Black Sunday is the second studio album by American hip-hop group Cypress Hill. It was released on July 20, 1993, by Ruffhouse and Columbia Records, and proved as successful as their debut, Cypress Hill. The album debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200, selling 261,000 copies in its first week of sales and became the highest Soundscan recording for a hip-hop group at the time. Also, with their previous album, Cypress Hill, still in the charts, they became the first hip-hop group ever to have two albums in the Top 10 of the U.S. Billboard 200 at the same time. The album went quadruple platinum in the U.S. with 3.4 million units sold.
Background The first single, "Insane in the Brain", became a crossover hit. A clean censored version of the album was also made which removes the song "A to the K". The song "Hand on the Glock" is a re-recorded version of the track "Hand on the Pump" from the debut album Cypress Hill.
On July 20, 2023, an expanded edition of the album was released to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the album, with five additional songs.
Reception
The single "I Ain't Goin' Out Like That" was nominated for the Grammy Award's Best Rap Performance of the year category.
Rolling Stone - 4 stars - Excellent - "…it's the Cypress combo of stark grooves and cinematic gangsta fairy tales that allows them to rule the streets, a formula not messed with on Black Sunday…"
The Source - 4 stars - Excellent - "…a darker sequel…this album is definitely worth buying as it easily rips the frame out of all those Cypress bandwagon jumpers…"
Included in Qs list of the 50 Best Albums of 1993. Ranked No. 35 in Melody Makers list of "The Albums of the Year" for 1993. Ranked No. 29 in the Village Voices 1993 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll. Ranked No. 8 in New Musical Expresss list of "The Top 50 LPs of 1993".
Track listing
Notes "I Ain't Goin' Out Like That" samples "The Wizard" by Black Sabbath Later repressings have a fade at the end of "Insane in the Brain" due to sample clearance issues, & "Lock Down" is omitted.
Personnel Cypress Hill B-Real – vocals Sen Dog – vocals DJ Muggs – turntables, arrangements, executive production, programming and mixing
Additional personnel T-Ray – producer ("I Ain't Goin' Out Like That") John Gamble – engineer Andy Kravitz – engineer Manuel Lecuona – engineer Jason Roberts – engineer Chris Shaw – engineer, mixing Joe Nicolo – executive producer, mixing Chris Schwartz – executive producer Jay Papke – design Anthony Artiaga – photography
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (1993) Peak position
Chart (2025) Peak position Greek Albums (IFPI) 19
Year-end charts Chart (1993) PositionUK Albums (OCC) 96 US Billboard 200 33 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) 19 Chart (1994) PositionAustralian Albums (ARIA) 93 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 12 US Billboard 200 98 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) 98 Chart (2002) PositionCanadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) 162Canadian Rap Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) 82
Singles Year Song Chart positions Billboard Hot 100 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Hot Rap Singles Rhythmic Top 40 Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales Hot Dance Music/Club Play1993 "Insane in the Brain" #19 #27 #1 #16 #5 #161994 "I Ain't Goin' Out Like That" #65 #86 #21 - #21 -
Certifications
See also List of number-one albums of 1993 (U.S.) List of number-one R&B albums of 1993 (U.S.)
References
External links