I read a review of Black Sunday in 1993 and just blind bought the album on double vinyl.
Music to me felt pretty static in 1993. I had a huge love for Check Your Head (Beastie Boys) but had been rinsing that album for just over a year. Iâd kind of fallen away from Nirvana and didnât even buy In Utero which followed shortly after Black Sunday if I remember correctly. Nirvana really felt like they were putting more than vitriol into their music, like they were trying to make statement and it honestly felt like theyâd ventured too far and their soul was not in In Utero.
Whilst I would buy as many records as I could afford back then I was always searching for the next album all my circle of friends would dig. There were many records I would keep to myself as they were obtuse, but there was something magical about discovering a record that everyone would click with, a communal thing.
Anyway. I find Black Sunday in Highway 61 Records in Birmingham and buy it. The artwork looks like a Black Sabbath sleeve, the signs are good. I play the album on my own in my room and instantly am falling for it so I tape it onto a C90 and take it round to where my circle of mates would hang out⊠and everyone loves it. You could have been into Rave, Metal. Hip Hop, the Seattle bands, etc, whatever. It had that genuine universal appeal, and most importantly it felt sincere.
A gut wrenchingly dark album, threatening, sounds of dread, defiance, in your face, wasted, lost, confidence, belief. These factors resonated and it pulled everyone in.
I still remember a late night listen with about 10 mates after a heavy Friday night back at someones flat and everyone listening, a bit worse for the wear, and some breaking the comfortable silence saying did he just say âBilly Ray Cypress Hill?â and everyone falling about with laughter.
That summer we just rinsed the album. After a few weeks someone got their hands on a tape of their first album (Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill) which would only compound how good they were. In ways a darker album than the 2nd. Everyone copied that tape. It felt like theyâd bridged the classic era Public Enemy whilst maintaining a NWA feel of defiance and added some very dark humour and whole lot beats that were arguably topping even Public Enemy and NWA. A near impossible task, but Cypress Hill in their blunted way pushed their way to the front with no apologies and a wry wasted smile, and everyone just loved that.
These anti-heroes would continue with 2 more excellent albums Temples Of Boom and IV but time and music had moved on it felt. I do love the mood on these records but their first two albums are 10/10 albums and they never resonated again as much as they did in 1993.
They were a blunted spark in a time were music needed something new and they delivered. The beauty of it is they almost did this by accident by just doing their own thing and emanating their environment with Hip Hop that wandered into other genres by accepting influences and echoing them. This rubbed off and made people love them. It felt like an all inclusive party, just your head needed to be in the right place and you would get it.
Mood setting, genre walking, from Horror films to Heavy Metal. Hip Hop needed a shot like this and by delivering it so sincerely they were the underground secret that had to break through and when they did they became more than a shot Hip Hop needed and became a shot all music needed.
5.