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Although a love for hydro is Cypress Hill's claim to fame, it's the more substantial tracks on "Rise Up" that smoke the competition.
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Like the best mashups, it doesn’t sound like it should make sense. That’s why it does.
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It goes without saying that they still possess a die-hard dedication for that certain herb, and if you don’t smoke the reefer you shouldn’t go anywhere near this record; it will leave you colder than Cheech and Chong’s Arctic Adventure
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Unfortunately, the slick, overproduced headbanger music feels anachronistic and wouldn’t seem out of place on a Korn album. While Cypress Hill remains one of the greatest groups of all time, “Rise Up” mostly flops.
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It delivers what you'd expect, but ambition is unfulfilled and the constant pursuit of seemingly random stylistic tangents reveals a lack of focus.
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Skip the album purchase and download a few singles.
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As much as B-Real still seems lively, Sen Dog seems to have smoked himself out of being a rapper. He sounds exhausted and unimaginative all over this record. He doesn’t even appear on all of the tracks. This imbalance, coupled with the array of random producers, causes an inconsistency in the LP’s sound that hurts Rise Up on tracks.
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Q MagazineInevitably, the revolution zeal dissipates, but their crowd-pleasing instincts remian intact. [May 2010, p.117]
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Weed rap is fine, but if Hill is looking to subvert the dominant paradigm, they should probably find a harder drug.
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Sure, 70 million bong hits have rendered B-Real and Sen Dog confused political theorists (complaining about taxes during a recession? What up, Glenn Beck?). But when they write what they know, they strike a nice balance between visions of bong-water Armageddon and Nineties light-'em-up boom-bap.
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Rise Up doesn't always meet the occasion, but it's Cypress' most consistently listenable album in 15 years.
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UncutB-Real and Sen Dog's adenoidal cartton raps about beefs and bongs can still raise a smile when matched to a sparse, elastic beat, but the novelty of a Cypress Hill comeback has long since worn off by the 15th track. [May 2010, p.86]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 7 out of 9
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Mixed: 1 out of 9
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Negative: 1 out of 9
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Dec 23, 2020
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Apr 24, 2015
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Aug 21, 2010