House of Pain
was an Irish-American hip-hop group who released three albums in the early to mid 1990s before lead rapper Everlast decided to pursue his solo career again. 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.
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HOUSE OF PAIN TICKETS
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Band history
Rise to fame
After a brief unsuccessful solo career,
Everlast teamed up with
DJ Lethal and high school friend
Danny Boy to form House of Pain (a name taken in from
H.G. Wells'
The Island of Dr. Moreau). The group was signed to
Tommy Boy Records, and their
eponymous debut album (1992) went multi-platinum, spawning the successful
DJ Muggs produced single "
Jump Around". This song was also remixed 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 (Lethal is actually of
Latvian heritage), 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 influential 1993 rock-rap collaborative
Judgment Night
movie soundtrack.
Second album and decline in popularity
Their follow-up album, 1994's
Same As It Ever Was
, 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.
Third album
House of Pain abruptly broke up in 1996 after the release of their third album,
Truth Crushed To Earth Shall Rise Again
, 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.
Split, solo and current affairs
From this point on, the status of the group would seem to be in the past tense, though the members would continue their careers separately. Danny Boy would found an art company. DJ Lethal became a member of
nu metal band
Limp Bizkit, who would cover the famous "Jump Around" at live concerts, particularly in Limp Bizkit's early years during the
Family Values Tour 1998. Everlast would finally get multi-platinum solo fame in 1998 with his acoustic rock/blues-inflected 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. Music, 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 is a new project that has 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 newcomers
Slaine and Big Left.
House of Pain have reunited for the hip-hop tour of 2009.
In popular culture
- "Jump Around" is played at various sporting events in North America, from football to hockey (best-known example is the student celebration occurring at the end of the third quarter of every Wisconsin Badgers home football game at Camp Randall Stadium). It is used in many television and cinema productions, such as in the 1993 film Mrs. Doubtfire or the TV series My Name Is Earl, and in commercials for Strongbow Cider in Australia, Mars Bar in the United Kingdom and for Pringles in the US. as well as the American film Black Hawk Down and in a Bridgestone tire commercial aired during 2009's NFL Super Bowl.
- The group was briefly featured on the 2002 VH1 program 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders
in where "Jump Around" got ranked #63 on the list.
- "Top o' The Morning to Ya" is used in the 2003 film Daredevil when Bullseye made his first appearance.
- In 2007, comedian Des Bishop had the lyrics translated into Irish (with the title "Léim thart") when working on the RTÉ series In the Name of the Fada.
- UFC Fighter Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis uses "Jump Around" as his entrance theme, preceded by a quote from the movie The Boondock Saints.
- "I'm A Swing It" is featured on the soundtrack of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 video game.
- "Top O' The Mornin' to Ya" was used in Heat when Vincent Hanna enters the club to meet Richard.
Discography
For a complete House of Pain discography, see external links.
Albums
Year
| Album
| Chart Positions
|
US
| US Hip-Hop
|
1992
| House of Pain
| 14
| 16
|
1994
| Same as It Ever Was
| 12
| 12
|
1996
| Truth Crushed to Earth Shall Rise Again
| 47
| 31
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EPs
Compilations
Year
| Album
|
2004
| Shamrocks & Shenanigans
|
Singles
- Jump Around / HOP Anthem (1992)
- Shamrocks & Shenanigans (US) (1992)
- Shamrocks & Shenanigans / Who's The Man (UK) (1992)
- Top O' The Morning To Ya (Remix) (1992)
- Who's The Man? (1993)
- Legend EP (US) (1994)
- On Point (1994) #19 UK
- Over There (I Don't Care) (1994) #20 UK
- It Ain't Crime / Word Is Bond (UK, CD 1/2) (1994) #37 UK
- Legend / It Ain't A Crime (UK, CD 2/2) (1994) #175 UK
- Word Is Bond / Legend 12" (1995)
- Pass The Jinn (1996)
- Fed Up / Heart Full Of Sorrow feat. Sadat X (1996) #68 UK
- Fed Up (Remix feat. Guru) (1996)
Soundtrack contributions
- Judgment Night
(1993) -- song with Helmet "Just Another Victim"
- Who's the Man?
(1993) -- song "Who's the Man"
- Kiss of Death
(1995) -- song "Jump Around"
- Eddie
(1996) -- song "Punch Drunk"
- Jerky Boys
(1995) -- song "Beef Jerky"
- Happy Gilmore
(1996) -- song "Jump Around"
- Daredevil
(2003) -- song "Top o' the Morning to Ya"
Other Celtic or Irish-styled Hip Hop artists
- Ashley MacIsaac
- Black 47
- Beltaine's Fire
- Emcee Lynx
- Manau
- Marxman
- Seanchai & the Unity Squad