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After 17 years in the rap game as the lead lyricist of one of the West Coast's most recognizable crews, Cypress Hill, B-Real shows new life on his debut solo album, Smoke and Mirrors. Opening with a "Stylistics" sample given the chipmunk soul treatment, the nasal-voiced lyricist promptly falls into his familiar flow, contrasting the trials and tribulations of the streets with the up-and-downs of show biz success on the title track. Though DJ Muggs is conspicuously absent behind the boards, the production on Smoke and Mirrors is consistently up to par; its 15 tracks conveying nothing but that quintessential California gangstafied funk. The Soopafly-produced "Gangsta Music" is '70s blaxploitation funk reincarnated as 2000s G-Funk. On the head-nod anthem "Don't Ya Dare Laugh," yet another track whose hook borrows from Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner," B and company define Cali as "the home of marijuana" where "streets get hotter than a sauna." And Muggs' prodigy, the Alchemist provides the record's highlight with "6 Minutes," a seething funk-guitar driven track that allows B to compose a cynical treatise on contemporary hip-hop upstarts. Of course, no Cypress Hill endeavor would be complete without a straightforward weed anthem and the honors here go to the dancehall-inflected "FIRE," featuring Damien Marley which sees B switching between English and Spanish rhymes. Elsewhere, he dredges up more familiar gangsta rap themes including money-getting ("Get That Dough," "Stack'n Paper"), those pesky haters ("When They Hate You") and the token sex-for-sport yarn ("When We're Fucking"). As such, Smoke and Mirrors doesn't offer much in the way of originality, but after nearly 20 years on the mike, B-Real has pretty well perfected his niche and his infectious, nasally rhyme flow, and O.G. vetting commentary on the game and Cali-centric beats should be more than enough to keep fans' heads nodding.
© Matt Rinaldi /TiVo
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L. Freese, Composer, Lyricist - E. Molina, Composer, Lyricist - Bo Roc, FeaturedArtist - M. Makone, Composer, Lyricist - B-Real of Cypress Hill, MainArtist
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
L. Freese, Composer, Lyricist - P. Brooks, Composer, Lyricist - Bo Roc, FeaturedArtist - M. Makone, Composer, Lyricist - B-Real of Cypress Hill, MainArtist
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
L. Freese, Composer, Lyricist - A. Joiner, Composer, Lyricist - E. Molina, Composer, Lyricist - B-Real of Cypress Hill, MainArtist - D. Ferm, Composer, Lyricist - Xzibit & Young De, FeaturedArtist
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
L. Freese, Composer, Lyricist - P. Brooks, Composer, Lyricist - K. Blake, Composer, Lyricist - Buckshot, FeaturedArtist - B-Real of Cypress Hill, MainArtist
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
L. Freese, Composer, Lyricist - A. Maman, Composer, Lyricist - D. Wayne, Composer, Lyricist - B-Real of Cypress Hill, MainArtist - D. Ferm, Composer, Lyricist - Young De & Tekneek, FeaturedArtist
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
L. Freese, Composer, Lyricist - Sick Jacken, FeaturedArtist - J Gonzalez, Composer, Lyricist - B-Real of Cypress Hill, MainArtist
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
L. Freese, Composer, Lyricist - D. Marley, Composer, Lyricist - B-Real of Cypress Hill, MainArtist - Damian Jr Gong Marley, FeaturedArtist
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
J. TURNER, Composer, Lyricist - D. Wayne, Composer, Lyricist - B-Real of Cypress Hill, MainArtist - D. Ferm, Composer, Lyricist - Young De & Tekneek, FeaturedArtist - L Freese, Composer, Lyricist
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
L. Freese, Composer, Lyricist - M. Wright, Composer, Lyricist - B-Real of Cypress Hill, MainArtist - Babydoll Refresh, FeaturedArtist
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
L. Freese, Composer, Lyricist - S. Bishop, Composer, Lyricist - C. Broadus, Composer, Lyricist - Snoop Dogg, FeaturedArtist - B-Real of Cypress Hill, MainArtist - D. Ferm, Composer, Lyricist - Young De & Trace Midas, FeaturedArtist
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
L. Freese, Composer, Lyricist - J. TURNER, Composer, Lyricist - B-Real of Cypress Hill, MainArtist
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
J. Gonzalez, Composer, Lyricist - L. Freese, Composer, Lyricist - S. Reyes, Composer, Lyricist - B-Real of Cypress Hill, MainArtist - Sen Dog & Mal Verde, FeaturedArtist
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
L. Freese, Composer, Lyricist - J. TURNER, Composer, Lyricist - B-Real of Cypress Hill, MainArtist
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
L. Freese, Composer, Lyricist - B-Real of Cypress Hill, MainArtist - Babydoll Refresh, FeaturedArtist - S. Nassar, Composer, Lyricist - M Wright, Composer, Lyricist
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
T. Shaw, Composer, Lyricist - J. TURNER, Composer, Lyricist - Too $hort, FeaturedArtist - R. BROWN, Composer, Lyricist - B-Real of Cypress Hill, MainArtist - D. Ferm, Composer, Lyricist - L Freese, Composer, Lyricist - Kurupt & Young De, FeaturedArtist
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
Albumbeschreibung
After 17 years in the rap game as the lead lyricist of one of the West Coast's most recognizable crews, Cypress Hill, B-Real shows new life on his debut solo album, Smoke and Mirrors. Opening with a "Stylistics" sample given the chipmunk soul treatment, the nasal-voiced lyricist promptly falls into his familiar flow, contrasting the trials and tribulations of the streets with the up-and-downs of show biz success on the title track. Though DJ Muggs is conspicuously absent behind the boards, the production on Smoke and Mirrors is consistently up to par; its 15 tracks conveying nothing but that quintessential California gangstafied funk. The Soopafly-produced "Gangsta Music" is '70s blaxploitation funk reincarnated as 2000s G-Funk. On the head-nod anthem "Don't Ya Dare Laugh," yet another track whose hook borrows from Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner," B and company define Cali as "the home of marijuana" where "streets get hotter than a sauna." And Muggs' prodigy, the Alchemist provides the record's highlight with "6 Minutes," a seething funk-guitar driven track that allows B to compose a cynical treatise on contemporary hip-hop upstarts. Of course, no Cypress Hill endeavor would be complete without a straightforward weed anthem and the honors here go to the dancehall-inflected "FIRE," featuring Damien Marley which sees B switching between English and Spanish rhymes. Elsewhere, he dredges up more familiar gangsta rap themes including money-getting ("Get That Dough," "Stack'n Paper"), those pesky haters ("When They Hate You") and the token sex-for-sport yarn ("When We're Fucking"). As such, Smoke and Mirrors doesn't offer much in the way of originality, but after nearly 20 years on the mike, B-Real has pretty well perfected his niche and his infectious, nasally rhyme flow, and O.G. vetting commentary on the game and Cali-centric beats should be more than enough to keep fans' heads nodding.
© Matt Rinaldi /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 15 track(s)
- Total length: 01:00:05
- Main artists: B-Real of Cypress Hill
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Duck Down
- Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
2009 Duck Down 2009 Duck Down
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