House of Pain
Encyclopedia
House of Pain is an American
hip hop
group who released three album
s in the 1990s before lead rapper Everlast left to pursue his solo career again. The group's name is a reference to the H.G. Wells novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, a reference carried further by the naming of their 2011 tour "He Who Breaks the Law." The group is best known for its 1992 hit single
"Jump Around
", which reached #3 in the United States
, #6 in Ireland
and #8 in the United Kingdom
. The group broke up in 1996 but reformed in 2010 as House of Pain, after the trio had been members of supergroup
La Coka Nostra
for several years.
teamed up with DJ Lethal
and high school friend Danny Boy to form House of Pain. The group was signed to Tommy Boy Records
, and their House of Pain debut album (1992) went multi-platinum, spawning the successful DJ Muggs
produced single "Jump Around
". This song was also remix
ed twice by Pete Rock
, one version featuring a verse from him and one without. The album also featured Cypress Hill
member, B-Real
, on the song "Put Your Head Out".
Fashioning themselves as rowdy Irish-American
hooligans (although Lethal is Latvian American), they toured with various rap and alternative-rock bands after their breakthrough. They participated together with Helmet
, along with several other rap acts, on the 1993 rock-rap collaborative Judgment Night
film
soundtrack
.
, went gold despite minimal airplay and no major hits. The first single, "On Point," is noted for taking a swipe at another American rapper with a strong Irish heritage, "Marky Mark" (Mark Wahlberg
) ("Calvin Klein's no friend of mine/So I don't like Marky"). Like Cypress Hill
, who, with House of Pain, were a part of the loosely-affiliated Soul Assassins
posse, they found urban radio airplay an increasingly closed path, which affected album sales.
, which featured guest appearances by rappers Sadat X
of Brand Nubian
, Guru
of Gang Starr
, producer/rapper Divine Styler
and reggae singjay Cockni O'Dire (credited as the Scheme Team). On the release date of the album, Everlast announced his departure from the group.
band Limp Bizkit
, who would cover
"Jump Around" at live concerts, particularly in Limp Bizkit's early years during the Family Values Tour 1998
. Everlast achieved multi-platinum solo fame in 1998 with his album Whitey Ford Sings the Blues
. The first single from that album was "What It's Like
". In 2000, a feud between Everlast and rapper Eminem
coincided with the gold-selling Eat at Whitey's
, which included minor hits "Black Jesus" and "Black Coffee", and featured a collaboration with Carlos Santana
. After the sale of the Tommy Boy Records' master tapes to Warner Bros. Records
, Everlast signed with Island/Def Jam, and released the solo LP White Trash Beautiful
in 2004.
Later the same year Rhino Records, a subdivision of Warner Music, released a hit collection, Shamrocks & Shenanigans
, with singles from Everlast's early solo days, the House of Pain and his post-group solo efforts. Before the release, Everlast announced on his official message board that he was not endorsing the compilation album
.
Founded by Danny Boy in early 2006, La Coka Nostra
reunited him, Everlast and DJ Lethal for the first time since House of Pain's split. Other group members include Ill Bill
of Non Phixion
, and newcomer Slaine
.
. In April–May 2011 House of Pain attended the Groovin' the Moo
touring festival in Australia, and also performed at Scotland
's T in the Park
Festival on 9 July 2011, as well as Sonisphere UK Festival on 12 July of the same year.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
group who released three album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s in the 1990s before lead rapper Everlast left to pursue his solo career again. The group's name is a reference to the H.G. Wells novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, a reference carried further by the naming of their 2011 tour "He Who Breaks the Law." The group is best known for its 1992 hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
"Jump Around
Jump Around
"Jump Around" is the title of a song by the band House of Pain, produced by DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill. This song became a hit in 1992, reaching Number 3 in the USA. A 1993 re-release of the song in the UK, where the original had been a minor hit, peaked at Number 8. On VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of...
", which reached #3 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, #6 in Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and #8 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The group broke up in 1996 but reformed in 2010 as House of Pain, after the trio had been members of supergroup
SuperGroup
SuperGroup is a 2006 reality show on VH1 that follows five well-known hard rock and heavy metal musicians over a 12-day period where they live together in a Las Vegas mansion in order to create, plan and perform a live show together...
La Coka Nostra
La Coka Nostra
La Coka Nostra is an American hip hop group composed of Everlast, DJ Lethal, Danny Boy, Ill Bill and Slaine.- Biography :Founded in late 2005 with no intention to record an album, La Coka Nostra was more a loose collective of artists connected through Danny Boy than a group...
for several years.
Rise to fame (1991-1993)
After a successful solo career, EverlastEverlast (musician)
Erik Francis Schrody , better known by his stage name Everlast, is a Grammy Award-winning American rapper and songwriter, known for his solo hit "What It's Like" and as the front-man for rap group House of Pain. He is also part of the hip-hop supergroup La Coka Nostra, which consists of members of...
teamed up with DJ Lethal
DJ Lethal
Leor Dimant , better known as DJ Lethal, is a turntablist and producer and member of the bands Limp Bizkit, House of Pain and La Coka Nostra.-Early life:Leor Dimant was born in Riga, Latvia, when this country was still part of the Soviet Union...
and high school friend Danny Boy to form House of Pain. The group was signed to Tommy Boy Records
Tommy Boy Records
Tommy Boy Entertainment is an independent record label started in 1981 by Tom Silverman.-History:...
, and their House of Pain debut album (1992) went multi-platinum, spawning the successful DJ Muggs
DJ Muggs
Lawrence Muggerud , better known as DJ Muggs, is Cypress Hill's DJ and producer. He also produced tracks for Funkdoobiest on the albums Which Doobie U B? and Brothas Doobie.-Cypress Hill :...
produced single "Jump Around
Jump Around
"Jump Around" is the title of a song by the band House of Pain, produced by DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill. This song became a hit in 1992, reaching Number 3 in the USA. A 1993 re-release of the song in the UK, where the original had been a minor hit, peaked at Number 8. On VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of...
". This song was also remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
ed twice by Pete Rock
Pete Rock
Peter Phillips , better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth...
, one version featuring a verse from him and one without. The album also featured Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
member, B-Real
B-Real
Louis Freese, better known by his stage name B-Real, is an American rapper of Cuban and Mexican heritage, and a film and TV actor...
, on the song "Put Your Head Out".
Fashioning themselves as rowdy Irish-American
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
hooligans (although Lethal is Latvian American), they toured with various rap and alternative-rock bands after their breakthrough. They participated together with Helmet
Helmet (band)
Helmet is an alternative metal band from New York City formed in 1989. Founded by vocalist and lead guitarist Page Hamilton, Helmet has had numerous lineup changes, and Hamilton has been the only constant member....
, along with several other rap acts, on the 1993 rock-rap collaborative Judgment Night
Judgment Night (film)
Judgment Night is a 1993 action thriller film directed by Stephen Hopkins and starring Emilio Estévez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jeremy Piven and Stephen Dorff as a group of friends on the run from a group of drug dealers after they witness a murder...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
.
Same As It Ever Was (1994-1995)
Their follow-up album, 1994's Same As It Ever WasSame As It Ever Was
Same as It Ever Was is the second album from House of Pain, released in 1994 .-Track listing:...
, went gold despite minimal airplay and no major hits. The first single, "On Point," is noted for taking a swipe at another American rapper with a strong Irish heritage, "Marky Mark" (Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
) ("Calvin Klein's no friend of mine/So I don't like Marky"). Like Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
, who, with House of Pain, were a part of the loosely-affiliated Soul Assassins
Soul Assassins
Soul Assassins are a loose collective of musicians and graphic artists affiliated to the hip hop group Cypress Hill, formed in the early 1990s. It is also the name of Cypress Hill's publishing company....
posse, they found urban radio airplay an increasingly closed path, which affected album sales.
Truth Crushed to Earth Shall Rise Again (1996)
House of Pain abruptly broke up in 1996 after the release of their third album, Truth Crushed to Earth Shall Rise AgainTruth Crushed To Earth Shall Rise Again
Truth Crushed to Earth Shall Rise Again is the third album from House of Pain, released in 1996 .-Track listing:#"The Have Nots" - 4:24#"Fed Up" - 5:01#"What's That Smell" - 3:04#"Heart Full of Sorrow" - 3:44...
, which featured guest appearances by rappers Sadat X
Sadat X
Sadat X is an American rapper, most famed as a member of Alternative hip hop group Brand Nubian. Originally known as Derek X, Sadat takes his name from former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat....
of Brand Nubian
Brand Nubian
Brand Nubian is an American hip hop group from New Rochelle, New York, consisting of three MC's: Grand Puba , Sadat X and Lord Jamar , and two DJs: DJ Alamo and DJ Sincere...
, Guru
Guru (rapper)
Keith Edward Elam , better known by his stage name Guru, was an American emcee and member of the hip-hop duo Gang Starr, along with DJ Premier. He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts...
of Gang Starr
Gang Starr
Gang Starr was an influential East Coast hip hop duo that consisted of the late MC Guru and DJ/producer DJ Premier. Their style combined elements of New York jazz and hip hop.-Background:...
, producer/rapper Divine Styler
Divine Styler
Divine Styler is an alternative hip hop artist from Brooklyn, New York.-History:He first emerged as part of Ice-T's Rhyme Syndicate. His first LP, Word Power, was hailed by critics and fans, but was not a commercial success. His second album, the wildly experimental Spiral Walls Containing Autumns...
and reggae singjay Cockni O'Dire (credited as the Scheme Team). On the release date of the album, Everlast announced his departure from the group.
Split, solo and current affairs (1997-2009)
From then on, the members continued their separate careers. Danny Boy founded an art company. DJ Lethal became a member of nu metalNu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
band Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 1995, the group's lineup consists of Fred Durst , Wes Borland , Sam Rivers , John Otto and DJ Lethal . The band achieved mainstream success with their second studio album Significant Other, released in 1999...
, who would cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
"Jump Around" at live concerts, particularly in Limp Bizkit's early years during the Family Values Tour 1998
Family Values Tour 1998
The 1998 Family Values Tour was the first edition of the critically acclaimed fall music tour that initially combined nu metal, alternative metal, and rap acts...
. Everlast achieved multi-platinum solo fame in 1998 with his album Whitey Ford Sings the Blues
Whitey Ford Sings the Blues
Whitey Ford Sings the Blues is the second solo album by singer-songwriter-emcee Everlast, and the first one following his departure from House of Pain...
. The first single from that album was "What It's Like
What It's Like
"What It's Like" is a single from Everlast's 1998 album Whitey Ford Sings the Blues. The song is typical of the style Everlast embraced after leaving hip-hop trio House of Pain, being a combination of rock, hip-hop and blues incorporating characterization and empathy towards impoverished...
". In 2000, a feud between Everlast and rapper Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
coincided with the gold-selling Eat at Whitey's
Eat at Whitey's
Eat at Whitey's is the third solo album by Everlast. It features guests collaborations with Carlos Santana, B-Real, Rahzel, N'Dea Davenport, Cee-Lo, Warren Haynes, and Kurupt. The lead single was "Black Jesus."-Track listing:# "Whitey" – 1:35...
, which included minor hits "Black Jesus" and "Black Coffee", and featured a collaboration with Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
. After the sale of the Tommy Boy Records' master tapes to Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, Everlast signed with Island/Def Jam, and released the solo LP White Trash Beautiful
White Trash Beautiful
White Trash Beautiful is the fourth album by Everlast, released internationally on May 25, 2004 and a day later in the United States on Island Records. It has sold about 124,000 copies in the US.-Track listing:# "Blinded by the Sun" Feat. Sheree Brown...
in 2004.
Later the same year Rhino Records, a subdivision of Warner Music, released a hit collection, Shamrocks & Shenanigans
Shamrocks & Shenanigans
Shamrocks & Shenanigans - The Best of House of Pain and Everlast is a best-of album from House of Pain and its former lead rapper Everlast, which was released in 2004.-Track listing:# "Jump Around" — House of Pain...
, with singles from Everlast's early solo days, the House of Pain and his post-group solo efforts. Before the release, Everlast announced on his official message board that he was not endorsing the compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
.
Founded by Danny Boy in early 2006, La Coka Nostra
La Coka Nostra
La Coka Nostra is an American hip hop group composed of Everlast, DJ Lethal, Danny Boy, Ill Bill and Slaine.- Biography :Founded in late 2005 with no intention to record an album, La Coka Nostra was more a loose collective of artists connected through Danny Boy than a group...
reunited him, Everlast and DJ Lethal for the first time since House of Pain's split. Other group members include Ill Bill
Ill Bill
William Braunstein, better known as Ill Bill, is a American rapper and record producer from Brooklyn, New York. Having gained notoriety in the underground hip hop group Non Phixion, Ill Bill is known for his hardcore lyrics and as the producer, founder and CEO of Uncle Howie Records...
of Non Phixion
Non Phixion
Non Phixion was a New York-based hardcore hip-hop group.-History:In late 1994, MC Serch took his protege Sabac and teamed him up with DJ Eclipse and Ill Bill, thereby creating the group known as Non Phixion. Within six months Goretex, a childhood friend of Ill Bill, had joined the crew after...
, and newcomer Slaine
Slaine (rapper)
George Carroll, born 1977 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and better known as Slaine, is an Irish-American hip hop MC and actor. He is best known for his work in the groups Special Teamz and La Coka Nostra .Slaine has appeared on several solo mixtapes and...
.
Reunion and new album (2010-present)
It was officially announced on August 10, 2010, that House of Pain had reunited and performed their first show in a decade at the second annual Epicenter Music Festival in Fontana, California, on September 25, 2010. Though Lethal is still a member of the group, he did not join them on their 2011 reunion tour due to prior obligations with Limp BizkitLimp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 1995, the group's lineup consists of Fred Durst , Wes Borland , Sam Rivers , John Otto and DJ Lethal . The band achieved mainstream success with their second studio album Significant Other, released in 1999...
. In April–May 2011 House of Pain attended the Groovin' the Moo
Groovin' the Moo
Groovin' The Moo is an annual music festival held at various 'regional centres' across Australia during the middle of the year.-History:The first incarnation of the festival occurred on the 24th of April 2005 at the Gloucester Showgrounds with crowds of over 1400, continuing to Narrandera with...
touring festival in Australia, and also performed at Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
's T in the Park
T in the Park
T in the Park is a major British music festival that has been held annually since 1994. It is named after its main sponsor, the brewing company Tennents. It was originally held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire but since 1997 has been held at a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire...
Festival on 9 July 2011, as well as Sonisphere UK Festival on 12 July of the same year.
Discography
- House of Pain (1992)
- Same as It Ever WasSame As It Ever WasSame as It Ever Was is the second album from House of Pain, released in 1994 .-Track listing:...
(1994) - Truth Crushed to Earth Shall Rise AgainTruth Crushed To Earth Shall Rise AgainTruth Crushed to Earth Shall Rise Again is the third album from House of Pain, released in 1996 .-Track listing:#"The Have Nots" - 4:24#"Fed Up" - 5:01#"What's That Smell" - 3:04#"Heart Full of Sorrow" - 3:44...
(1996)