IV

Back with a renewed energy and purpose, Latino-flavoured rappers Cypress Hill climb back into the ring for another round in the fight for Hip-Hop supremacy on IV, an album which is as much at home with ghetto street-kids as it is with California surfers. Right hand man Sen Dog is back in the fold, completing the circle that B-Real and DJ Muggs drew as one of the most influential groups in Rap. B-Real's vocal stylings sound as crisp as the day we first heard "How Could I Just Kill a Man". más...

"Tequlia Sunrise" is a mid-tempo head- nodder where Sen Dog opens the track with his trademark Spanglish. B-Real pops into the chorus and then rips the next verse wide open. DJ Muggs tracks run deep as he retools the Cypress sound to include samples as well as vintage sounding instruments, like the serenading guitar of "Tequila Sunrise". Other tracks to check are "Checkmate", which has an early 90's uptempo, energetic classic Hill sound and "Prelude To U Come Up", which features an appearance from MC Eight.

Rap Pages (12/98, p.140)
- 4 (out of 5)
- "...Like previous albums...IV's fabulous formula formula of speakerphone tones by B-Real and sporadic comments by Sen Dog resembles 'How I Could Just Kill A Man'..."

Rolling Stone (10/15/98, p.130)
- 3.5 Stars (out of 5)
- "...Cypress Hill's most bangin' LP since their 1991 debut....Cypress Hill still name-check firearms, threaten rivals and smoke more weed than a congregation of Rastas. But the obsessions are means to an end..."

The Wire (1/99, p.57)
- "...they come out fighting. Red eyed, rabid and slobbering with skunk-fueled menace....gangsta rap's future as a musical force is secure."