Cypress
Hill
Members
:
| B-Real |
¡@ |
| DJ Muggs |
¡@ |
| Sen Dog |
¡@ |
| Bobo |
¡@ |
Official
web site : www.cypresshill.com
Band
Profile :
Cypress
Hill's founding members--B-Real, DJ Muggs and Sen
Dog--and Bobo (a full-time member since '94) continue to
walk it like they talk it on the two-CD set, Skull
& Bones, the group's fifth
full-length studio album which follows hot on the heels
of their well-received Spanish language album Los Grandes
Éxitos En Español, released December 7,
1999.
Celebrating the group's tenth anniversary, the 12 million
albums they've sold worldwide over the course of their
career, and the fact that every one of their preceding
studio albums has gone gold, platinum or multi-platinum,
the pioneering hip-hop group returns with a
double-pronged approach: one disc of straight-up,
state-of-the-art Cypress Hill style hip-hop and a second
platter full of propulsive rap-rock.
"We felt we needed a challenge," explains
B-Real about the decision to season their staple hip-hop
diet with rock spice on the new album. "Hip-hop
comes naturally to us. But we've been messing with the
alternative stuff since at least '92-'93, when we
recorded those tracks for the 'Judgment Night'
soundtrack. We felt that a lot of the stuff out there now
borrowed from what we were experimenting with way back
then."
Remember, this group played both Lollapalooza and
Woodstock, toured with Rage Against the Machine as their
warm-up act, and recorded with Sonic Youth and Pearl Jam.
Now, Cypress Hill are reclaiming the fan-base they
created themselves through years of touring, night after
night of galvanizing live performances, a fan-base the
current generation of rock stars with hip-hop roots
tapped right into.
Produced as always by sonic alchemist DJ Muggs for Soul
Assassins, the dual direction of Skull
& Bones can best be heard in
the unprecedented simultaneous release of two versions of
a song as singles--"[Rock] Superstar" and
"[Rap] Superstar"--to two different radio
formats. The song immediately took Alternative and
Hip-Hop radio by storm giving Cypress Hill their biggest
radio hit since "Insane In The Brain" led to a
#1 debut for the band's second album, 1993's Black
Sunday. As L.A.'s influential modern rock station KROQ-FM
added "(Rock) Superstar" well in advance of the
track's official add date, the City of Angel's urban
music outlets--KKBT ("The Beat") and
"Power 106"--began championing "(Rap)
Superstar." A piece of cautionary advice for
would-be rock and rap playas that the music business
isn't as glamorous as it looks and success doesn't come
without a whole lot of hard work, "Superstar"
incorporates spoken-word testimonials from longtime pal
Everlast and the Deftones' Chino Moreno on the rock
version and Eminem and Noreaga on the hip-hop variation.
"We needed to do something new," says B-Real,
who adds that the band decided to record the six rock
tracks having finished a full dozen straight-up hip-hop
tracks--eleven of which appear on the "Skull"
disc--the members of Cypress found themselves with a
little free time on their hands and plenty of new songs
left over. They called on some local friends like Fear
Factory's Dino Cazarres and Christian Olde Wolbers
("Get Out Of My Head"), Rage Against the
Machine drummer Brad Wilk ("Can't Get The Best Of
Me"), Andy Zambrano and Jeremy Fliner from Sen Dog's
own longstanding funk-metal side project, SX-10 ("A
Man") and Downset's Roy Lazano and proceeded to bust
loose with a hard, funky, industrial thrash that is as
jarring as it is welcome.
As B-Real explains, it was a natural progression from
playing some of the old stuff--like "I Ain't Going
Out Like That," "Cock the Hammer,"
"Lick A Shot," "Eye of A Pig,"
"Nothin' To Lose" and
"Checkmate"--with a rock-type line-up live
during the "Smoke Out" in San Bernardino late
last year. This Cypress-sponsored and headlined all-day
concert drew some 40,000 paying customers, according to
police estimates.
"We worked with some of the best musicians in this
city," exults DJ Muggs, who led them through their
paces. "They know what they're doing. They know the
Cypress sound. I let them have their rope. I wanted to
deepen the old Cypress Hill sound and tap into the rock
shit... keep it stripped-down in the verses and real
bass-driven. Boom, boom, boom...." Bobo is featured
drummer on five out of six tracks on the
"Bones" disc and will be alternating between
drums and his usual percussion on forthcoming tours.
Cypress Hill's loyal legion of hardcore hip-hop fans will
find what they're looking for on the "Skull"
disc, which features some of the best rhyming of the
group's long and illustrious career in such action-packed
joints as "Another Victory" ("I got you
stuck in the Twilight Zone of shit"), the sing-song
Latin ritmo of "Cuban Necktie" (which
seamlessly rhymes Devito, Pacino, Gambino, Vinnie
Barbarino, San Bernardino, Quentin Tarantino, El Sereno
and Soul Assassino), the hilarious record industry snap
of "Stank Ass Hoe" ("I got double-platinum
records on the wall/While you got double cheeseburgers in
your toilet stall"), the thugged-out
"Highlife" and, of course, it wouldn't be a
Cypress Hill album without the clipped dancehall tribute
to the herb, "Can I Get A Hit," which brings
new meaning to the term, "bogart."
"We're just taking a different street to the same
destination," says DJ Muggs about "Skull &
Bones." "I really don't give a f**k what other
people think. I don't make music for nobody but me... if
I like it, it's all good."
That's been the Cypress Hill philosophy since the group
took shape in 1988 in the Los Angeles suburb of Southgate
when the Havana-born Senen Reyes and his younger brother
Ulpiano Sergio (Mellow Man Ace) formed the rap quartet
DVX with an Italian-American transplant from Queens, N.Y.
named Lawrence Muggerud and L.A. native Louise Freese.
After Mellow Man split, DJ Muggs, B-Real and Sen Dog
dubbed the group Cypress Hill after Cypress Avenue, a
street running through their South Central L.A. home
turf. With a distinctive hardcore rapping style, dense
atmospheric music and its pro-hemp platform, Cypress Hill
began performing to mostly Latino audiences in and around
L.A.
The band's self-titled 1991 debut produced the college
radio hit, "How I Could Just Kill A Man." The
group's 1993 album, Black Sunday,
driven in part by the success of the Grammy-nominated
"Insane In The Brain," debuted at #1 in Billboard,
registering the highest first-week SoundScan sales for a
rap album to that point. In 1994, Cypress Hill appeared
at both Lollapalooza and Woodstock, where they debuted
their fourth full-time member, percussionist Eric Bobo,
son of salsa legend Willie Bobo. That same year, they
were named Best Rap Group by both critics and readers in
the annual Rolling Stone
poll. Headlining appearances on the Lollapalooza and
Smokin' Grooves tour and the best-selling albums III
(Temples of Boom) (1995), Released
& Revamped (EP, 1996), IV
(1998) and Los Grandes
Éxitos En Español
(1999) closed out the millennium for one of the most
influential groups in hip-hop history with nine gold,
platinum and multi-platinum certifications to their
credit.
With all that success, B-Real explains what keeps Cypress
Hill's eyes on the prize. "Most young groups today
don't have the proper knowledge of what it takes to be in
this game," he says. "We've always considered
this to be like sports. You can be a contender, a playoff
team or a champion. To do that, you have to consistently
work on your craft, your skill and your strategy. It's
not easy if you don't have a direction because somebody
will find one for you. Doing this record was the most fun
I've had in a long time. I was like a kid with a new
toy."
DJ Muggs calls it a timing thing. "You can be ahead
of your time and not get recognized or too late... This
was our plan all along, but we had to wait for the rest
of the world to catch up to us."
Skull & Bones
offers you a chance to get aboard the bandwagon before it
runs you over and flattens you out. As they put it in
"Worldwide": "You want to hang with us/You
want to bang with us/Cypress Hill worldwide/In Los
Angeles...."
It's an offer you don't want to refuse.
A
History of Cypress Hill
1988: Havana-born
Senen Reyes (Sen Dog) and younger brother Ulpiano Sergio
(Mellow Man Ace), who moved from Cuba to the L.A. suburb
of Southgate with their family in 1971, form rap group
DVX with Italian-American Queens, N.Y. transplant
Lawrence Muggerud (DJ Muggs) and Mexican-Cuban L.A.
native Louis Freese (B-Real). After Ace splits for a solo
career, the group renames itself Cypress Hill, named
after a street that runs through the South Central hood
they call home.
1990: The trio purvey their pro-pot message and hardcore
rapping style to mostly Latino audiences in and around
L.A., recording early demos of "The Phuncky Feel
One" and a song called "Trigga Happy
Nigga," which was renamed "How I Could Just
Kill A Man." The latter became the band's first hit
after they sign with Philadelphia's Ruffhouse label,
distributed by Columbia Records.
1991: Self-titled debut hits in November with such
classics as "I Wanna Get High,"
"Pigs," "Latin Lingo," "Tres
Equis" and "How I Could Just Kill A Man,"
all now with Spanish language versions on the brand-new Los
Grandes Éxitos En Español.
1992: First single, "The Phuncky Feel One," is
released, but the B-side, the gangsta rap classic
"How I Could Just Kill A Man," starts to get
college radio play and becomes the #1 most requested song
at influential urban station WBLS in New York. Cypress
Hill goes on to sell two million copies in U.S. DJ Muggs
begins producing career by helming House of Pain's
self-titled bow, then goes on to work with Funkdoobiest
and Beastie Boys. The band appears on the side stage at
Lollapalooza.
1993: Band's second album, Black
Sunday, debuts at #1 in Billboard,
registering highest first-week SoundScan sales for a rap
album up to that point, with hit single, "Insane In
The Brain," leading the way to double-platinum in
U.S. and 3.25 million worldwide. Group appears on
"Saturday Night Live," where they're banned
after Muggs lights up a blunt on-air while the group
trashes their equipment during the aptly titled second
number, "Ain't Goin' Out." Headlines "Soul
Assassins" club tour with House of Pain and
Funkdoobiest followed by college dates with 7 Year Bitch
and Rage Against the Machine, proving their versatility
and ability to entertain diverse audiences. Further proof
of which is their two collaborations on the hit
"Judgment Night" soundtrack with alternarock
gods Sonic Youth ("I Love You Mary Jane") and
Pearl Jam ("Real Thing").
1994: Following a U.K. tour, Cypress Hill appear on the
side stage at '94 Lollapalooza and at that summer's
Woodstock, introducing newest member, ex-Beastie Boy
percussionist Eric Bobo, son of salsa legend Willie Bobo.
Names Best Rap Group in Rolling Stone
Music Awards poll by readers and critics.
1995: Headlines Lollapalooza '95 with Hole, Sonic Youth,
Pavement, Sinéad O'Connor, Beck, the Jesus Lizard,
and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Contributed a track,
"I Wanna Get High," to Capricorn release of High
Times-sponsored Hempilation album to
benefit NORML (National Organization to Reform Marijuana
Laws). Third album, III (Temples
of Boom), debuts on charts at
#3, on its way to platinum-plus sales of more than 1.5
million U.S. Sen takes a break from touring with band to
form punk-rap band SX-10.
1996: Headlines shows with 311 and the Pharcyde before
hitting road with inaugural "Smokin"
Grooves" tour featuring Ziggy Marley, the Fugees,
Busta Rhymes and Tribe Called Quest. Release a nine-song
EP, Unreleased and Revamped,
with rare remixes never before available.
1997: Solo projects. Muggs cut a solo album, Muggs
Presents... The Soul Assassins,
with members of Wu Tang Clan, Dr. Dre, KRS-One, Wyclef
Jean, Mobb Deep and others. B-Real collaborates with
Busta Rhymes, Coolio, LL Cool J and Method Man on
"Hit "Em High," from multi-platinum Space
Jam soundtrack; hooks up with
Dr. Dre, Nas and KRS-One on "East Coast Killer, West
Coast Killer," from Dre's hit Aftermath
album, and records his solo bow, The
Psycho Realm, with L.A.-based
Latino rappers Duke and Jacken. Band once again
participates in "Smokin" Grooves" with
George Clinton and Erykah Badu among others.
1998: Sen Dog releases Get Wood
Sampler with punk-metal hybrid
SX-10 on Jordan Schur's Flip label, then returns to
Cypress Hill fold for band's fourth album, IV, and to
join them for yet another stint on "Smokin"
Grooves," this time with Wyclef Jean and the Refugee
Allstars, Gang Starr and Canibus. The new album goes gold
on the strength of the Latin-flavored smash,
"Tequila Sunrise," "Checkmate,"
"Nothin" To Lose" and the hemp-flavored
"Dr. Greenthumb," all of which are included on
the new Los Grandes
Éxitos En Español.
1999: The band turns down a spot on the
"Warped" tour to work on two albums at once at
Ameraycan Studios: their long-promised Spanish language
album, U>Los Grandes
Éxitos En Español,
released December 1999 and their fifth studio record, Skull
& Bones, due in stores,
April 25.
2000: Influential modern rock station KROQ-FM adds
"(Rock) Superstar" well in advance of the
track's official add date with stations across the nation
following suit. Meanwhile KKBT The Beat" and
"Power 106" in Los Angeles immediately began
championing "(Rap) Superstar" while tastemaking
DJ's Funkmaster Flex and Stretch Armstrong débuted
the track on NYC's influential "Hot 97."
( from cypresshill.com )
Discography :
-- Skull &
Bones
-- Los Grandes
Exitos En Espanol
-- IV
-- III Temples of
Boom
-- Black Sunday
Music :
Download at music download section
|
