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Insane in the Brain
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Insane in the Brain
"Insane in the Brain" is a song by American hip-hop group Cypress Hill, released in June 1993, by Ruffhouse and Columbia Records, as the first single from the group's second album, Black Sunday (1993). The song was written by group members Louis Freese, Lawrence Muggerud and Senen Reyes, and produced by Muggerud (DJ Muggs). In addition to hitting number one on the US rap chart, it also was a mainstream hit, reaching number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1993. "Insane in the Brain" earned a 3× platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America and sold 3,000,000 copies domestically. The accompanying music video was directed by Josh Taft, featuring the group performing at a rave with strobing effects and "psychedelic" colorations.
In 2008, the song was ranked number 34 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
According to B-Real, the song was actually a diss song aimed at Chubb Rock and Kid Frost. The group felt Chubb had ridiculed their style on his 1992 album, I Gotta Get Mine Yo. DJ Muggs credited "Jump Around" by House of Pain, also produced by himself, as a major influence.
According to a live interview aired on Double J during a feature of the Black Sunday album, "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 Guardian elaborated further that both Bloods and Crips used a similar phrase as an informal insanity plea upon arrest. The Double-J interview also notes that B-Real was a member of the Bloods.
The song is built around many samples:
The origin of the most prominent sample, repeated throughout the song, has been a matter of dispute. DJ Muggs initially claimed the sample was a pitched blues guitar, although shortly after, he claimed that the sound is a horn. Many sources claim that it is actually a sample of a horse from Mel and Tim's "Good Guys Only Win in the Movies", but during an interview with Sound on Sound in December 2018 on the production techniques used, DJ Muggs refuted the sample:
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. In a much earlier interview with The Wire magazine, when asked: "You're well known for using unusual sample sources not just in terms of the music you sample from – from funk, soul and jazz to krautrock and metal – but also different kinds of sounds, like sirens, elephants, horses", Muggs' response was "Yes, you know I have a visual thought first of all and that excites me and on the conscious side of it, I'm always looking for things that are awkward".
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Insane in the Brain
"Insane in the Brain" is a song by American hip-hop group Cypress Hill, released in June 1993, by Ruffhouse and Columbia Records, as the first single from the group's second album, Black Sunday (1993). The song was written by group members Louis Freese, Lawrence Muggerud and Senen Reyes, and produced by Muggerud (DJ Muggs). In addition to hitting number one on the US rap chart, it also was a mainstream hit, reaching number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1993. "Insane in the Brain" earned a 3× platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America and sold 3,000,000 copies domestically. The accompanying music video was directed by Josh Taft, featuring the group performing at a rave with strobing effects and "psychedelic" colorations.
In 2008, the song was ranked number 34 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
According to B-Real, the song was actually a diss song aimed at Chubb Rock and Kid Frost. The group felt Chubb had ridiculed their style on his 1992 album, I Gotta Get Mine Yo. DJ Muggs credited "Jump Around" by House of Pain, also produced by himself, as a major influence.
According to a live interview aired on Double J during a feature of the Black Sunday album, "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 Guardian elaborated further that both Bloods and Crips used a similar phrase as an informal insanity plea upon arrest. The Double-J interview also notes that B-Real was a member of the Bloods.
The song is built around many samples:
The origin of the most prominent sample, repeated throughout the song, has been a matter of dispute. DJ Muggs initially claimed the sample was a pitched blues guitar, although shortly after, he claimed that the sound is a horn. Many sources claim that it is actually a sample of a horse from Mel and Tim's "Good Guys Only Win in the Movies", but during an interview with Sound on Sound in December 2018 on the production techniques used, DJ Muggs refuted the sample:
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. In a much earlier interview with The Wire magazine, when asked: "You're well known for using unusual sample sources not just in terms of the music you sample from – from funk, soul and jazz to krautrock and metal – but also different kinds of sounds, like sirens, elephants, horses", Muggs' response was "Yes, you know I have a visual thought first of all and that excites me and on the conscious side of it, I'm always looking for things that are awkward".