Happy 30th Anniversary to House of Pain’s debut album House of Pain (Fine Malt Lyrics), originally released July 21, 1992.
When it comes to hip-hop reinventions, few have been as fruitful as Erik “Everlast” Schrody. When he joined Daniel “Danny Boy” O’Connor and Leor “DJ Lethal” Dimant to form House of Pain in the early 1990s, he shed his image as a clean-cut, non-controversial Caucasian rapper. Instead, the three fashioned themselves identities as beer-drinking, weed-smoking Irish-American hooligans. Career-wise, it was the best decision Everlast ever made. When the crew released its debut album, House of Pain (Fine Malt Lyrics), 30 years ago, they struck a pop-culture chord and sold a lot of records, while releasing one of the most memorable hits of the decade.
Everlast got his start with Ice-T’s Rhyme Syndicate as a teenager, signing a deal with Warner Bros., putting out a few stand-alone cuts, and appearing on Ice-T’s The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech… Just Watch What You Say! (1989). In a post-Beastie Boys world, he was a blow-dried white guy who wore a suit that looked a few sizes too big for him. With Lethal serving as his DJ, he released Forever Everlasting (1990). It featured relatively decent singles “I Got the Knack” and “The Rhythm,” as well as early appearances by the Brand New Heavies’ N’Dea Davenport (credited as Diva) and production from QDIII (a.k.a. Quincy Jones’ son). However, the album didn’t make much of an impact, and Everlast was dropped by Warner Bros. not long after.
Everlast later reunited with high school friend Danny Boy in an effort to relaunch their respective careers. Danny Boy was a graffiti artist who had been dabbling with making music with various punk rock groups and had come up with “House of Pain” as a possible name for a crew.
Together, Everlast and Danny Boy decided to center their music around their ethic identities. They recorded music expressing pride for their heritage, using popular Irish-American iconography. Everlast shaved his head, grew a goatee, and started rocking Celtics jerseys in videos and photo shoots On record, Everlast morphed from a “poetical demigod with skin that’s fair” to “a descendant of Dublin with titanic skill.” Or a “Celtic savage making cabbage.” Or a “corn-fed, peckerwood, redneck cracker, white bread, shit-kicking Irish beat jacker.” The group signed with Tommy Boy Records soon after.
To their credit, House of Pain successfully walked a pretty difficult line and never crossed it. House of Pain were far from the first group of white rappers to get a record deal, but very few credible ones used their whiteness as a selling point. Even though the Beastie Boys fashioned themselves as Long Island frat boy loud-mouths on Licensed To Ill (1986), it was a “costume” for them, and one they grew quickly uncomfortable with. 3rd Bass earned acclaim in the late 1980s/early 1990s, but they positioned themselves as products of the competitive New York club scene. A group of white guys unironically championing their Irish heritage was something novel to world of hip-hop.
In the 2020s, expressing pride for “Celtic heritage” is often coded language for deplorable people to express their equally deplorable views on race. But when House of Pain released their debut album, there was nary a whiff of questionable racial politics on the album. Everlast could say “Word to the Mother Land” on record, meaning Ireland, and faced negligible backlash. It helped that the group made clear their love for the artform and the pioneers that came before them. House of Pain might have gotten a little rowdy, but they took hip-hop culture seriously.
It certainly helped that the group was vouched for by Cypress Hill, one of the hottest and most respected crews in hip-hop at the time. Everlast and DJ Muggs had met each other through mutual acquittances, had struck up a friendship through music, and hung out a lot.
House of Pain was, for all intents and purposes, the Irish-American version of the Latino crew. Sen Dog has referred to both groups as “brother bands.” House of Pain’s rhymes were a little less centered on grim street reality, but both shared a similar blue-collar aesthetic. In terms of mic presence, Everlast’s gruff voice and delivery was as distinct as B-Real’s nasal tones. And much like their fellow crew members, they filled their rhymes with references to the joys of smoking good green.
Furthermore, both crews ended up appealing to the growing alternative rock crowd of the early 1990s. Sure, House of Pain’s whiteness aided that appeal, but the music they created on their debut album didn’t pander to the pop sensibilities of the time. However, they still managed to record some HUGE hits.
House of Pain is of course best known for “Jump Around,” which the group’s members have called “the ’Louie Louie’ of the ’90s.” It has become one of the most universally accepted and beloved hip-hop songs of all-time, a staple of sporting events, weddings, and proms. The blaring horn fanfare, sampled from Bob & Earl’s “Harlem Shuffle,” which opens the track, makes it instantly recognizable. “Jump Around” has scored countless films and movie previews, and somewhere in the world, as you’re reading this right now, it’s being sung drunkenly in a bar. It’s a rare hip-hop track that’s become a sports arena record, used by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the University of Wisconsin alike.
Muggs, who produced the track, initially created it with a very young Son Doobie of Funkdoobiest in mind, but it didn’t work out right. Muggs later offered the beat to Cypress Hill, Ice Cube, and Special Ed, who all passed. However, Everlast has noted that the beat that those others heard wasn’t the complete version of what would become the Platinum hit. Rather it was just the expertly chopped piano sample. What really took the beat to the next level was the addition of the horn blast/shout that appears as a constant refrain throughout the finished track. The source of the sample (and whether it’s a horn or vocal wail) is still under dispute. For his part, Muggs isn’t talking.
House of Pain also features the popular “Jump Around” remix, produced by Pete Rock. At the time, Rock was becoming in-demand for his remixing capabilities, and his “Blood Stain” mix of “Jump Around” is one of the best of this time period. Like many Pete Rock remixes of the era, it makes use of the horns from Lou Donaldson’s “Pot Belly” to great effect, enhancing the track’s soulfulness. Rock even adds a bonus verse of his own, at Everlast’s request. The remix might not share the O.G. version’s universal appeal, but it’s every bit as enjoyable.
“Shamrocks and Shenanigans,” the album’s second single, doesn’t share the same pop culture ubiquity, but it was still a successful follow-up. The beat, produced by DJ Lethal, shares similar gritty, dusty DNA as “Jump Around.” It also features a catchier hook, as the refrain of “Boom Shalok Lock Boom!” is practically built for call-and-response participation at their live shows.
You can also track the popularity and crossover appeal of House of Pain by the remixes of their singles. This time out, instead of going to hip-hop stalwart Pete Rock, the label enlisted Butch Vig. The Garbage co-founder and producer of Nirvana’s Nevermind (1991) transforms “Shamrocks and Shenanigans” into a hard rock anthem with his remix, complete with a guitar solo by Garbage bandmate Steve Marker. I may prefer the original version, but the remix got the attention of the Headbanger’s Ball crowd.
House of Pain’s sonic backdrop was put together by the aforementioned Muggs and Lethal, along with Funkdoobiest’s DJ Ralph Tha Funky Mexican. Songs like “Guess Who’s Back,” “Life Goes On,” and “One For the Road” rely heavily on their bluesy sound, making them ideal soundtracks for getting hammered at a local watering hole. These songs all serve as Everlast solo tracks, as he contributes the lion’s share of the verses on the album.
Danny Boy is an oft overlooked component of House of Pain. He’s not a top tier emcee, but he’s still entertaining in his own right. He also exhibits solid interplay with Everlast throughout the album. “Danny Boy, Danny Boy” starts off like the group’s version of Eazy-E’s “Ruthless Villain,” with Everlast heralding Danny Boy’s dopeness, while the two bounce off each other throughout the two-minute track, before giving a serviceable rendition of the Irish folk song that the track shares its title with. They later go line for line on the rowdy “Put on Your Skit Kickers,” with Danny Boy kicking lines like, “I'm laying out fools like kitchen tile / You come around with a frown, and you’ll leave in a pile.”
While House of Pain often emphasized energy over lyricism, Everlast could be an extremely adept emcee when he set his mind to it. His lead-off verse on “Top O’ the Morning to Ya” is the best on the album, and one of the best of his career. “I ducked and I swing, next thing your jaw's broken,” he raps. “Punk I ain't joking, you can bet you'll be choking / On a fist full of nothing, meanwhile I'll be puffing / On a fat blunt, what punk? You don't know the half / Trying to talk shit, man, please don't make me laugh.” Lethal hooks up an equally funky upbeat track, laced with a thrumming bassline and soulful harmonica sample.
Meanwhile, “Come and Get Some of This” is the darkest and most somber track on the album. In the midst of all the hip-hop drinking music, Ralph hooks up a track that’s pretty subdued. Everlast matches the beat’s energy with an unsarcastically laid-back delivery, promising to bring it to his rivals on the mic or in the street. He’s similarly methodical on the more sinister “House of Pain Anthem,” promising, “The caps that I'll be popping, they'll have your body dropping / You thought you knew the deal, but now you feel your heartbeat stopping.”
House of Pain collaborate with their Soul Assassin cohorts a pair of times. The Muggs-produced “Put Your Head Out,” is a gritty duet between Everlast and B-Real. The itchy beat was originally intended for a remix of “Hand on the Pump.” Regardless, the track works better as the soundtrack for Everlast and B-Real serving up their enemies.
Less successful is “House and the Rising Son,” Everlast’s pairing with the aforementioned Son Doobie of Funkdoobiest. The horn-heavy DJ Lethal track works well, but it’s apparent that Son Doobie needed more seasoning at that particular point of his career. From content to cadence, he seemed to be channeling an inferior version of Das EFX, stringing together lukewarm pop culture references with no real structure. Fortunately, the Funkdoobiest frontman would improve as his career progressed.
House of Pain was groundbreaking as a group, inspiring other white hip-hop artists and crews that have gone on to record albums or build careers around their ethnic identity. Some, like Lordz of Brooklyn, are best consigned to the $1 bins of history. But it’s hard to imagine a world where Bubba Sparxxx’s outstanding sophomore album Deliverance (2001) was recorded without House of Pain coming before him. Your Old Droog’s Jewelry (2019) and Dump YOD (2020), where he explores his Jewish and Russian/Ukrainian background respectively, share some similar DNA as House of Pain.
House of Pain was certified Platinum and began a respectably dope career for the group. The crew has a fairly underappreciated discography, as Everlast continued to improve as an emcee on future releases (even as Danny Boy faded to the background). Neither Same As It Ever Was (1994) and Truth Crushed To Earth Shall Rise Again (1996) were as successful as the group’s debut album, but both showed continued growth and aptitude of the participants.
Everlast would go through two more reinventions during his career. The first a as rap-rock-blues singer/songwriter solo artist, which led him to a multi-platinum album and some of the biggest accolades of his career. The second as one of the leaders of La Coka Nostra, a veritable white rapper supergroup made up of all three members of House of Pain, Boston-born Slaine, and members of NYC’s Non Phixion. Meanwhile, Lethal would enjoy success as the DJ for rock-rap poster children Limp Bizkit, a role he’s served for over 20 years.
But no matter what other success that Everlast, Danny Boy, and Lethal find in other areas, everyone continues to associate them with House of Pain. Whether their group’s love for their culture has struck a chord with their listeners, or people just like jumping and getting wild, they achieved respect across many different backgrounds and age groups. And it takes a lot of talent to get crowds of tens of thousands jumping up and down, which is just how House of Pain should be celebrated for their achievements.
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