“Basically, most of the new stuff has more of a reggae style brought into the mix, and dancehall stuff, some ska,” says B-Real, lead rapper for Cypress Hill regarding their latest album, “Till Death Do Us Part.” “That added to the vibe [more] than going with the rap-metal vibe we were hitting on with the last records. There is a lot of live instrumentation, you know? Keyboard, bass, guitar, all that stuff.”
Cypress Hill has stood the test of time. Since 1986, Sen Dog, DJ Muggs and B-Real have applied a musical sensibility to rap and hip-hop beyond simple, repetitive beats and hooks. The group’s sound on earlier records–slow, rolling bass and drums from Muggs’ turntable, combined with streetwise words and animated vocals from Sen Dog and B-Real–influenced many artists. Refusing to settle on safe formulas, the group experimented with heavy guitars and ambient keyboards and added live percussion to their turntables-and-two-microphone live show. To the group, a foray into reggae seemed natural.
“Well, we’ve always listened to reggae and dancehall and dub reggae, and it just seemed like a good way to go,” B-Real says. “Once we tried it … you know, it’s all about having a good vibe the first time you try it. Being that a lot of us listen to Peter Tosh, Bob Marley and a countless amount of other groups, a lot of those songs were also hard-core type of songs. Hard-edged as far as that genre of music. Real gangster and story-driven.”
Hailing from South Central, L.A., Cypress Hill named themselves after a local street in their South Central, L.A., neighborhood. But it was New York rap that initially inspired them. “I think what inspired me to become a rapper was Run DMC, Kurtis Blow and L.L. [Cool J], back in the day, Ice T, hearing them do that [bleep] and emulating them and repeating their lyrics every time they came on,” B-Real says. “It was different than anything we had heard. In New York they had so much [bleep] going on, but for us in L.A. there was very little. So when we caught on to it, I mean we really caught on to it.”
As the group approaches nearly 20 years together, they are still going strong as a unit, but also leaving room for solo projects. DJ Muggs has released two Soul Assassins discs and is working on a third. Sen Dog is working on a solo record. B-Real is also working on an album with members of the Deftones and Fear Factory.
Cypress Hill
When: 9 p.m. Wednesday
Where: House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St.
Tickets: $30,
312-923-2000
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and alBerto Trevino (atrevino@tribune.com)
