If a case can be made for gangsta rap, Cypress Hill is the act to make it. The trio of L.A. Latinos has the commercial clout and its raps are mercifully free of the misogyny, homophobia, and anti-Asian, anti-Jewish racism that so often mars the genre. Member/producer D.J. Muggs creates an eerily lean soundscape of whining sirens, off-kilter funk rhythms, metallic percussion, nasal taunts, and gruff warnings that's the aural equivalent of today's nerve-rattling cop flicks and mob movies. --Geoffrey Himes
