Insane in the Brain

"Insane in the Brain"
Single by Cypress Hill
from the album Black Sunday
Released June 22, 1993[1]
Format CD, 12"
Recorded 1992
Genre Hip hop
Length 3:32
Label Ruffhouse,
Columbia Records
Writer(s) Louis Freese, Lawrence Muggerud, Jerry Corbitt, Senen Reyes
Producer(s) Cypress Hill
Certification Gold (RIAA)
Cypress Hill singles chronology
"Latin Lingo"
(1992)
"Insane in the Brain"
(1993)
"When the Shit Goes Down"
(1993)

"Insane in the Brain" is a 1993 single by the American hip hop group Cypress Hill. In addition to hitting number one on the US rap chart, the song also was a mainstream hit, reaching number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1993. It earned a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America and sold 600,000 copies domestically.[2][3] It was highly successful in other countries. The song was released on the group's Black Sunday album.

The popular lyric "Insane in the membrane" is sometimes confused for the title.

Origins and structure

According to B-Real, the song was actually a diss song aimed at Chubb Rock. The group felt Chubb had ridiculed their style on his 1992 album I Gotta Get Mine Yo.[4]

It is claimed that DJ Muggs produced the song "Jump Around" by House of Pain, which was later used to produce this song, with minor changes.

The song is built around many samples: a repeating sample of a horse from Mel and Tim's "Good Guys Only Win in the Movies"; a drum break from organist George Semper's cover version of Lee Dorsey's "Get Out of My Life, Woman"; a sample of James Brown grunting from the opening of his song "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud"; a sample of the line "insane in the brain" from Cypress Hill's own song "Hole in the Head"; the opening keyboard from Sly & the Family Stone's "Life" and a sample of the line "I think I'm going crazy" from The Youngbloods's "All Over the World (La La)," which concludes the track. In 2008, it was ranked number 34 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.

Music video

A video for the track was filmed at San Francisco's DNA Lounge.[5][6]

Uses of the song

In 2012, the song was used to show that axons transmit electricity from sound to chromatophores of a dead Longfin Inshore Squid to create a colourful display of the music.[7][8][9]

Beau Monga performed a cover of this song on The X Factor.

The video game Saints Row IV features the song during a scene in the game where the player character meets up with present-day Shaundi and her past self. The song can also be heard on the fictional radio station The Mix 107.77.[10]

The song is featured in the movie Bulworth.[11]

Track listings

UK CD single
  1. "Insane in the Brain" (Radio Edit) - 3:32
  2. "Stoned is the Way of the Walk" - 2:46
  3. "Something for the Blunted" - 1:15
  4. "Insane in the Brain" (Extended Version) - 4:56
1999 remix CD1
  1. "Insane in the Brain" (Jason Master Blaster Edit) - 4:06
  2. "Insane in the Brain" (Jason Master Blaster Club Mix) - 5:02
  3. "Insane in the Brain" (Da Funky Chunky Mix) - 6:36
1999 remix CD2
  1. "Insane in the Brain" (Nevins' Asylum Edit) - 3:40
  2. "Insane in the Brain" (Nevins' Asylum Club Mix) - 6:06
  3. "Insane in the Brain" (The Funky French B-Boy Remix) - 5:40

Charts

Chart (1993) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[12] 19
U.S. Hot Rap Songs[13] 14
U.S. Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales[14] 24
Year End Charts (1993) Official
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[15] 65

References

  1. "Insane in the Brain [Single] - Cypress Hill". AllMusic. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  2. "American certifications – Cypress Hill". Recording Industry Association of America.
  3. "Best-Selling Records of 1993". Billboard. BPI Communications. 106 (3): 73. January 15, 1994. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  4. B-Real Official Website Bio
  5. CypressHillVEVO (2009-10-25), Cypress Hill - Insane In The Brain (Official Video), retrieved 2016-07-04
  6. "DNA Lounge blog entry explaining architectural features visible in the Cypress Hill video". 2001-09-18. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
  7. Gage, Greg. "Insane in the Chromatophores" Youtube video Vimeo videoBackyard Brains, 23 August 2012. Retrieved: 2 September 2012.
  8. "MBL Scientists Discover Nerves Control Iridescence in Squid’s Remarkable “Electric Skin”" Marine Biological Laboratory, 24 August 2012. Retrieved: 2 September 2012.
  9. Kenney, Diane. "Insanely Popular: MBL Squid Research/Rap Video Goes Viral" Marine Biological Laboratory, 31 August 2012. Retrieved: 2 September 2012.
  10. Pitcher, Jenna (2013-08-06). "Saints Row 4 tracklist revealed, features 109 tracks". Polygon. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
  11. Beatty, Warren (1998-05-22), Bulworth, retrieved 2016-07-04
  12. http://www.billboard.com/artist/299883/cypress-hill/chart. Retrieved 2016-01-05. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. "The Year in Music: Rap" (PDF). Billboard. BPI Communications. 105 (52): YE-27. December 25, 1993. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  14. "The Year in Music: Dance" (PDF). Billboard. BPI Communications. 105 (52): YE-53. December 25, 1993. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  15. http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1993.htm. Retrieved 2016-01-05. Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

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