DMX - It's Dark And Hell Is Hot (May 12, 1998)

 

Been a hot minute, my fellow lonely soul. I know, me too.

Story time: The turn of the millenium. I was a teenager. We've only spent 2 years since me and my family moved into my father's house after he finished his postgraduate studies. During that time, the only exposure to hip hop that I had was the Space Jam OST and Lightning Strikes by Cypress Hill which I enjoyed hearing as I blew up the streets of the Road Rage battleground in Twisted Metal 4. That's it.

Now let's talk about the sheer brilliance that is Jet Li.

I still get goosebumps whenever I remember how me & my cousins gathered around in my aunt's house in the summer of 1996 to watch a certain Chinese action movie called Fist Of Legend, a remake of Bruce Lee's classic vehicle Fist Of Fury. Little did our prepubescent minds know what was in store for us. Naturally, the movie blew us away with its brilliant fight choreography by Yuen Woo-Ping as well as the surprisingly-balanced narrative. And that's when I became a Jet Li fan for life. So when I tell you that the level of excitement I had for having my very first movie purchase in life be Romeo Must Die, Jet Li's first Western lead vehicle, was otherworldly, you know I'm not bullshitting. I even remember the tagline on the back of the box. "Jet Li is a one-man Matrix." Hey, I'm totally embracing the ludicrousness of it all and you should, too. But I digress.

I pop in the VHS tape. And I'm greeted with this. And, that... That was my introduction to the late great Earl Simmons, whom the world will forever remember as DMX.

I remember going ham whenever I popped that VHS tape in and that intro came on. I loved it so much that I went looking for the Romeo Must Die OST, only to be shocked at the fact that the fuckfaces at Virgin never included the song "I'm Gonna Crawl" with the damn thing. Instead, they made the incredibly genius decision to cave in to the fuckfaces at Def Jam to include the song on their Nutty Professor 2 OST. Cuz that makes sense. In any case, I had no idea that the rapper I was listening to was DMX until I checked the end credits for who played the character Silk in the film. Because Silk appears in the club scene immediately after the opening, X's vocal tones made it unmistakably easy for me to connect the face of Silk with the then-unidentified rapper's voice that I heard prior. Add that to the Come Back In One Piece duet with his co-star, the late legendary Aaliyah, which was pretty prevalent in the film, and you’ve got my pretty thorough first impression of X. 

However, said exposure still remained limited after that given the fact that rap music wasn't really made available in music stores round my way in Saudi Arabia, so Exit Wounds & Cradle 2 The Grave it was for me. Then, of course, came Def Jam Vendetta, which I've already raved about ad nauseum on here. Although I will say that in light of his passing, the video where he giddily describes his desired finisher to the devs will never leave me.

It was on this game that I had my first furthering into X’s vast musical catalog. They grouped what would end up being two of his most popular anthems, Party Up & X Gon Give It To Ya, with one of his most popular album cuts. A song that’s actually featured on the album I’m reviewing today. But before I do so, let’s reflect more on that which is infinitely more important than the artist or his art: Earl Simmons the human being.

Earl was born to Arnett Simmons & Joe Barker, a teenage couple who were sadly too ignorant in how to raise children. And with Joe cutting off all ties with Arnett, Earl and his two sisters, Earl was left to live a harrowing childhood, often suffering violent mental & physical abuse from his mother. This, coupled with his heartbreaking experience of having his mentor Ready Ron trick him into the crack addiction that would end up haunting him for the rest of his life at the tender age of 14, left Earl with quite the bleak outlook on life as a whole. Though, not all was bleak. For even though X resented Ron for pulling that evil stunt, he also always gave him credit for introducing him to that which would eventually introduce the beloved icon to the world: Hip hop.

Make no mistake, even though he didn't have quite the rosy attitude, assuming Dark Man X wasn't one driven, creative motherfucker would be the worst mistake one could ever make. After a brief stint as Ron's beatboxer, Earl took to rhyming. And when I tell you that he gained a rep for airing dudes out with his rhymes, he gained a fucking rep. To the point that hip hop fans worldwide are still talking about his fabled meeting with one Shawn Carter in a pool hall, where Jay left the venue after spitting one of his rhymes on some disrespectful Brooklyn shit. Nevertheless, to do so good that dudes are still talking about you after you've been on the receiving end of such a stunt is almost unheard of.

Before that event, though, X's phenomenal lyrical skills were far from enough to secure him any type of success, status quo shit when dealing with the cesspool that is the music business. Which led X to sink further into the path of darkness that he was already on as he gained another infamous rep: Robbing people with his dogs. His kinship with these creatures was as much a part of his story as anything else. Peep the story that Murda Mook talks about on Drink Champs for you to get the picture. Again, I digress.

Earl had the door to changing his life opened a bit when he was offered a single deal with the fuckfaces at Ruffhouse, home of the aforementioned Cypress Hill. Born Loser was the result of that, and even though Chad Elliott succeeded in capturing some of the macabre aura that would later define X, the single was never treated seriously. So X was released back into the wild where he grew hungrier and more desperate.

I've already gone to lengths about how much I respect the late great Too Poetic aka The Grym Reaper from the Gravediggaz for surviving homelessness, so my sentiment is doubled when I'm talking about X. Because as dire as the situation got for Poetic, at least he had a loving family to fall back on for emotional support if nothing else. X had nobody, NOBODY, who could've helped him there. That is, until one of his close friends introduced him to Joaquin Dean aka Waah, cofounder of the fabled Ruff Ryders movement. That relationship ultimately was a blessing for both parties, as Waah was getting desperate to make ends meet attempting to break into the music industry as well. Eventually, Waah introduced X to one Irving Lorenzo aka DJ Irv, who provided a certain layup that ultimately sparked his meteoric rise.

Irv would feature X, along with former opponent Jay-Z and ex-CMC member & future cornball Ja Rule on the underrated Mic Geronimo's unsung masterpiece The Natural, on the posse cut centerpiece Time To Build. The synergy X displayed with DJ Irv's relentless beat shed some more of the brilliance buried under all the muck. Irv & X would follow up with another attempt at breaking in the music business in the form of the 1995 Make A Move/Can't Touch Me Kid single. Irv shopped the single to TVT Blunt but legendary fuckup Steve Gottlieb passed on X, continuing his string of colossal missteps of passing on legendary acts such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg & Jay-Z. Ouch. Nevertheless, X was once again facing life on the cold streets. Until DJ Irv struck gold with Jay-Z when Can I Live became a centerpiece of Jay's lone classic Reasonable Doubt. The fuckfaces at Def Jam sensed that this Irv cat had an eye for talent as he pushed his all for them to sign DMX. Leading to the now-legendary story of X freestyling in front of the bag of sewage known as Lyor Cohen. Don't ask.

X had previously gotten into trouble that led to him receiving a severe beatdown to the point that he had to have his jaw wired shut. But his desperation had consumed him by the time it came for him to showcase what he had to Lyor. X proceeded to rhyme with such a ferocity that led to the wires in his jaw getting ripped open. Lyor hid his enthusiasm from everyone present at first, but as soon as he left the venue with Irv, he lost his mind, famously squealing: "We found the pick of the litter."

Pick of the litter, indeed, as X was showcased on hip hop icon LL Cool J's timeless posse cut 4,3,2,1 which finally broke X into the mainstream as he shared the spotlight with Method Man, Redman & eventual LL victim Canibus. X then featured on the remix to Mic Geronimo's hit Nothing Move But The Money alongside the late great Black Rob (these days are tough, man. Deadass.) as well as appearing on another posse cut, this time Mic's Usual Suspects alongside Tragedy, Ja Rule & fellow Ruff Ryders alumni the LOX. After appearing on Onyx's title track to their Shut 'Em Down album, a smash in and of itself, X then followed that up with two huge posse cut appearances for colossal twat Sean Comby Combs: He tore through cornball Mase's 24 Hrs To Live alongside Rob & the aforementioned LOX, who then featured X as the star closer to their smash single, the title track to their debut album Money Power & Respect. Needless to say that X's life was set for a huge change.

Huge change is an understatement, as X released his debut single Get At Me Dog to literal pandemonium in February 1998. The song was inescapable as the buildup to his eventual debut began. X only increased the fervor with Stop Being Greedy in March, and in May, a week before his album dropped, he would release what is now his most successful single, Ruff Ryders Anthem. By that time, the world was fiending for X's debut, It's Dark & Hell Is Hot, to forever immortalize the hungry Yonkers MC.

Spoiler alert: He was immortalized. Not only with this debut that ended up selling over 4 million records stateside, but with each of his next 4 albums for Def Jam passing the 1 million mark, with the 2nd & 3rd soaring past 3 million & 5 million sales respectively. He remains the only rapper to have two albums debut at number 1 on the Billboard charts in the same year. I really don't like to talk about numbers this much, but it's very important to showcase how X had taken over the machine in a way nobody expected him to. And I say nobody with every fiber of my being. To go from nothing to having such an impact on arrival that Joel fucking Silver is lining up a three-picture deal just for you is unheard of. And yes, Joel Silver is the dude who produced Romeo Must Die, bringing us back full circle to where I started with this.

See, the reason this rant is so extensive and long is because I am still reeling, along with the rest of the world, from April 9th. That date will forever be imprinted in my brain as the day life's challenge increased that much more due to X's extraordinary life coming to the inevitable end that everyone of us faces. The sheer emotion millions of people around the globe felt when they learned of the terrible news cannot be quantified. Just as an example, one of my Saudi friends who doesn't know the first lick about hip hop asked to confirm the news. Think about it: X's reach was so huge that people in Saudi friggin Arabia who don't know shit about hip hop remember him vividly. Literally, I've only witnessed such a reaction for Pac & Big over here.

I've long thought about how I wanted to introduce DMX to my blog, despite what some may believe. And I truly regret the fact that my obsessive perfectionism has prohibited me from showing love to him while he was still with us.

Enough stalling, It's Dark & Hell Is Hot, boy/girl (pick one):

INTRO

I've documented my admiration for the beats of DJ Irv on this here blog on the aforementioned Mic Geronimo review. Once he started outsourcing others for their beatmaking services, the resulting music became very hit n miss. Here, he works with one Robert Mays aka Lil Rob who provides the best beat that ever came outta his outsourcings, building one hell of an atmospheric relentless instrumental around a simple 3-second classical music loop. Of course there has to be a preceding audio excerpt where X hypes up his dogs, something you'll get used to real quick when listening to his catalog. Anyways, once X begins to rhyme, you are drawn to the sheer conviction behind every single syllable. The man's desperation literally made his first impression count in the best of ways. This was the song I spoke of in the prologue of this review that was included in the Def Jam Vendetta video game along with Party Up & X Gon Give It To Ya, and I had no doubt that this was the most powerful cut of those three. This shit knocks.

RUFF RYDERS' ANTHEM

Ah yes. The song most people identify with X today. Also the song that made Swizz Beatz entire career. Sorry, Jadakiss, but as good as All For The Love was, it didn't leave the mark this did. Confession time: I'm not that attached to the Swizz Beatz sound as a whole. Don't get me wrong, he can produce when his Casio shit is reigned in. But in my humble opinion, a lot of his Casio beats are unlistenable. Back to this song though. Believe it or not, I heard the remix first on, where else, The Liberty Jam radio station off of GTA LCS in 2005. We're talking about the original here, though, as the world is introduced, for better or worse, to Swizz Beatz in his lone production for this album. The fact that Ruff Ryders cofounder Darrin Dean aka Dee & X trashed each & every single beat Swizzy slid their way to the point that X only rhymed on this after he lost a dare will always be hilarious to me. I will concede that it was a good thing that he did so: This is one of his biggest anthems for a reason (pun intended) as X lights the booth on fire with his infectious energy.

FUCKIN' WIT' D

The Ruff Ryders family really were a well oiled machine by the time this album was released, as they already had a dedicated team of talented in-house producers besides Swizz, such as Damon Blackman aka Dame Grease (who still gets regular work today) and Anthony Fields aka P. Killer Trackz who all but vanished from the scene besides popping up in RR documentaries. Shame, that as PK produced this gem with Grease getting a coproducer credit that samples the same gutter-yet-soulful funk loop PMD did for Hit Squad general K-Solo on Rockin' For My Hometown. Funny, that. You know why. Anyways, X comes unglued to the listener's glee and proceeds to demolish everything around him in a way that will grab hold of your attention and will not let go. Trust me. 

THE STORM (SKIT)

X & the rest of the Ruff Ryders were never good with skits. Skip this shit.

LOOK THRU MY EYES

I know the skit leads into the song. So what? Anyways, this provides a much needed wind down from the previous three high octane tracks, and it does so magnificently. X displays a versatility in meshing with whatever beat thrown his way that you normally wouldn't see if you stuck to listening to his singles. The fact that he does so without altering his pitch or lowering his volume adds to the feat. X also displays one of his most cherishable talents: Speaking about the inner workings of his mind. It's a spell-binding quality that will never leave his discography. The beat by PK & Grease displays their versatility behind the boards, as well. Awesome!

GET AT ME DOG (FEATURING SHEEK LOUCH)

The debut single. The one that started it all. This is the song that single-handedly shut down the Shiny Suit era. "Let my man and them stay pretty, but I'ma stay shitty" should be on t-shirts everywhere. This track, along with Fuckin Wit D and Ryder Or Die a year later, prove that even though X dissed the shit outta K-Solo for their unresolved dispute over who began spelling their rhymes first, he was still a diligent fan of EPMD's Hit Squad. A rather funny fact is that Grease sampled the same funk loop as the EPMD classic Get The Bozack a year after producer Amen-Ra from the repulsive Comby's jolly bag of Hitmen did the exact same thing for Pastor Mase's Will They Die 4 U?, making this even more of a middle finger to Comby's Shiny Suit brand. X barrels through with the most vital performance of his entire career, as he presents the most emphatic "fuck you" to everyone who shot him down up till that point. Props to the LOX's Sheek Louck repping for his mans on the hook. Fun personal fact: I first heard this song on the aforementioned GTA LCS video game in 2005, as well. Come to think of it, a lot of my posts on this blog owe their existence to that video game series. Timeless song.

LET ME FLY
It's abundantly clear that the Ruff Ryders team set out to make every song on It's Dark and Hell Is Hot single-worthy, which truly pays off when you have cuts like this one that are still recited verbatim 24 years later by X's fans around the world. X presents further proof that he has the ability to have the listener hang on his every utterance when talking about his demons over a moody mirthless Dame Grease instrumental.

X-IS COMING

Grease hands the reigns over to PK who whips up a straight up malevolent beat for X to let his demons loose as he rhymes about every evil thought that crossed his head during that session. Looking back, this only gives us insight into how much mental baggage the man carried, for him to be capable of thinking such disturbing thoughts. The second verse is straight up horrific. Enter this one if you dare.

DAMIEN

The first of three songs during X's career in which he has a conversation with the Devil. This saga is just sublime in how it details the ease in which one succumbs to the dark side's temptation and it all started here. Poetic, even. X excelled in delivering Damien's persuasive nature to you. Grease's backing instrumental was certainly apt, as well.  A masterpiece.

HOW'S IT GOIN' DOWN

Ah yes, the obligatory "laydeez" song. I don't care if I catch flak for this, but I never cared for this single. I don't give a fuck how vivid X's imagination was, I will ALWAYS have a problem with this type of subject matter. Skip this barf.

MICKEY (SKIT)

I'm good.

CRIME STORY

Irv sends Lil Rob careening back into the studio to cook up a slow funk loop as the backing to X's brooding, methodical take on blaxploitation. X once again displays his talent for detail as he weaves a tale of death and destruction. Again, you hear how X is potently adept at making you hang by his every word. Nice!

STOP BEING GREEDY

The 3rd single released prior to the album's debut. PK is back with a vengeance. He whips up one tornado of a beat chopped from the remains of a 70s classic and gives it to X, who unleashes one hell of a performance as he gives yet another mesmerizing take on split personality. Weirdly, this never got any sequels, though. No matter, this was a phenomenal choice for a single.

ATF
At barely under two minutes, Grease provides a minimalist backing for X to unleash a one-verse wonder that vividly describes a rather chaotic brush-in with the eponymous ATF. The twist being, his first & last bars are identical, making this either a tale about a dream sequence or a near-death experience. Brilliant!

FOR MY DOGS (FEATURING BIG STAN, LOOSE, KASINO & DRAG-ON)

This song contains the very first appearance of Bronx rapper Melvin Smalls aka Drag-On, who many people seem to confuse as a Cam'Ron clone, a comparison I just do not see, because aside from their voices being very similar, their approaches are too different. Oh, and Double R alumni Big Stan, Loose aka Loose Cannon & Kasino are here as well. There's a reason that Drag was the only one who sustained a presence with Ruff Ryders. Y'know, because he's the only one who, despite having the shortest verse, sounded like he kept up with X as the latter scorched the rest of his guests on this gloomy Grease beat. Oh, and Stan should never perform hook duties again. Overall, this did its job.

I CAN FEEL IT (FEATURING NARDO)

The fellow lonely soul who routinely and acutely reads my BBR vanity indulgences might remember that me & dark Phil Collins music just agree with each other. And what's the darkest song Phil ever made, you ask? Why it's the one people remember him most by, of course! In The Air Tonight has been a presence in my life for what seems like its entirety. Ma Dukes loves it. Pop Dukes, who ain't really a music guy, loves it. So, naturally, I cherish my memories with it. And we arrive at Dame Grease giving us a pretty decent reenactment of the timeless tune. Only him & X fucked up big time by allowing whatever the hell a Nardo is within ten miles of the studio. Seriously, he butchers his interpolation of Phil's amazing vocals, even saying "Hold on!" instead of "Oh, Lord!" Now that I'm done talking about Nardo's bitchass, I freaking revel in the rest of this song. X is in Lava Mode as his introspection simply arrests you and refuses to let go. X always went big with the third verse and this song is a perfect example thereof. X is so good that you even forgive the excrement that is Nardo's singing attempts.

PRAYER (SKIT)

Ah yes. The only type of skit X excelled at. These really are emotionally charged to perfection and it all started here. Of course, I'm a Muslim who does NOT believe that Jesus, peace be upon him, is God Almighty in human form, God incarnate, nor, God forbid, the begotten son of God. Nevertheless, his dedication to his faith is obviously commendable.

THE CONVO

This should've closed out the album. Yes, I'm saying that Done Started Something should've been placed elsewhere on the album. Not because The Convo is a better song, but because the emotional loop X takes you in here is nearly impossible to follow. Over an aptly knocking Dame Grease composition, X delivers the first of many "absolution poems", as the fuckfaces at Vibe Magazine called them. And this is definitely the most melodious of the bunch. You may want to keep some tissues near you as you listen to this one, my fellow lonely soul.

DONE STARTED SOMETHING (FEATURING THE LOX & MASE)

This is the first of many posse cuts organized by Ruff Ryders to further showcase how X is a master in closing out a posse cut. Call me crazy, but Sheek Louch was always the best starter in the LOX. Think about it: Last Day, Money Power Respect, Reservoir Dogs, Ryde Or Die & this. Predictably, Mase is the weakest on here and this is probably his finest work behind the mic. That should tell you something about the remaining MCs, who torch this haunting Grease beat to the ground. To the ground.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This entrance into the genre will be forever remembered. It's Dark And Hell Is Hot was such a powerful statement that it introduced an entire movement on the strength of one MC. And by God does this album take you through a journey: Pain, rage, confidence, triumph, failure, betrayal, paranoia, redemption. All over the titanic efforts of the Ruff Ryders in-house production team of Dame Grease, P Killer Trackz & Swizzy, along with a couple of assists from Lil Rob. Somehow someway, the Dean brothers' vision for this album was realized to nigh perfection, with only a single skip out of sixteen songs. And every guest aided in this riveting trip, even the ones you never hear from again. Unforgettable. Not nearly as unforgettable as the late great himself, though. RIP Earl "DMX" Simmons.

WORTH IT?

I believe that after reading the previous paragraph, one would be called a dumbass fool if they still didn't track this work of art down. I mean that expression in every sense of the word.

TRACKS TO TRACK DOWN:

RUFF RYDERS ANTHEM REMIX (FEATURING DRAG-ON, JADAKISS, STYLES P & EVE)

Like I said prior, I heard this remix on the fictional Liberty Jam station in GTA LCS way before I heard the OG mix. Makes sense, as DJ Clue was the in-game DJ for the fictitious station set in 1998, of all years. I was so attached to this remix that I thought the OG mix's hook was incomplete when I first heard it. Speaking of Clue, ths remix was the crown jewel of his fairly-dope platinum-selling debut album The Professional. Back to the song, though: This is the exact same beat, only with more ad-libs from Swizzy & a gang of MCs for X to burn, cuz you know he will by now. Drag-On provides what is arguably his most famous stanza, then makes way for Kiss to swoop in with all his quotables and stake his temporary claim over the track. Piñero follows suit with his own take on the quotables discussion. Barbershop mainstay Eve then throws her hat in the ring and proves that among all the testosterone, she definitely had a place in the RR family. DMX closes out exactly the way you expect him to by now, with the most memorable verse on the song. Shame on the rest of them for even trying. Seriously though, this is one posse cut you do not want to miss.

I'M GONNA CRAWL

Never forget your first, right? This certainly left an impression on 14-year-old me as P Killer Trackz chefs up an unforgettable instrumental with a Far East-twinge to suit the Jet Li vehicle it was supposed to feature on. X gives an introspection tale worthy of enduring in one's mind for 21 years. No more talk, go bump this for yourself now.

MAKE A MOVE (1995 ORIGINAL)

The first song that truly captured what X can do. This is one track that has all of X’s brilliant traits mentioned above. Over a timely whimsical DJ Irv composition (told you he was good), X waxes poetic about the harrowing life he’s been living so far. You can tell X has a soft spot for this, as he spits the opening bars to this song in that classic Belly opening. Je also repeats the magnificent hook heard here on Mic G’s Nothing Move But The Money Remix. If that wasn’t enough, he remade the whole song on his third opus, albeit with an infinitely lesser beat from PK and a few unwanted additions to the hook. Nevertheless, this hidden gem deserves to be celebrated so go bump that shit right now. And we’re done.

House of Pain - Truth Crushed To Earth Shall Rise Again (October 22, 1996)

Once again, the power of the Soul Assassins opens up the mind. Seek deep inside. Tell me what you fiiiind. Too late? Damn. Yeah, as you may have guessed, this run ain't stopping no time soon so buckle up.

So it's back to the year 1996 we go when I was but a watery-eyed preteen whose head was still fixated on Tekken 2 & that Space Jam movie. Oh and I was having an absolute ball with a little-known gem called Final Fight 3. #IYKYK. Anyways, during that time, the Irish-Latvian trio of Erik Schrody aka Whitey Ford aka Everlast or E, Daniel O'Connor aka The '55 Cadillac King aka Danny Boy or D & Leor Dimant aka The Mad Bum Russian aka DJ Lethal or Lee, collectively known as House of Pain, were facing a management dilemma where they wanted more creative control over where they were heading musically. Unfortunately, that apparently didn't sit very well with Soul Assassins head figure DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill. Muggsy took it so bad that he went ahead and dissed HOP on the third Cypress Hill opus Temples Of Boom, which caught his own group members by surprise, as even they didn't know how upset he was.  Funny part is, HOP has yet to respond to such one-sided aggression to this day. It's as if everyone but Muggs didn't even pay that shit no mind.

Regardless, where did that leave HOP and their progression? It freed up a lane and presented the perfect opportunity for DJ Lethal to fully come into his own as a producer. Even though every track on that was co-credited to E, I somehow don't believe that he applied any production techniques beyond bouncing ideas back & forth with Lee. Maybe that entitles one to receive a co-production credit, I don't know. Anyways, the more glaring change is to the lyrical input, as D's appearances are limited to just two times on the entire album, while E brings in a mentor from his past in Mark Richardson aka Mikal Safiyullah aka Divine Styler and underground reggae stalwart Cokni O'Dire, both comprising the member of Scheme Team, as backup for the lyrical undertakings on the joints him & Lee were prepping for the next album, with the three MCs forming a pseudo-collective called the Killa Rhyme Klik, along with a continuation of the links back to NY that HOP established on their previous album, Same As It Ever Was. So instead of a Diamond D, they bring in Sadat X of Brand Nubian & the late great Guru.

Story time: I found out that Guru RIP was a co-founder of the ageless Gang Starr long after GTA3 introduced me to his acting chops. And while the boom bap pedigree of the Chain & the Star speaks for itself, I was actually first exposed to Guru's lyrics through the Fed Up Remix, the very first record I heard from HOP's eventual third opus, Truth Crushed To Earth Shall Rise Again. (That right there is a long-ass name, kinfolk. I don't give a zombie armadillo's anus if it's a quote from William Cullen Bryant, that sentiment could've been relayed in a more concise way. Straight up.) And not just the album version, but the video version of the Fed Up Remix. Remember, this was still the early Youtube days so that was my only venue of discovering these joints for the first time. And man, when I heard Guru I lost my ever-loving mind. Dude had it all: Charisma, bars, imagery, wordplay. All within the span of his first verse. I'll talk more about this in the review. Back on topic.

The fact that the only songs that got the video treatment were the Fed Up versions speaks volumes to the fact that E, D & Lee weren't actually at a healthy place regarding their dynamic as HOP, as according to E, the trio broke up at the actual record release party for Truth Crushed To Earth Shall Rise Again (Told y'all. Unnecessarily long.) It's truly a shame because that flattened any further attempt to push the record, which of course led to this album selling jack squat. Even if it did get that push from Tommy Ain't My Motherfucking Boy, however, would that have made any difference? Was this album worthy of a push in the first place?

Truth Crushed Or Some Other Bullcrap, boy/girl (pick one):

THE HAVE NOTS

OK. From jump street, it's very very obvious that the House of Pain aesthetic has irreversibly moved on past their Irish partying hoodlums image. Because I'll be cursed if DJ Lethal didn't deliver one of the most hauntingly beautiful instrumentals that have ever, and boy do I mean ever, appeared in the House of Pain zeitgeist, doing so by whipping up an enchanting progressive rock loop. This is also where Everlast delivers what is probably my favorite verse from him. Just listen to that first offering, man. Dude relays one hell of a spiritual journey within the span of a measly 16. Danny Boy, in his first of only two showings on this album, airs out his own problems as best as he can, his tone never lacking a shred of believability despite his simple writing. Then, E had to bring a sex rap where brags about stealing your wife in this mix. I don't understand, E: Have you or have you not shed your party hound ways?! As atrocious as the subject matter for that closing E verse is, the rest of the song is too bloody immaculate for you not to burn it into your brain ASAP. True story: I had this song on repeat the night I got engaged to my wife, after we parted ways for the day. I don't know what came over me, but I kept replaying E's first verse over and over and over. I will never forget that experience and what this track did for me therein.

FED UP (FEATURING COKNI O'DIRE)

Everlast has gone on record stating that this is his favorite House of Pain song ever and I do not blame him one bit. The fact that I heard this version after its remix was a blessing in disguise as the shock factor of E's newfound seriousness hit me even harder than it would've had I simply transitioned from Same As It Ever Was to this. This, regardless of how I feel about the past song, is Everlast's finest performance on wax. Two verses of lava over another Lethal blend of folk rock and cartoon samples distorted to scar your dreams for a long time coming. And I mean that as the highest of compliments. Oh and Cokni's closing toasting? The cherry on top. This will blow you away. 

WHAT'S THAT SMELL (FEATURING DIVINE STYLER)

Lee winds the proceedings down for this followup with a somber loop threaded with very prominent, slow, deliberate, and fonky drums while E gets his brag on, ending his verse with a cliffhanger after yet another sexcapade. He certainly leaves a lasting impression. Groan. For his first appearance on a major label release since his own sophomore album four years prior, Divine Styler repeats the first 8 bars of his most well-known song Ain't Sayin Nothin which ironically housed the sax sample DJ Muggs would popularize on HOP's Jump Around! I'm outta breath! Anyways the rest of DS's contribution is flames. He sounds every bit the MC from his generation of supreme battle rhymers that came outta NY in the 80s, with a style nobody can mimic. I will add that DS sounds exactly like an Everlast that is calm, collected and not trying to blow out his vocal chords every time he growls in the booth. Overall, this was dope.

HEART FULL OF SORROW (FEATURING DIVINE STYLER & SADAT X)

Lethal is determined to prove himself to the purists as a production force. And believe me, with flips like this where he loops four seconds from a jazz fusion classic, he has very well succeeded. Read: This here is that powder. It's fitting that this beat is where you hear Sadat X, Everlast & Divine Styler take down fraudulent sellout rappers as Dat & E take turns dropping jewels, during which you experience the timeless pleasure of E verbally shitting on 45 the orange incompetence for a very brief moment, with DS closing up shop with one hell of a quotable. It's the line "Rap charges ain't funny but it boost your career" that's still painfully prevalent these days as exhibited in the whole Snitch9 ordeal. Bottom line, one of the greatest posse cuts I've ever heard in this game and the first of three contenders for best song on the album. Period.

EARTHQUAKE (FEATURING DIVINE STYLER)

OK, so you can read the track features, can't you? I have to ask: How in the halibut (Shoutouts to Shark Tale) was this ever to be sold as a "House of Pain" album again?! Aside from the false advertising, this song is further proof that E & DS have a natural chemistry together as they take turns catching wreck over an addictive DJ Lethal instrumental that effectively meshes funk & rock together for the backdrop. I'd even say that this chemistry eclipses that of Everlast & Danny Boy which, in this context, might be considered blasphemy. Still enforces the fact that promoting this album as a HOP album was a mistake, in my humble opinion.

SHUT THE DOOR (FEATURING SCHEME TEAM)

This run Lee is having... Whew! He masterminds one smacking contender for the most blunted funk a beat has ever displayed, complete with drums that knock exactly the way they're supposed to. Because fuck shoe-in, the Killa Rhyme Klik take one giant dump on what they could've done with such a heater by using it for guess the balls what? Sex raps on a rap album again. I'm done here. Next song

PASS THE JINN (FEATURING SCHEME TEAM)

First off, all is forgiven. Because Lee senses an impending storm coming as he whips up a sinister blood pumping backdrop and escapes the booth as if he's running from an exploding tower. Rightfully so, as the Killa Rhyme Klik are looking for death and destruction on this posse cut and they make you feel. Every. Second. All three sound straight up demented as they're unleashed onto you, with Everlast being among the very few MC's to rhyme about the Lord Of The Rings before to Peter Jackson's blockbuster trilogy hitting the box office. Oh, and Divine Styler blacks out on the closing verse, making you forget every offering that came before his. The second contender for best song on the album.

NO DOUBT

Yeah, so this is the longest any Killa Rhyme Klik "House of Pain" album has ever gone without a solo Everlast track. That ends now as he commences another convincing sellout takedown over a smooth and relentless funk loop. My only grievance with the song is that hook. Blasphemy alert: I'm not a fan of Everlast the singer. It's what it is. This is still a dope wind down from Pass The Jinn

CHOOSE YOUR POISON

Hey, look! Danny Boy is back to remind us that this is still a Killa Rhyme Klik "House of Pain" album! To date, this remains the final time Everlast & Danny Boy perform a rap duet on wax. As if it's meant to be such, Lee concocts a dark but mirthful beat for E & D to have their last ride of shittalking. Keeping things per tradition, E bookends the song as D provides the not-so-skilled-but-still-fun cream filling. The end of an era.

X-FILES

Lethal decides that for his second solo offering, Everlast needs an acoustic-based backing. Tailor-made for braggadocio, the beat steers clear from E's path as he unloads a two-verse flurry of punchlines that are among the best he's ever written. These tracks show how E is actually underrated as a puncher because every line he throws connects as something you don't normally hear from other punchers. This was dope!

FED UP (REMIX) (FEATURING GURU & COKNI O'DIRE)

If there ever was a song on the album that successfully recalls House of Pain's previous reputation as party animals, this is it. This also marks the occasion of the late great Guru best showcasing his own rowdy ways on wax. If you're a longtime fan of Gang Starr and have never heard this song, the album version houses verses by Guru that are vastly different from the video version. The reason why this distinction is important is that the first verse of the album cut contains a significant portion of the rhymes Guru eventually uses on two of Gang Starr's timeless masterpieces: You Know My Steez & So Wassup. Now myself? I'm too attached to Gang Starr so I infinitely prefer the video version. That, and I heard said video version first. On that, E & Goo bounce off each other effortlessly over the same beat as the album version which finds Lee sampling the same source as Just To Get A Rep, yet another timeless Gang Starr masterpiece, and flipping it in a more exuberant fashion. Oh, and Cokni also closes out the proceedings just like he did the OG version earlier on the album. Side note: The video itself showcases House of Pain, Scheme Team & Guru having an absolute ball, so there's that.

KILLA RHYME KLIK (FEATURING SCHEME TEAM)

While Lee may have made better beats on this album, this song houses his most technically impressive instrumental to date. Forget the fact that he later joined Limp Bizkit and wasted his talents with them for decades, songs like this prove that he's a perfectly capable producer as he meshes samples of jazz instruments & vocals together to form this locomotive of a beat. And what's the result of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object? A certified banger, as each MC in this Killa Rhyme Klik throws a damn javelin and hits the bullseye. Our third contender for the best song on the album. This was the perfect proper song to put last before...

WHILE I'M HERE

The traditional shoutout track, where Everlast reverts into shoutout mode over a mellow DJ Lethal production that loops a Milk Dee sample and utilizes it as though E & Milk Dee are going back & forth throughout the track. Clever. I will say that E seems less enthused about giving shouts this time round, though. And we're done

FINAL THOUGHTS

I'm willing to bet that E, D & Lee regret the shit out of breaking up when they did. Because holy God, was this Killa Rhyme Klik "House of Pain" album a refreshing evolution. For E & Lee, at least, since D was more the creative force rather than a fellow artist. Lee finally develops a sound all his own on the boards that actually feels like a natural evolution from his roots under Muggs while E's lyrical skills reach their zenith here. I kid you not, he makes every effort he gives count. Apart from the shoutout track as that actually didn't require any effort. When I finished listening to this, I distinctly remember feeling that maybe Everlast should focus more on this new Killa Rhyme Klik thing he got, because his chemistry with Divine Styler & Cokni O'dire was volcanic almost every single time they shared a booth with songs like Heart Full Of Sorrow, Killa Rhyme Klik & oh my God Pass The Jinn, which for my money is the best song on the album. I know I said Heart Full Of Sorrow is one of the greatest posse cuts in history but Pass The Jinn tops it. It's that good. So yeah, truthfully? This album absolutely should've been credited to the Killa Rhyme Klik. Instead, it's on commercial record as the final album by House of Pain. However, don't let that distract you from the fact that Truth Crushed WHATEVER is absolutely essential if you're looking for an original boom bap experience.

WORTH IT?

Throw traditional "you're trash if you enjoy mumble crap" insult here and we're good. Yeah, if you're into the true school, do whatever you can to listen to this.

For more on the Jump Around dudes who beefed with Eminem, here. To continue down the Soul Assassins rabbit hole, here.

Cypress Hill - Temples Of Boom (October 27, 1995)

I'm not a fast review writer. You've probably gathered that by now, though.

Heading right back further into the Soul Assassins rabbit hole, I finally reached the period where cofounder/head producer Lorenzo Cavassi aka Larry Muggerud aka Grandmaster Muggs aka the ever-so-consistent DJ Muggs from Cypress Hill started kicking his production skills into high gear.

I gotta come clean on one thing: As revolutionary and dope as the first two Cypress Hill albums are, and as much as I preferred not to listen to the rest of their catalog due to said albums respective status, that outlook on Cypress Hill's overall quality immediately changed once I remembered how I got exposed to them.

The whole retrospective journey started when, you guessed it, I went for my first secondment in the cesspool known as Jeddah. (RIP to my uncle, the patriarch of my family, to whom Jeddah was home for over 6 decades. Love you and yours, Unc, but Jeddah's a shithole.) Living in a claustrophobic shitbox and having zero contact with anyone apart from work, that was by far the loneliest time I've ever spent. Suffering from nasty mental health issues, things went downhill fast and I entered into an ugly depression that lost me my appetite after a few days which eventually landed me in the hospital from malnutrition. That pales in comparison to the nightmares. What my head was putting me through almost put my life in danger. And that's where God sent his third gift to me.

In the midst of playing Batman Arkham Asylum, (one of the greatest video game experiences of all time, straight up) I would take breaks by browsing the internet every now & then. I would revisit my steadily-growing hip hop iPod list and see if it needed expanding. One day, I decided, after watching a gameplay video of Twisted Metal 4, to research the era where Cypress Hill lead MC Luis Freese aka the Phuncky Feel One aka Dr. Greenthumb aka the mighty B-Real delivered his guest feature for the Monstars Anthem, the very first hip hop song I was ever properly exposed to. I've already gone to lengths in previous reviews on how he & the mighty Method Man are the two MCs most responsible for my love for this artform, so it when I revisited the material B made from that era. I didn't take my usual approach of testing the waters with the singles, though, as I was too desperate for an immersion. I flung myself straight into this album. Was I ever in for a ride.

Temples Of Boom began formulating around a time when DJ Muggs started getting fed up with the blunted funk sound he pioneered as he felt that he exhausted every direction that sound was capable of, evolving in a way mirroring that of his many peers with his work on Brothas Doobie by Funkdoobiest. The new direction was exciting and put many of his peers on notice: The fusion of East Coast & West Coast tendencies just took a trippy new twist.

Unfortunately, this exciting development also came at a time when group leader and hypeman Senen Reyes aka the Perro aka Sen Dog was experiencing some serious burnout. This clearly concerned his fellow group members for his sake to the point of frustration, especially B-Real, whose gripes with the situation was clearly reflected with a sinister new twist that B adapted into his usual nasal cadence that somehow lost all the mirth present in their previous records. Another dominant sentiment back then was the fact that the Cypress Hill name started to get associated with the mainstream a little too much for the group's liking. I mean, they were getting called on by venues such as Woodstock, Lollapalooza & SNL (from which they were banned for life. Good. Fuck Lorne Michaels.), so people would almost be justified to assume that the Hill were selling out.

Almost. Sen & co pushed back hard with the direction they took here, with his inner turmoil influencing every dark turn B went with his typically-nihilistic subject matter. Hell, even the weed songs were influenced thereby. Muggs making it a mission to ensure that his name doesn't get lost in the shuffle of timeless producers booming at the time was simply the icing this album needed to come into fruition.

Speaking of weed songs, Roll It Up, Light It Up, Smoke It Up, made in the Temples sessions but ultimately released on the Friday OST, has since combined with the lead single for our album for this post, Throw Your Set In The Air, to become the catalyst to a shortlived-but-nasty feud between Cypress Hill & close friend, the legendary Ice Cube. Elaboration will come in the review.

Astonishingly, Temples Of Boom remains the fastest Cypress Hill album to reach the milestone of one million units sold in the States. Here, I ask the routine question that I do with each review: Was it any good, though? (Wink wink)

Temples Of Boom, boy/girl (pick one):

SPARK ANOTHER OWL

Sen gives a short intro and outro that sets the mood. Mirroring Black Sunday, a dedication to weed opens the album. However, this DJ Muggs beast renders the darkness on both preceding Cypress albums combined a trip to Disneyland with its macabre mesh of jazz & funk bytes. B steps in the booth and lets off a quick shot one-verse weed tribute in which he points out that the Hill set the trend for hip hop music embracing weed culture. Since I've already mentioned here that I have no qualms with these tributes even though I refuse to touch the stuff, I definitely vibed with this song. You will enjoy it, too. Especially if you're stoned out of your mind, apparently.

THROW YOUR SET IN THE AIR

First off, let me actually review this joint before I get to the juicy gossip y'all keep getting so fascinated with: Cypress Hill are apparently big on odes. Whether it be to cannabis as with the previous track, or to gang life. Or rather, B spins a tale about the harrowing life of gangbanging painting himself as a set leader and you as his soldier, all to the sinister tones of Muggs' evil mesh of funk & soul. Now on to the "good stuff"... B was invited to a session where Cube was in the midst of the Friday OST process. He suggested that the Hill contribute a song to the soundtrack, so B pulled a demo tape with Roll It Up, Light It Up, Smoke It Up & this song on it. It was fated that B would make the mistake of playing Throw Your Set first, because Cube fell blindly in love with the track. So much so that he wanted it for his soundtrack. B explained that this was the lead single to rollout the upcoming album and suggested the ode to weed instead. Cube seemingly accepted that until the OST came out with its title track having a hook that was too similar to the one on this song for B's liking. That's where the problem sparked into a fire that almost went out of control and overshadowed the single's actual quality, which was pretty damn good since the Hill were pretty adjacent to that life and knew exactly what it entails. Shame.

STONED RAIDERS

Can we get back to the actual music on the album? Yes? Good. Because this track here houses a contender for the most haunting instrumental on the entire album, courtesy of Muggs beautifully freaking a mesh of jazz excerpts to sound like an audio horror sequence, complete with demonic female choirs and all. For his part, B places himself in the shoes of some locally known criminal whose out on the hunt for a rival. In his own way, B has always had a talent for giving voice to thoughts that go through one's head, as these rhymes legitimately sound as if someone out there's thinking them right now. Props to Sen Dog's terrifying adlibs in the background.

ILLUSIONS

The journey into darkness continues as we arrive at what many consider to be the highlight of the album. And you know what? I somewhat agree except I don't think it's the only highlight. Whoops. Spoiled the verdict, huh? Watch me not give a rodent’s anus. I'm guessing Muggs & B wanted to deliver their own ode to Scarface's Mind Playing Tricks On Me. #GiveScarfaceHisFlowersNow. And guess what? Muggs & B knock it out of the fucking county, scratch a park. B displays a unique & extremely competent knack for relaying paranoia through his writing as he transforms into a deranged gang member who's taken to a mental institution then let out. The rest becomes the canvas for B to paint, and boy does he over Muggs' demented beat which remains one of the nastiest flips of Gary Burton I can recall, straight up and down. The Carnatic prelude only adds to the trip you go through listening thereto. This will remain in your playlist for decades.

KILLA HILL N****S (FEATURING RZA & GOLDEN ARMS)

In a surprising ceding of control, Muggs pulls a fast one and calls on the help of one of the most prominent peers he's trying to gain advantage on in the form of the motherfucking RZA of the fabled Wu-Tang Clan. To show his appreciation, RZA not only jumps on the track but produces the song and brings another Wu General along, as Golden Arms gets his first significant feature. B, RZA & Uey take turns demolishing a grimy, wormy RZA instrumental that would've fit snugly on Tical by Method Man. Hold up, why the motherfuck isn't Method Man on this? In any case, RZA gets outclassed by Uey's negative capability and a single utterance by B: "Number one mission: Opposition gets thrown, sent home in deposition" which just sounds cool. Of course, Sen's ever-so-present as he screams in the background in Spanish how he'll bring the end of corruption in modern society or some other adjacent bullshit. Whatever, all I care about is that he sounds pumped as fuck doing so and that adds to the track's overall excitement. The album's hot streak continues, but I'm still pissed that Mef ain't here.

BOOM BIDDY BYE BYE

Sen Dog finally comes out to play! And it's only the sixth track on the album! His inner demons pretty apparent judging by how long it took him to do so. Anyway, truth be told: B-Real's venom is just spewing out as he shells out 3 verses, with Sen performing the 2nd, that might seem simple on paper, but once you hear them against the straight-up whimsical xylophone loop Muggs chefs up, you start to grasp the horrifying contrast. This must be Muggs' answer to RZA's challenging beat earlier. No joke, this song is what would play in my head if I ever regrettably beat down someone I had major beef with. I'd imagine them actually giving up tryna fight back, fully grasping of the fuckshit they pulled and accepting what was coming to them without resistance as I delivered. None of that shit I just wrote is remotely close to actually happening, of course. However, these are the emotions that this track will pull out of you. the third home-run in a row, one that might very well be my favorite. The Fugees remix featuring Wyclef Jean & vocals from a pre-mainstream Lauryn Hill gives a good attempt of Clef attempting to get his thug on, but his duet with B, while fairly competent, fails to reproduce the magic that B & Sen cultivated with Muggs on the original.

NO REST FOR THE WICKED

So, that issue B & them had with Cube? Resulted in this. Muggs, whose consistency really needs to be talked about by this point, provides a sinister jazz piano loop as the backdrop for B to dig into Cube proper. And dig into him, he did. B airs out a whole bunch of secrets and factoids as fuel and they find their mark properly. I'm not a fan of diss tracks as a whole, but I feel B's abilities as a battler on wax are heavily slept on, and this track proves it. Hell, I even got this as superior to Cube's eventual response, because Cube & co were simply name-calling while B was hitting Cube with painful accusations of theft, dishonesty & everything in between. The feud eventually died down in 97 because it reached a very dangerous level, with Cube actually getting assaulted by Kam's homie Franklin Solo. Moving on.

MAKE A MOVE

I believe this is the first hip hop song to sample that scene from Pulp Fiction. Could be wrong, though. Anyway, Muggs sets shit off with a mean as fuck funk bass loop that's the most reminiscent of his earlier sound and minimalist enough to get the hell outta the way as B lets loose a flurry of verses tackling all wannabe rivals with his by-now patented descriptions of violent thoughts. Hearing Sen adlibbing most of B's rhymes with him also feels like Sen trying to remind himself of how much fun he was having in the Hill’s earlier albums. Maybe things weren't as bad as they seemed to be? Anyway, this album has yet to come with a skippable track.

KILLAFORNIA

B and Muggs combine to give you another claustrophobic description of what a gangbanger has to deal with on a daily basis, with B constantly asking himself "Who can you trust?" over another sinister piano loop from Muggs. Sen fleshes out the proceedings by contrasting B's paranoid thoughts with the surface-level pluses of gang life as he chats with one of their associates about what they're going through in the bridges mid-verses. This is another album cut that houses more hidden goodies if one looks closer.

FUNK FREAKERS

Another Carnatic interlude, followed by Muggs really showing off by introducing a demonic flip of a sax excerpt that can only be described as such. Believe me, the Hill were not in a healthy place while making this album as they took their aggression out in their music. B makes that abundantly clear as he promises death and destruction to all challengers. However, Sen swoops in and, with as little effort as he can muster, steals the show with his delivery of B’s bars. I promise you, you will feel the line: "Fucking up egos and anybody who oppose" because you hear his conviction in his voice. No need to raise hell or shout as B was doing, not that there was anything wrong with B's vocals as he returns for a last go at the track as it fades away. However, as far as Sen was concerned, a simple utterance was enough. Add this gem to the album's highlights.

LOCOTES

Did Sen’s inner conflict really affect the Hill’s dynamics that much? Because you would never be able to tell judging by how he & B do on this song, as B tells the story of a gangbanger fresh out of jail who resorts to robbing people on the street out of desperation. He kills a police officer and gets on a bus where he spots an old drunk who refused him a job in the past, thereby turning him to a life of crime. What dude wasn't counting on was the fact that the old geezer was packing and sober enough to see him coming. The old drunkard actually turns the tables on him in a shock twist that doesn't end well for our protagonist! Muggs gives another contender for the most terrifying beat on the album with a blood-pumping & menacing thumper for B as his bars provide him & Sen the path to weave their tale with disturbing detail. The icing on the cake is B writing Spanglish for Sen that resulted in iconic deliveries in the past. People forget that he, not his younger brother Mellow Man Ace, was the first to utilize said concept. Another song you'll have in your playlist for decades.

RED LIGHT VISIONS

The third Carnatic interlude of the evening. Muggs was really bent on tempting his listeners to smoke something while listening to this shit. Well, I refuse! Sorry, where was I? Oh yeah, another minimalist piano loop paired with a swift pair of battle verses from B that contain a quick middle finger to racist cops with Sen adlibbing with his psychobeta Chuck D-esque voice. Nice!

STRICTLY HIP HOP

Hold up, when did this problem with House Of Pain arise? Oh and Muggs seems awfully comfortable throwing the N-word around. I know he's Italian but... Anyway, since the House Of Pain problem gets resolved in the very near future, the bigger problem seems to be with an editor by the name of James Bernard because Muggs goes fully in on him in between B's scathing takedowns of industry sellouts, in which he sneaks a line about Cube. The one problem I have with this track is that Muggs talks too damn much to the point that he distracted me from the experience. And when you compare that nag with his relentless beat, which actually meshes well with B's rhymes, it becomes nigh intolerable. I'm here to listen to B rhyming over your shit, Muggsy, not to hear you whine and moan about who you got problems with. B's criticisms are pretty valid, though, so I wouldn't call the track worthless. Oh, and James Bernard did say some truly foul shit about Sen’s Cuban origins, so he had it coming. Shoutouts to the PMD sample, as well.

LET IT RAIN

This is just a higher-energy version of the previous track, with B switching his aim to OG Latino rapper Kid Frost whom the Hill also eventually squash it with. They had been going at each other by this point ever since the previous Cypress album. Oh, and yay, no Muggs chitchat. I will say that Muggs' bass-heavy loop this time round is another dope reminder of his blunted funk innovations. Moving on.

EVERYBODY MUST GET STONED

The original closer of the album, it makes sense that Cypress Hill bookend an album of theirs with tributes to weed. And as far as those go, this one's pretty par the course with the exception of a slight last dig towards Ice Cube. Muggs always knew how to provide the right backing for these joints and this is no exception

SMUGGLER'S BLUES

A bonus track from the Japanese version, Muggs sets up a sinister, slow and plodding backdrop for B to give two verses spinning a tale of a weed smuggler who ends up getting caught. At some point, people are going to have to start talking about B's attention to detail, because his stories have been on fire so far and this belongs right up there with them.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I remember my misgivings regarding what Temples of Boom was going to end up sounding like because I was such a huge fan of its two predecessors. Oh, how wrong I was. Nothing that Cypress Hill has ever done in the past compares to the upgrades they've displayed here, as Muggs has uphauled the ever-living shit out of his production, while B has stepped his lyrical game something undeniable and Sen has mastered the menace in his delivery of B’s bars here. It always surprises me how much the Hill mastered the art of combining elevation and consistency. And never let it be said that they're one-trick ponies because they display a breadth of different subject matters here from a gangbanger's perspective ranging from dealing with new recruits, set-ups, paranoia, old grudges. All these topics rely on Muggs' grasp on sound and B's abilities as a writer and both rise to the occasion ever so majestically, churning out classics such as Stoned Raiders, Illusions, Killafornia, Locotes, etc. And the number of times Sen vocally inserts himself into the fray is noticeably less than any other Cypress Hill project so far, so I really understand the fact that his inner crisis may have caused real turbulence within the group, back then. Still, if he ain't rhyming B’s rhymes, he's either adlibbing them on damn near every song or providing further context to a song via a few utterances here and there, so his presence was always felt one way or another. Putting it bluntly: This will be an album you revisit for a long, long time.

WORTH IT? As if I'll suddenly tell you 'No, go buy Funeral by Lil Wayne.' If Temples of Boom ain't the type of album you'd like to listen to, what the motherfuck are you doing here?

TRACKS TO TRACK DOWN:

THE LAST ASSASSIN

From the OST of one of my favorite movies, The Cable Guy. Leave it to Muggs to remind you that, damn it, he still knows the hell outta his way around some funky drums as he meshes them with some jazzy excerpts to form a macabre instrumental fit for a trademark B-Real tale of coming up as a hood assassin in a local gang. Y'all definitely should search for this if you dug his stories in the proper album.

ROLL IT UP, LIGHT IT UP, SMOKE IT UP

Ah yes, the track Cube ultimately took instead of the one he actually wanted. I don't know why Cube didn't want this ode to weed because it sure beats the one they ended the US album with. Muggs gives a shivering mix of jazzy bytes over some hard blunted funk drums as B gives another ode to the herb, with Sen using B’s bars while bobbing and weaving in between the second verse alongside his partner. Dope!

WHATTA YOU KNOW

Again Muggs flexes his mastery over sound as he manipulates a soulful loop into a soulless result and lets it loose for B & Sen to tell a tale of a gangbanger robbed by his own homeboy, with B playing the role of the robbed and Sen playing the opposite character. If there were any differences between B & Sen, then this track must've been written by B as therapy for them both as their respective characters eventually clashed. This will surely worm its way into your collection.

THROW YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR (FEATURING ERICK SERMON, REDMAN & MC EIHT)

And there's Barron Ricks! Finally I get to talk about this motherfucker, as he remains one of my favorite MCs to spit over a DJ Muggs beat. He's only introducing the proceedings here, though. Speaking of DJ Muggs, he further flexes on his peers by reworking not one, but two of his beats (Spark Another Owl & Throw Your Set In The Air) into an all-new third masterpiece. Bruh! Story time: This was actually my very first introduction to Erick Sermon as an MC after being introduced to him for the first time outright on Def Jam Fight For NY. You just have to give it up to the MCs of that generation who just knew how to convey conviction in their cadence, and Erick is no slouch in that department. B then steps into the cipher and does his group proud, before DJ Kut Killa aka The Funkadelic Devil aka Funk Doctor Spock aka Reggie motherfucking Noble aka the mighty Redman swoops in and pulls the rug from under everybody. This is what I wanted to hear Method Man doing on that earlier Killa Hill N****s song on the album. CMW's MC Eiht closes out the proceedings with the first of many tracks that, in my humble opinion, prove without a shadow of a doubt that the man simply finds his footing better on production that leans more towards East Coast tendencies. You can argue the opposite till you're all blue in the face and you'll still be wrong. Bottom line, one of the most underrated posse cuts ever. And we're done.

For another dose of that Soul Assassins funk, here. And for further posts about the group that won against Ice Cube, here.

Funkdoobiest - Brothas Doobie (July 4, 1995)

Welcome back to the resurgence of 2020. (I promise I won't mention the pandemic anywhere in this review. Stay safe, boy/girl (pick one))

So I'm midway through my Soul Assassins run, and I'm finally at the point where, true to Soul Assassins fashion, their sound gets updated to match the burgeoning East Coast Renaissance that was giving the G-Funk era (Shoutouts to Warren G) a good run for its money over the control of the hip hop landscape. As mentioned in my review of Between A Rock And A Hard Place by the criminally underrated Artifacts, the Soul Assassin producer who initiated such foray was South Carolina native Todd Ray aka the criminally underrated T-Ray. Little did he know that his venture would be followed by a run that would be talked about for years to come.

By this time, I’m almost certain that one Lorenzo Cavassi aka Larry Muggerud aka the ageless Soul Assassins founder DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill was paying very close attention to his fellow (Former? Current?) crewmember T-Ray, along with the rest of the producers usually mentioned in such contexts like the RZAs, the Large Pros & the Pete Rocks as they respectively crafted the works that forced the entire hip hop culture to hail them as the preservers of the artform they absolutely are. This came at a time when Muggs' influence in the West already began to bear fruit, such as the rich sounds of the Hieroglyphics & Likwit collectives and the wild experimentation of the Pharcyde. Nevertheless, it was time for the Grandmaster (he seriously calls himself that. I still don't know if he was actually branded as such by the fathers of this or it was an ego trip. Oh well.) to show what production techniques he's refined during this vivid time.

And he chose to do it with the goofiest crew in their team.

Don't get it twisted, I still adore Which Doobie U B? by Latino trio Funkdoobiest, made up of Ralph Medrano bka DJ Ralph M & MCs Jason Vasquez aka the Tribal Funkster bka Son Doobie & Tyrone Pacheco bka Tomahawk Funk. They continued expanding on the party vibe Muggs resolutely established with Cypress & fellow Soul Assassins founders House of Pain but this time Muggs called on their ambitious sides. Nowhere can this be more seen than on their first single for the new album, Rock On. The content here was as far removed from the party vibe they're known for as possible and whomever was lucky enough to come across it was really in for a treat. I'm telling y'all, it remains a complete mindfuck. Released in 1994, the single signified Muggs' departure from the blunted sound that made him famous, to which he has never returned. Brooklyn's own Brett Bouldin, from Muggs early 7A3 days, should really be hailed for mentoring SD, along with his Soul Assassins crewmate B-Real, in the ways of songwriting, as the following single, Dedicated, remains one of the more heartfelt tributes in hip hop, often forgotten because it wasn't "lyrical" enough. Le sigh.

Not to say that the Doobies didn't know to have fun anymore, as they still remembered the "Funkiest" formulas that got them into the dance in the first place. (Cheeky, right? Oh, shut up!) That would be reflected with songs like You're Dummin, Who Ra Ra, Tomahawk Bang and... Oh fuck it, who am I kidding? This album also unfortunately marked the spark that led to Son Doobie being known for what he's known for now. Yep, that Eminem line. Songs like XXX Funk, Pussy Ain't Shit, Ka Sera Sera & Superhoes showcased how this guy embraced his Porno King persona that he debuted on the eponymous skit on their debut and repped what Kool Keith infamously dubs as pornocore rap to the fullest. And folks, it is exactly as advertised.

Brothas Doobie released on Independence Day of 1995 to crickets, as is unfortunately typical of every underground act. Still, those who did come across this album were caught mouth agape. First by the raunchy shit that SD was able to get away with. Second, with the fact that he & partner TF can get hella deep when they want to.

Don't believe me? Brothas Doobie, boy/girl (pick one):

THIS IS IT (INTERLUDE)
Muggs sets it off with an instrumental comprising a smorgasbord of musical styles meshed in a melodious way that's completely novel. And from the get-go, you can hear how serious he is about one-upping his competition and evolving his sound. Pity no one rhymed over this shit but still, some good music.

ROCK ON
And straight away, you run into the first of two songs that can be argued as the crown jewel of this album. SD & TF get their metaphysical on proper on the whimsical Muggs concoction and this is ageless rap from the unlikeliest of sources. Brett Bouldin, MCing genius that he is, laid out the concept so well thought out that SD & TF were forced to elevate their respective verses to match his vision. You will not give a shit that TF suddenly started highlighting the importance of knowledge of self. you'll be too busy breaking the rewind button in playing this. Props to Buckwild from DITC's remix featured in the video. Still doesn't touch the Muggs version, IMHO, as the latter is much more layered. One of the most slept on songs in hip hop history. I'm gonna be saying this a lot on this site.

WHAT THE DEAL
Muggs returns with a soulful loop that Brettie B from 7A3 lays out a daily-life concept to. That's all the Tribal Funxta needed as he paints the rest of the picture with a vividness that really needs to net son more props as he gives you his own It Was A Good Day. Only he's describing a good night on the neighborhood with his fellow doobies. I'm somehow surprised that the end result wasn't a flat out raunchfest. Wasn't that the expectation you saddled yourself with when you listened to Funkdoobiest? No? Suuuuure. Anyway, this bangs.

LOST IN THOUGHT
The third Muggs showing as he flexes his digging qualities by crafting an instrumental that brilliantly blends Latin funk and 70s disco and somehow giving a dark spin on it that still makes the head nod uncontrollably. For his part, Jason chooses this beat to unload his tripped-out thoughts on wax, describing the mentality of someone who spent his life entrenched in many darknesses from hood life. And I must say: Third hit in a row! Son effectively and alarmingly relays the confusion, the lack of mental presence, the faulty decision making and the straight-up lack of cohesion in the thoughts he commits on this track. Nice!

DEDICATED
Ah yes. We finally come to the song I banged the most from the entire Funkdoobiest discography. Muggs lay the foundation with the most haunting soul & jazz mesh that Brett deemed worthy for a dedication to the impoverished. And folk, this is one chillingly emotional song. Son goes for dolo and doesn't even bother putting thought into his rhyme structure, because you won't be looking for such. You'll be too busy feeling the sting & conviction in your fucking chest as he monotonously delivers the grey and grim outlook on life many residents in the inner city suffer from through a hypnotically layered performance. Listen, bottom line? Fuck a review. Go listen to this song, now.

KA SERA SERA
Back, huh? Well, you'll wish you were somewhere else now, as this is the point in the album where Son Doobie chooses to embrace his pornocore tendencies to the fullest in a trilogy of sex raps. First off is a tale I'm sure nobody in hip hop has ever done before: A tale about the neighborhood floozy. Brettie? Get ya mans. To top it off, this trife is wasted on a fonky blend by DJ Ralph M in his first production for Brothas Doobie. Translation: skip this barf.

PUSSY AIN'T SHIT
Second go at this pornocore bullshit and I'm already almost regretting ever giving a fuck about Funkdoobiest as a whole. Hell, even the title ain't original at all. I'm sure a litany of people already badgered Muggs, Brett & Jason about this but let me pile on: Rap pioneer Fresh Kid Ice already had a song with the exact same title in 1992, y'all. And even then, shit was trash. Y'all should've got the memo. And I ain't even mentioning the beat this time cuz fuck this song, that's why. Skip this barf.

XXX FUNK
I don't give a fuck that this is the third single. I don't give a flying fuck that Ralph & Muggs teamed up and brought the absolute business on the boards with that grimy update of the Jeep-rattling funk pioneered by EPMD. I couldn't give less of a rat's ass that this is one of the Doobies' most well-known songs: SEX RAPS GET NO LOVE HERE.  SKIP THIS BARF!!!

IT AIN'T GOING DOWN
Muggs must've had his fill of sex raps for the following year or two as he finally relinquishes production duties to protege and fellow Soul Assassins producer DJ Lethal from House Of Pain, in his lone production for the album. Son Doobie chooses to continue where he left off on Lost In Thought and, dare I say, I think Lethal's beat, claustrophobic in the best way possible, topped Muggs when it comes to producing a song about your mind losing all function and rationale, as Jason delivers yet another standout performance. We're sorta back on track with the good stuff.

YOU'RE DUMMIN'
You've come to the song most in common with Funkdoobiest's output on Which Doobie U B? as Ralph retakes the helm aboard the boards and delivers a beat that can only be considered an ode to the blunted funk Muggs pioneered on the Cypress Hill debut. This is intended as a compliment. For his part, Son is instantly comfortable on familiar ground as he launches into the braggadocious style that put him on the map in the first place. Nicely done!

TOMAHAWK BANG (FEATURING BASHTON)
The prerequisite TF solo joint, except TF chose to share the spotlight with one Sebastian Rosset aka Bashton the Invisible Man aka Invizabul Mang aka True Bash aka MF Bash aka S. Rossiter. Lotta nicknames for someone I've only heard of once, no disrespect. Anyways, TF & MF here deliver, to my knowledge, one of the very few odes to the peoples indigenous to Turtle Island (Google that) in the form of a tale of revenge against colonialists. Read: They tear up a bunch of them motherfuckers. Anyway, TF & MF bring the biz over another infectious Ralph M beat looping a classic William Tell excerpt from a TV show. Props to the hollering amidst the hook.

SUPERHOES
Because fuck shoe-in, that's why. Here, Jason chooses to weave an explicit tale of various childhood staples. All you need to know is that he describes an instance where He-Man fucks Smurfette. Fuck pornocore.

WHO RA RA (FEATURING BRETT BOULDIN)
The final track on Brothas Doobie provides the listener with the chance to finally hear DJ Muggs produce a track for his original 7A3 crewmate Brettie B, albeit sharing production duties with his protege DJ Ralph M again. For his part, Son is giddy about the opportunity to rhyme with his mentor so he lets Brett set the song off. And it's here that I confess that I'm still pretty damn pissed at myself for not being mature enough to check out 7A3's lone 1988 album Coolin' In Cali until long after I became a Soul Assassins stan. Because folk: Brett Bouldin is nice! And even though SD puts up a pretty good fight with his following braggadocio offering, Brett definitely cleaned house with a masterful verse. And we're done.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Yeah, sure: Brothas Doobie is the album where Son Doobie embraces this bullshit alter-ego of his. On at least four songs, no less. But the rest? Yeah, this is the album where Funkdoobiest transcended from their tried and true party rap ways into something... more. No bullshit, Son Doobie & at times Tomahawk Funk lay down some pretty thought-provoking shit on wax here. I was especially drawn to what TF & Bash tackled with their ode to the Natives. For his part, Son also proved that he was pretty damn adept at carrying multiple tracks on his own. I just wish nobody ever introduced him to porn, because now that's what everyone remembers him by. None of the brilliant songs, you damn sure read correctly, here would be possible had it not been for DJ Muggs' competitive streak. This was the album where he chose to take the plunge into experimentation as every producer worth his mettle back then had done. This need to distinguish his sounds brought you songs like Rock On & Dedicated, two songs that you should absolutely burn into your fucking brain. NOW. And the rest of the non-porno music is right up there in quality. Muggs' focus was so potent it rubbed off on both his proteges, groupmember DJ Ralph M & DJ Lethal as they too stepped their game the fuck up. This was hella satisfying.

WORTH IT? Despite the four disturbingly trash songs I've highlighted, I still think Brothas Doobie is worth your time. SD & TF aren't the most lyrical of MCs but they never needed to be, because they give you plenty to sink your teeth into. Each MC fleshes their background and subject matter something lovely, under the guidance of mentor Brett Bouldin's veteran instincts. And they present said material in the most fitting of packages. And Ralph, Muggs & co. couldn't've produced better music outta these two if they tried. Imagine (Yes, I'm going there.) DJ Premier giving those Group Home beats to an MC way more competent than Melachi The useless Nutcracker. That's what this project feels like. If that doesn't push you to go listen to this album now, then I don't know what would. Now, git.

For more Funkdoobiest, here. If you want more diversions into the Soul Assassins canon, do so at your own risk here.