Cypress Hill - Throw Your Set In The Air

What this video is

Released September 1995 as the lead single from Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom (Ruffhouse/Columbia), this video arrived at a pivotal inflection point when West Coast gangsta rap was commercially dominant but beginning to fracture. The song's title references gang-set hand signs, rooted in the group's South Gate/East L.A. origins and members' ties to street culture. The video's Buddhist imagery and temple motifs…

Why it matters

Represents Cypress Hill at peak artistic ambition, bridging the commercial accessibility of Black Sunday (1993) with the darker, more experimental direction of Temples of Boom. As one of the earliest major-label rap videos to embed Eastern mysticism into a gangsta rap visual framework, it is a…

The director

Joseph McGinty Nichol (born August 9, 1968, Kalamazoo, MI; raised Newport Beach, CA). Founded G Recordings label 1993. Built 50+ music video credits in the mid-1990s including Korn, Sublime, Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray, and The Offspring. Won Billboard Pop Video…