Insane in the Brain
"Insane in the Brain" is a 1993 song by American hip hop group Cypress Hill, released as the first single from their second album, "Black Sunday" (1993). 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. 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". 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 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 and the Family Stone's "Life", a sample of the line "I think I'm going crazy" from the Youngbloods' "All Over the World (La La)" which concludes the track and the most prominent sample throughout the song, a repeating sample of, in which DJ Muggs initially claimed, a pitched blues guitar, although shortly after, he changed his story and claimed that that sound is a horn, as explained below: Many sources claim that the alleged pitched blues guitar sample was 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. This has since caused disbelief that Muggs is telling the truth and that the sample may well be the horse from Mel and Tim's "Good Guys Only Win in  the Movies", as Muggs has claimed himself that he has "a foggy memory when it comes to the samples used on 'Insane in the Brain'" due to the fact that at the time of the song's production, "There was a lot of weed smoked." In 2008, the song was ranked number 34 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. According to a live interview aired on Double J during a feature of the "Black Sunday" album, Critical reception. Jesse Ducker from Albumism described "Insane in the Brain" as a "upbeat, pulsing, almost circus-like track." Larry Flick  from "Billboard" wrote, "One of the hip-hop community's leading acts returns with a slammin' romp. Resting on a beat-bed of loopy samples and nimble scratches, act drops rhymes that are even sharper than on previous efforts. A head-bobbin' midtempo groove leads them into a brain-embedding hook that will help knock down urban and pop radio doors." A reviewer from "Music & Media" commented, "If you think you're going slightly mad, you haven't heard this Hispanic gangsta rap outfit yet. They drive you nuts, introducing neighing horses as backup singers." Andy Beevers from "Music Week  rated it three out of five, calling it an excellent new single from LA's celebrated smokers" and "a tough funky track." He added that "it sounds similar to the House Of Pain hits, but not as commercial." James Hamilton from the magazine's "RM" Dance Update described it as a "Public Enemy-ish mildly jaunty jolting jiggly roller". Another editor, Richard Russell wrote, "While this covers pretty much the same ground as the debut LP, it will help to satiate the appetite of countless Cypress fans hungry for new material. B-Real's nasal whine is now one of  the most distinctive sounds in hip hop, here complaining about "cops trying to snatch his crops". Tom Doyle from "Smash Hits" gave the song four out of five, saying, "Any single that begins with someone murmuring "Don'tchoo know I'm loco?" is sure to be good." He stated further that Cypress Hill "are the best American rap stars for ages". Music video. A music video for the track was filmed at San Francisco's DNA Lounge. It was directed by American director Josh Taft and features the group performing at what appears to be a rave, makes heavy use of  strobing effects and "psychedelic" colorations, alongside numerous shots of marijuana usage, all of which seemingly corresponds with the album's drug-filled recording process, as described by the group. The video was later published on Cypress Hill's official YouTube channel in October 2009. It has amassed more than 153.9 million views as of October 2021.