Insane in the Brain

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"Insane in the Brain"
Cypress Hill - Insane in the Brain.jpg
Single by Cypress Hill
from the album Black Sunday
ReleasedJune 22, 1993[1]
GenreHip hop
Length3:32
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)DJ Muggs
Cypress Hill singles chronology
"Latin Lingo"
(1992) 		"Insane in the Brain"
(1993) 		"When the Shit Goes Down"
(1993)
Music video
"Insane in the Brain" on YouTube

"Insane in the Brain" is a 1993 single by the American hip hop group Cypress Hill. In addition to hitting number one on the US rap chart, the song also was a mainstream hit, reaching number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1993. It earned a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America and sold 600,000 copies domestically.[2][3] The song was released on the group's Black Sunday album.

Origins and structure[]

According to B-Real, the song was actually a diss song aimed at Chubb Rock. The group felt Chubb had ridiculed their style on his 1992 album I Gotta Get Mine Yo.[4]

It is claimed that DJ Muggs produced the song "Jump Around" by House of Pain, which was later used to produce this song, with minor changes.[5]

The song is built around many samples: a drum break from organist George Semper's cover version of Lee Dorsey's "Get Out of My Life, Woman"; a sample of James Brown grunting from the opening of his song "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud"; a sample of the line "insane in the brain" from Cypress Hill's own song "Hole in the Head"; the opening keyboard from Sly and the Family Stone's "Life", a sample of the line "I think I'm going crazy" from the Youngbloods' "All Over the World (La La)" which concludes the track and the most prominent sample throughout the song, a repeating sample of, in which DJ Muggs initially claimed, a pitched blues guitar,[6] although shortly after, he changed his story and claimed that that sound is a horn, as explained below:

Many sources claim that the alleged pitched blues guitar sample was actually a sample of a horse from Mel and Tim's "Good Guys Only Win in the Movies",[7][8] but during an interview with Sound on Sound in December 2018 on the production techniques used, DJ Muggs refuted the sample:[6]

"That's weird, everybody thinks that's a horse, but it isn't. I've seen that a bunch of times on these sample sites. That's a sound I made from a blues guitar pitched. At the time I used to run some sounds through guitar amps. When I heard that horse thing, I was like, 'Oh, that sounds just like it.' Honestly to God, those sample sites get a lot wrong. They have some shit right, but I'll go, 'I never used that.' I don't know where they gather their information. Sometimes, they're spot on, but sometimes, I'm like, 'Yo, you guys are off.'"

However, less than two months later in an interview with British newspaper The Guardian, Muggs then claimed the sound effect was made by a horn and not a guitar.[5] This has since caused disbelief that Muggs is telling the truth and that the sample may well be the horse from Mel and Tim's "Good Guys Only Win in the Movies",[9] as Muggs has claimed himself that he has "a foggy memory when it comes to the samples used on 'Insane in the Brain'"[6] due to the fact that at the time of the song's production, "There was a lot of weed smoked."[5]

In 2008, the song was ranked number 34 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.

According to a live interview aired on Double J during a feature of the Black Sunday album, [10] "insane in the membrane" was a localised gang term used at the time by the Crips when doing something crazy. It was then appropriated into this song. A 2019 interview with the The Guardian elaborated further that both Bloods and Crips used a similar phrase as an informal insanity plea upon arrest.[5] The Double-J interview also notes that B-Real was a member of the Bloods.

Critical reception[]

Jesse Ducker from Albumism described "Insane in the Brain" as a "upbeat, pulsing, almost circus-like track."[11] Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "One of the hip-hop community's leading acts returns with a slammin' romp. Resting on a beat-bed of loopy samples and nimble scratches, act drops rhymes that are even sharper than on previous efforts. A head-bobbin' midtempo groove leads them into a brain-embedding hook that will help knock down urban and pop radio doors."[12] Pan-European magazine Music & Media commented, "If you think you're going slightly mad, you haven't heard this Hispanic gangsta rap outfit yet. They drive you nuts, introducing neighing horses as backup singers."[13] Andy Beevers from Music Week gave it three out of five, calling it an "excellent new single from LA's celebrated smokers" and "a tough funky track." He added that "it sounds similar to the House Of Pain hits, but not as commercial."[14] James Hamilton from the magazine's RM Dance Update described it as a "Public Enemy-ish mildly jaunty jolting jiggly roller".[15] Another editor, Richard Russell wrote, "While this covers pretty much the same ground as the debut LP, it will help to satiate the appetite of countless Cypress fans hungry for new material. B-Real's nasal whine is now one of the most distinctive sounds in hip hop, here complaining about "cops trying to snatch his crops".[16] Tom Doyle from Smash Hits rated the song four out of five, saying, "Any single that begins with someone murmuring "Don'tchoo know I'm loco?" is sure to be good." He stated further that Cypress Hill "are the best American rap stars for ages".[17]

Music video[]

A music video for the track was filmed at San Francisco's DNA Lounge. The video, featuring the group performing at what appears to be a rave, makes heavy use of strobing effects and "psychedelic" colorations, alongside numerous shots of marijuana usage, all of which seemingly corresponds with the album's drug-filled recording process, as described by the group.[5]

Track listings[]

UK CD single
  1. "Insane in the Brain" (Radio Edit) – 3:32
  2. "Stoned Is the Way of the Walk" – 2:46
  3. "Something for the Blunted" – 1:15
  4. "Insane in the Brain" (Extended Version) – 4:56
1999 remix CD1
  1. "Insane in the Brain" (Jason Master Blaster Edit) – 4:06
  2. "Insane in the Brain" (Jason Master Blaster Club Mix) – 5:02
  3. "Insane in the Brain" (Da Funky Chunky Mix) – 6:36
1999 remix CD2
  1. "Insane in the Brain" (Nevins' Asylum Edit) – 3:40
  2. "Insane in the Brain" (Nevins' Asylum Club Mix) – 6:06
  3. "Insane in the Brain" (The Funky French B-Boy Remix) – 5:40

Charts[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Insane in the Brain [Single] – Cypress Hill". AllMusic. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  2. ^ "American certifications – Cypress Hill". Recording Industry Association of America.
  3. ^ "Best-Selling Records of 1993". Billboard. BPI Communications. 106 (3): 73. January 15, 1994. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  4. ^ "B Real Online". January 4, 2010. Archived from the original on January 4, 2010.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "How we made Cypress Hill's Insane in the Brain". The Guardian. February 12, 2019.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c "CLASSIC TRACKS: Cypress Hill 'Insane In The Brain'". Sound on Sound. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  7. ^ Hartz, Ronald; Nienhüser, Werner; Rätzer, Matthias (October 21, 2019). Ästhetik und Organisation: Ästhetisierung und Inszenierung von Organisation, Arbeit und Management. Springer-Verlag. ISBN 9783658219789 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ "Samples of Good Guys Only Win in the Movies by Mel & Tim | SecondHandSongs". SecondHandSongs.
  9. ^ "Insane in the Brain by Cypress Hill on WhoSampled". WhoSampled.
  10. ^ Classic Albums Cypress Hill – Black Sunday
  11. ^ Ducker, Jesse (July 16, 2018). "Cypress Hill's 'Black Sunday' Turns 25: Anniversary Retrospective". Albumism. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  12. ^ Flick, Larry (June 26, 1993). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. p. 84. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  13. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. July 31, 1993. p. 11. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  14. ^ Beevers, Andy (July 17, 1993). "Market Preview: Dance" (PDF). Music Week. p. 8. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  15. ^ Hamilton, James (July 24, 1993). "Djdirectory" (PDF). Music Week, Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 2. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  16. ^ Russell, Richard (June 26, 1993). "Hot Vinyl Buzzing" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 7. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  17. ^ Doyle, Tom (February 16, 1993). "New Singles". Smash Hits. p. 41. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  18. ^ "Cypress Hill – Insane In The Brain". Australian-charts.com.
  19. ^ "CYPRESS HILL - INSANE IN THE BRAIN" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  20. ^ http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement
  21. ^ "CYPRESS HILL - INSANE IN THE BRAIN" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  22. ^ "Cypress Hill – Insane In The Brain". Charts.nz.
  23. ^ Jump up to: a b "Insane in the Brain | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.
  24. ^ "Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. February 26, 1994. p. 26. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  25. ^ "Cypress Hill". Billboard. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  26. ^ "Cypress Hill". Billboard.
  27. ^ "Cypress Hill". Billboard.
  28. ^ "Cypress Hill". Billboard.
  29. ^ "Cypress Hill". Billboard.
  30. ^ "Cypress Hill". Billboard.
  31. ^ "Jason Nevins vs. Cypress Hill – Insane In The Brain" (in Dutch). top40.nl. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  32. ^ "Top Songs 1993". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved January 5, 2016.

External links[]

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