Review Summary: Cypress Hill delivers with their second studio album, so pop it in and let the smoke cloud your lungs
Cypress Hill is one of the few groups in hip-hop that people can say truly brought something different to the table. Everything about Cypress Hill at this point was infectious, their rhymes, their flow, the beats, and the heavy funk influence. They were also one of the first Latino groups to make it big in the rap game.
Cypress Hill do a great job at creating songs that stick in your mind for awhile. Black Sunday has a more laid back feel to it than their first album, on "I Wanna Get High" the chorus is almost hypnotic, the mellow songs seem to be the better ones on the album. In some cases the agressive ones are just as good, this is the case for "Lick a Shot", and "I Ain't Goin Out Like That". This album has more ganster influence than their self titled. When the songs turn to more Ganster inspised lyrics they still keep the comedy in it, that's one of the things that makes Cypress Hill so great, they don't take themselves as seriously as some other rappers do.
B-reals voice is one of the most notable parts of the group. His high pitched wail is very unusual in hip-hop. It has sort of become Cypress Hill's trademark in a way. The slower songs with melodic beats seem to fit his voice over the faster ones, this is most noticable in "Hits From the Bong", which happens to be the best song on the album. The sound of bongwater bubbling in the backround and the beat blend together to give a great atmosphere for the song. "Insane in the Brain" is one of Cypress Hill's better known songs, and one of my favorites, it starts with "Who you tryin to get crazy with ese'? Don't you know I'm loco" and then goes into hands down the best beat on the album, it sticks in my head for hours.
Cypress Hill's lyrics are unique to say the least and very clever, the writing has improved quite a bit since their first album. The only complaints I have about Black Sunday is that some of the songs don't seem to fit in with the others, they are alright but they almost seem like filler. "When the *** Goes Down" is one of the those, the chorus last far too long, I'd say the majority of the song is just them repeating the title. "Lock Down" is one of my favorite instrumentals, it comes quick, its almost like the intermission song for the album.
Overall- Coming from someone who isn't a big hip-hop fan, this album is solid. Don't avoid this just because you don't like rap it is an amazing record that everyone should have in their collection. Even with a few filler songs the album still breaks through to be a major staple in the genre. Cypress Hill is one of the few groups that can compete with the classic groups NWA, Wu-Tang Clan, and Public Enemy.
Pros
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Great flow
Beats
Catchy
Lyrics
Cons
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Some Filler
