CYPRESS HILL ALBUM FEATURES TOM MORELLO, DARON MALAKIAN AND MARC ANTHONY

I used to think of Cypress Hill as the AC/DC or Ramones of hip-hop, but that comparassion doesn't exactly work.  Both of those bands are great at one thing, and Cypress Hill does two: menacing sounding hip-hop and rock/hip-hop hybrids. So, it is no surprise that their next album, Rise Up, features Tom Morello, as well as System Of A Down leader Daron Malakian, as well as some dude from Linkin Park. They have also always been proud of their Latino roots, and they nod to that with some other guests: Mr. J-Lo Marc Anthony and Cheech & Chong even make an appearance. The album also features Everlast and Pete Rock. It's their first record for Priority Records: they were (allegedly) signed  by Snoop Dogg, who now is the public face of the label. Rise Up comes out April 6.

BEST OF THE 00's: RICK RUBIN

I have often expressed admiration of Rick Rubin 's production skills. If I were a producer, I'd like to be like him: hip-hop, metal, funk, punk, country, singer-songwriters, nothing is off limits, and he proved that again in the '00s.

He remained close collaborator of Johnny Cash, producing American III: Solitary Man and American IV: The Man Comes Around in the early years of the decade. I would argue that Cash's American series of albums are nearly as good as anything he'd ever done, obviously American IV's cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" was one of the greatest moments of an incredible career. Rick also curated the incredible Unearthed box set, allowing fans to hear some of the incredible things that didn't make the American albums. He's also been the keeper of the Cash flame, releasing American V: A Hundred Highways, which featured "God's Gonna Cut You Down" (and now there's word that 2010 will see the final album from the American sessions, American VI: Ain't No Grave.

Rick started working with Tom Morello, who certainly was paying attention to Rubin's rap/rock/metal hybrids in the '80s. Rubin produced Rage Against The Machine's final album, the all-covers Renegades, as well as their posthumously released live album, Live At The Grand Olympic Auditorium (which turned out to be the band's final shows before reuniting years later). Rubin hooked Morello and Rage mates Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk up with ex-Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell and produced the first Audioslave album.

One of Rick's supposed talents is to discover new talent, and I don't know how much he's done that in the past decade, but one band he did work with early on is System Of A Down, who are one of the best metal bands around (even though they seem to be on hiatus at the moment). Rick signed them to his American Recordings, and has produced their albums, including (this decade) Toxicity (which, bizarely, hit #1 on 9/11), Steal This Album! and Hypnotize and Mesmerize.  Another younger band in the heavy guitar category he worked with The Mars Volta on their De-Loused In The Comatorium album.

He remained the go-to guy for The Red Hot Chili Peppers (having worked with them ever since 1991's BloodSugarSexMagik), producing the excellent By The Way and the maybe-too-long double album Stadium Arcadium. I really hope they work with him on the next one, which will be their first since guitarist John Frusciante quit (again).

He briefly returned to hip-hop, producing a cover of Ice-T's "99 Problems" for Jay-Z's "final" record, The Black Album. It may be Jay's finest moment. Less successful was his "Better Than I Ever Been" track that he produced for Nike, featuring Kanye West, Nas and KRS-One (DJ Premier later did a better remix which also featured Rakim).

Rubin also veered closer to the mainstream, producing Shakria's Oral Fixation albums, which included her huge hit collaboration with Wyclef Jean, "Hips Don't Lie." There was also The Dixie Chicks' album Taking The Long Way featuring the classic "Not Ready To Make Nice." And he tried to give Neil Diamond a new credibility by doing some American Recordings type stripped down albums with him. He also worked with Weezer, Wallflowers frontman Jakob Dylan on his first solo album, a new-ish Americana-type band called The Avett Brothers who I need to write more about, and The Gossip. And of course, Metallica's triumphant comeback album, Death Magnetic. He also produced some tracks with U2, but the full album he worked on with them remains in the vaults.  And he is apparently working with Crosby Stills & Nash and ZZ Top at the moment. Will he discover more LL Cool J's, Run-D.M.C.s, Public Enemys, Slayers and System of a Downs in the '00s? That's what will be interesting to see.

NOT "SO WRONG" - NEIL YOUNG

There's a new book out called So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits -- and the President -- Failed on Iraq by a writer named Greg Mitchell. It's mostly about how the mainstream media cowered before the Rove/Cheney/Bush II administration though much of the current gulf war. The book cites a few journalists who didn't back down, you can read an article by Mitchell here.

Alongside real journalists, noted conservative commentator and ice cream flavor Stephen Colbert was mentioned, as was Neil Young, mainly thanks to his Living With War album. Which reminded me, I really am looking forward to Neil's doc from Crosby Stills Nash & Young's 2006 tour, Deja Vu. I wonder if any of the people who criticized/booed/damned him now realize that, hey, he had a point. I recently read an interview with Serj Tankian of System Of A Down, a very well informed artist and humanist. In the days after 9/11, he wrote an essay called "Understanding Oil," and was called a traitor, and several radio stations dropped his music. (Read the essay here.) Now, he says, people apologize to him and admit that they were wrong to attack him.

Back to Neil's Living With War: I don't think it holds up as well as, say, "Ohio," or even "Rocking In The Free World," but I'm glad he said what he did.