Tiny Harris Recalls Cypress Hill Suing Xscape Over Debut Album Title

Their debut album is a celebrated classic among R&B circles and earned them a platinum plaque, but Xscape’s Hummin’ Comin’ At Cha landed the group in legal trouble. For those that may not know, the record’s title is actually a lyric from Cypress Hill’s classic single “How I Could Just Kill a Man.” Tiny revealed that the rap group ended up taking them to court back in the 1990s over the use of their line.

Paras Griffin / Stringer / Getty Images

“It was definitely Jermaine [Dupri’s] idea,” Tiny told VladTV. “He had this idea of what he wanted us to be like and look like, so on and so on. He felt like, you know, us looking like little rappers and coming out singing like we sung was gonna be like a shocker, more so.” The idea for the title of their debut was straight from Dupri’s desk, but Cypress Hill ended up suing them. “We had to pay up.”

Tiny explained that Dupri wanted to use the phrase Hummin’ Comin’ At Cha because they were “like hummingbirds.” She added, “I get what he was thinking. It wasn’t necessarily what they were talking about” on the original Cypress Hill track. Tiny added that they got sued a few times and couldn’t remember how much they ended up paying the legendary rap group. Watch her discuss the title and lawsuit below.