Cypress Hill IV
Cypress Hill IV is the fourth studio album by American hip hop group Cypress Hill. It was released on October 6, 1998, by Ruffhouse and Columbia Records. The skeletons on the cover are posing as the three wise monkeys. Rappers MC Eiht and Barron Ricks were featured on the album. The album went Gold in the U.S with over 500,000 units sold.
"16 Men Till There's No Men Left", "Checkmate", and "Lightning Strikes" are featured in the 1999 PC game Kingpin: Life of Crime. Alongside the full versions of these tracks, instrumental versions with the vocals removed were used as backing tracks. Cypress Hill also provided some of the voice acting for the game.
Reception
IV received mixed reviews from critics, with AllMusic giving it a strongly negative review.Rolling Stone - 3.5 Stars - "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 - "…they come out fighting. Red eyed, rabid and slobbering with skunk-fueled menace.… gangsta rap's future as a musical force is secure."
Rap Pages - 4 - "Like previous albums…IV's fabulous formula of speakerphone tones by B-Real and sporadic comments by Sen Dog resembles 'How I Could Just Kill A Man'."
Track listing
- All tracks produced by DJ Muggs
Bonus tracks
Rags to Riches is included as a bonus track on some editions of the album, which is actually a Baron Ricks song, credited to Baron Ricks featuring Cypress Hill & Self Scientific. It was separately released on his 12-inch vinyl single Rags to Riches / Harlem River Drive.Personnel
- B-Real - vocals
- Sen Dog - vocals
- DJ Muggs - arranger, producer, mixing
- Eric "Bobo" Correa - bass, percussion, backing vocals
- MC Eiht - vocals
- Chace Infinite - vocals
- Barron Ricks - vocals
- Mike Sims - Bass, Guitar
- Troy Stanton - engineer
- Reggie Stewart - bass
- Sean Evans - art direction
- Dean Karr - photography
- Manuel Lecuona - mastering
Charts
| Year | Chart | Peak position |
| 1998 | Billboard Canadian Albums | 3 |
| 1998 | Dutch Albums | 17 |
| 1998 | French Albums Top 100 | 7 |
| 1998 | German Albums | 17 |
| 1998 | Swiss Albums | 14 |
| 1998 | The Billboard 200 | 11 |
| 1998 | Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 11 |
| 1998 | UK Official Albums Chart Top 100 | 25 |