Cypress Hill - Stoned Raiders

Movie rating: 2 Star

As every successful musician finds out eventually, once you've reached the top there's really only one way left to go. Hip-hop veterans Cypress Hill are a case in point - their first two albums sealed their place in history but since then their creative stagnation has been almost painful to watch. Frontman B-Real's menacing raps about drugs and gun laws may have sounded cutting edge back in the early 90s but on Stoned Raiders his gangsta-chic posturings come across as hopelessly outdated. Musically, meanwhile, the incorporation of reggae and nu-metal elements does little to update the 'Hill's rather stodgy, beat-laden sound. By the end of this tired, half-hearted album, they've achieved the unusual distinction of sounding like a powerful argument against the legalisation of cannabis.

Review by | 09:00 | Tuesday 4th December 2001 | Album Review