Cypress Hill Named In 29 Million Dollar Suit Over Sample

posted October 20, 2008 07:04:05 PM CDT | 22 comments

Fifteen years after the fact multi-platinum artist, Cypress Hill have been sued for 29 million dollars by veteran blues musician Syl Johnson. The lawsuit stems from an apparent un-cleared sample taken from Johnson that was used in Cypress Hills 1993 critically acclaimed album, Black Sunday.

Johnson claims the group used his song "Is It Because I'm Black?" during the Lock Down interlude. Cypress Hills Black Sunday, which debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200 chart back in 1993, included the hit song "Insane in the Brain."

The famous sample has also been used by Wu-Tang Clan and Styles P [click to read].

The 72 year-old Johnson has had numerous issues with artists, and bringing forth lawsuits over artists sampling his song "Different Strokes" without his consent.

DJ Muggs [click to read] spokespeople were contacted by HipHopDX, but has yet to respond.

Reported by Benjamin Chesna.

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