing live DJ events around the country as well. Theory of Old School was Biz Markie's Funk & Soul contribution to the mix tape game back in the late 90s through Tape Kingz. It features tracks by Collage, Chaka Khan, DeBarge, Teddy Pendergrass, Teena Marie, Shalamar, Marvin Gate, Deniece Williams, Michael Jackson, Heatwave, The Jackson 5, The Gap Bad, Barry White, The Emotions and so much more. Many of these jams were the samples, breaks and inspiration for countless hip-hop records that would come in later years. Listen to this "little funk shit" as Biz Markie says below...

DJ Premier "Hip-Hop 50: Vol. 1" (EP Stream)

As Hip Hop continues to climb to heights that no one could have ever imagined, it's unbelievable that we're rapidly approaching the 50th anniversary of the genre. We're all aware of Rap's inception out of the Bronx before developing into one of the most influential genres in music history. DJ Premier has partnered with Nas's Mass Appeal for their Hip Hop 50 music program, and to help celebrate the culture, the legendary DJ has curated the first of an ongoing series that highlights Hip Hop. Today, we received the DJ Premier: vf and while it may not be a lengthy project, it certainly packs a heavy punch. “It’s an honor to kick off this iconic Hip Hop 50 music program. Hip Hop continues to inspire fans across the globe and it’s incredible to think of what the next 50 years will bring," Premier shared in a press release. Features include Joey Bada$$, Remy Ma, Rapsody, Nas, Run The Jewels, Lil Wayne, and Slick Rick! - HNHH. Stream DJ Premier: Hip Hop 50 Volume 1 below...

Lloyd Banks "The Course of the Inevitable 2" (Album Stream)

Lloyd Banks has dropped off his new album, The Course of the Inevitable 2, via Money By Any Means and Empire. The project includes previously released songs “Menace” with Conway the Machine and “Fell in Love,” and boasts features from several hip-hop heavyweights like Jadakiss, Dave East, Benny The Butcher, Tony Yayo, and Vado. The Course of the Inevitable 2 is a follow-up to the series' first installation, The Course of the Inevitable, which arrived in 2021 and saw guest appearances from Styles P, Benny The Butcher, and Freddie Gibbs, among others. The sequel is Banks’ fifth studio album. - Complex. It's great to hear more music from Banks, I think he's an extremely talented MC who has a lot to offer to the industry and fans alike. People compare Banks to artists like Fabolous, Jadakiss and Pusha T, but I also see parallels to artists like Beanie Sigel, DMX & Scarface because of the depth of his content. Stream The Course of the Inevitable 2 below.

DJ Filthy Rich "Mecca & The Soul Brother" (30th Ann. Mix)

Toronto’s DJ Filthy Rich pays homage to the 30th anniversary of Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth’s classic album, Mecca and the Soul Brother from 1992. Reminisce for a spell with a mix of original samples, remixes and unique blends, who adds that “The way Pete sampled old jazz/funk/soul records and layered them over hard, dusty drums was masterful (how he caught that little part on the fadeout of an Ohio Players record for "Lots Of Lovin" still amazes me). Combine that with C.L.'s sharp yet fluid lyricism (how many MC's could rhyme like THIS back in '92??), and you unquestionably have one of the pillars of early 90's NYC boom bap.” I agree, this was a masterful release. As I’ve said before, I had the honor of touring Europe with Eternia while Pete Rock & CL Smooth were performing this album almost in its entirety every night. Hearing “T.R.O.Y.” to close out the show every night was incredible - they are near-flawless performers and it was definitely a career highlight. Props to DJ Filthy Rich for doing this one justice, I hope it doesn’t get taken down. Listen to this mix below…