Lick a Shot
{{Infobox song
| name = Lick a Shot
| cover = Lick_a_Shot.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Cypress Hill
| album = Black Sunday
| B-side = Scooby Doo
| released = 1994
| format =
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Hardcore hip hop
| length = 3:23
| label =
| writer =
| producer = DJ Muggs
| prev_title = I Ain't Goin' Out Like That
| prev_year = 1993
| next_title = Throw Your Set in the Air
| next_year = 1995
}}
"Lick a Shot" is a UK exclusive single by American hip hop group Cypress Hill, released in 1994 by Ruffhouse and Columbia Records. The song originally appeared on the group's second album, Black Sunday (1993) and reached number 20 on the UK Singles Chart. It was written by group members Louis Freese and Lawrence Muggerud and produced by the latter. "Lick a Shot" was interpolated at the end of the Korn song "Blind".
Critical reception
Upon the release, pan-European magazine Music & Media commented, "Watch out, Los Hermanos are aiming their verbal machine guns at your heads again. Still not insane from these "gangstas" on spliff?"{{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1994/MM-1994-04-02.pdf|title=New Releases: Singles|magazine=Music & Media|volume=11|issue=14|date=April 2, 1994|page=11|access-date=April 25, 2025}} James Hamilton from the Record Mirror Dance Update described it as a "rasping gruff unison rap chanter" in his weekly dance column.{{cite magazine|first=James|last=Hamilton|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1994/Music-Week-1994-05-07.pdf|title=DJ directory|magazine=Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert)|date=May 7, 1994|page=7|access-date=May 10, 2025|author-link=James Hamilton (DJ and journalist)}} Gareth Grundy from Select wrote that it "wouldn't offend anyone, though, DJ Muggs' beats might be the most distinctive and imaginative in the field, but like most of the band's Black Sunday album, this is a fairly whitey-friendly version of gangsta rap."{{cite magazine|first=Gareth|last=Grundy|url=https://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2012/03/singles2.jpg|title=New Singles|work=Select|date=June 1994|page=96|access-date=December 22, 2024}} Another Select editor, Adam Higginbotham, noted that "fat, acoustic sounds predominate" on tracks like 'Lick a Shot'.{{cite magazine|first=Adam|last=Higginbotham|url=https://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2013/03/albums2.jpg|title=New Albums|work=Select|date=August 1993|page=102|access-date=January 3, 2025|author-link=Adam Higginbotham}}
Track listing
{{tracklist
| title1 = Lick a Shot
| note1 = Album Version
| length1 = 3:23
| title2 = Lick a Shot
| note2 = Clean Version
| length2 = 3:23
| title3 = Lick a Shot
| note3 = instrumental hook
| length3 = 3:23
| title4 = Lick a Shot
| note4 = instrumental
| length4 = 3:23
| title5 = Lick a Shot
| note5 = vocal UD version
| length5 = 3:30
| title6 = Scooby Doo
| length6 = 3:39
}}
Charts
References
{{reflist}}
{{Cypress Hill}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Ruffhouse Records singles
Category:Columbia Records singles
Category:Hardcore hip-hop songs
Category:Songs written by DJ Muggs