"(Rock) Superstar" is the second single from
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in South Gate, California in 1988. One of the first Latin groups to gain mainstream recognition in hip hop, they have sold over 20 million albums worldwide, and have obtained multi ...
's fifth studio album, ''
Skull & Bones''. It was originally released as a double A-side with its standard
rap
Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...
counterpart on February 29, 2000 in the UK. An individual release was available starting sometime in April.
Background and composition
Sony executive Donnie Ienner suggested adding guitars, which took the song "to a new level." Cypress Hill put the song into both the hip-hop and alternative markets, because they had fans in both places.
[Cypress Hill - (Rock) Superstar (Live Footnotes)](_blank)
/ref> The song features Deftones
Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and tu ...
' Chino Moreno
Camillo "Chino" Wong Moreno (born June 20, 1973) is an American musician who is best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the alternative metal band Deftones. He is also a member of the side-project groups Team Sleep, Crosses, ...
in the spoken word
Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...
intro.
Music video
Dean Karr directed the music video for the song.Sen Dog
Senen Reyes (born November 20, 1965), also known by his stage name Sen Dog, is a Cuban-American rapper who is best known as a member of the hip hop group Cypress Hill and as the lead vocalist for the nu metal band Powerflo. He has nurtured a sol ...
, the man enters into a fun house. A group of women dress up the man in a suit before he wanders off. After seeing a testimony from Everlast
Erik Francis Schrody (born August 18, 1969), known by his stage names Everlast and Whitey Ford, is an American Rapping, rapper, Singing, singer, and songwriter who was the Lead vocalist, frontman for Hip hop music, hip hop group House of Pain. ...
on a TV screen, the man encounters many record executives. At the video's climax, he is chased out after going to a performance by Cypress Hill. As the man exits the fun house, it blows up behind him.
Coal Chamber
Coal Chamber is an American nu metal band formed by Dez Fafara and Meegs Rascón in Los Angeles in 1992, initially under the name She's in Pain. The original lineup also consisted of bassist Rayna Foss and drummer Jon Tor. Mike Cox replaced Tor ...
bassist Nadja Peulen
Coal Chamber is an American nu metal band formed by Dez Fafara and Meegs Rascón in Los Angeles in 1992, initially under the name She's in Pain. The original lineup also consisted of bassist Rayna Foss and drummer Jon Tor. Mike Cox replaced Tor ...
appears in a cameo as the bass player of the band performing at the song's climax.
Use in other media
The song is featured in the 2001 film ''Training Day
''Training Day'' is a 2001 American crime thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Ayer. It stars Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris and Ethan Hawke as Jake Hoyt, two LAPD narcotics officers followed over a 24-hour period ...
''. It was also in the film ''Little Nicky
''Little Nicky'' is a 2000 American dark fantasy comedy film directed by Steven Brill, written by Tim Herlihy, Adam Sandler, and Brill, and starring Sandler in the title role, Patricia Arquette, Harvey Keitel, Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr., Rhys Ifa ...
''.
The song is featured in the 2000 video game '' MTV Sports: Skateboarding featuring Andy Macdonald'', released on PC and various consoles.
The instrumental is used as an intro at the beginning of each hour on the nationally syndicated radio and television sports talk show ''The Dan Patrick Show
''The Dan Patrick Show'' is a syndicated radio and television sports talk show, hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by Patrick and is syndicated to radio stations by Premiere Radio Networks, within and inde ...
'', and is also used in a small game called ''Alien Battlecraft Arena''.
The song is featured twice in the ''American Dad!
''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker (producer), Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the r ...
'' episode " The Boring Identity".Steve
Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form ( hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen.
Notable people
A–D
* Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people
* Steve Abel (born 1970), New Zealand politician
* Steve Adams (disambiguation) ...
becomes a paperboy and is introduced to their best worker, Roger
Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...
. The second time is during a montage of the two "hustling" to earn extra money.
The song is featured in the intro to the first ''Twisted Metal
''Twisted Metal'' is a series of Vehicular combat game, vehicular combat video games originally developed by SingleTrac and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series has appeared on the PlayStation (console), PlayStation, PlaySta ...
'' episode WLUDRV. It is diegetic
Diegesis (; , ) is a style of fiction storytelling in which a participating narrator offers an on-site, often interior, view of the scene to the reader, viewer, or listener by subjectively describing the actions and, in some cases, thoughts, o ...
, as the protagonist is seen starting the song and singing along, an in-universe soundtrack to a car chase that he seems to be enjoying.
Track listing
Charts
Certifications
Notes
*A "(Rap) Superstar" and "(Rock) Superstar" were released together as a double A-side single in the United Kingdom.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock Superstar
2000 singles
2000 songs
Columbia Records singles
Cypress Hill songs
Nu metal songs
Songs written by B-Real
Songs written by DJ Muggs
Songs written by Sen Dog
Song recordings produced by DJ Muggs