B-Real, Sen Dog & DJ Muggs
by: Wikipedia
Life and career
Born to a Mexican father and an Afro-Cuban mother, B-Real moved with his sister and mother out of his father's home to South Gate before ending up in South Central Los Angeles. Before dropping out of Bell High School, he befriended future Cypress Hill members Sen Dog and Mellow Man Ace (who forewent staying with the group to go solo). Sen Dog, who was affiliated with the Bloods gang set known as "Neighborhood Family" [or South Swan Bloods], would later introduce B-Real into the set. B-Real became a drug dealer and gangbanger during his Blood affiliation. His lifestyle led to being shot in the lung by a .22 pistol in 1988. The shooting and subsequent hospitalization caused Sen Dog to rethink his priorities and take up a job as a department store security guard.
After being introduced to DJ Muggs by Julio G the KDAY Mixmaster, B-Real and Sen gained interest in Muggs' concept of an album based on experiences from Cypress Ave in South Gate. Thus, Cypress Hill was born. The group was signed with Ruffhouse/Columbia records in 1991, and made their influential debut in 1992. B-Real would use his life-threatening experiences as material for the group's self-titled debut album, and subsequent releases.
Cypress Hill's trademark sound - an eccentric combination of B-Real's exaggeratedly high-pitched nasal vocals and DJ Muggs' distinctive beats - led to the trio becoming the first Latin rap group to have Platinum and Multi-Platinum albums. They remain the best selling Latin rap artists to date.
Aside from Cypress Hill, B-Real has been involved in several other musical projects. In 2002, he teamed up with Mellow Man Ace and Son Doobie for the short-lived Serial Rhyme Killas, which released one 12" single in 2002. The group recorded a full-length debut album, entitled Deluxe Rapture, but it was never released. He is also associated with The Psycho Realm.
Solo projects
B-Real has released two mixtapes as a solo artist "Gunslinger" and "Gunslinger Vol. II". He is currently working on his first solo album, entitled Smoke In Mirrors.
B-Real has also collaborated with many other artists, including, KRS-One, House Of Pain, Kid Frost, Psycho Realm, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Coolio, Busta Rhymes, Method Man, Deftones, LL Cool J, Everlast, Warren G, Outkast, Dilated Peoples, The Alchemist, Tha Dogg Pound, DJ Quik, Wu-Tang Clan, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Subliminal Orphans, Fear Factory, Chino XL, Nas, D12, The Transplants and La Coka Nostra.
Trivia
- Was previously romantically involved with Carmen Electra.
- Can currently be found featuring on Snoop Dogg's new single, "Vato".
- On the Rage Against The Machine album "Renegades" B-Real and Cypress Hill join Rage onstage for a version of the song "How I could just kill a man".
- Appeared on the children's movie The Rugrats Movie along with Phife Dawg and others as newborn babies.
Sen Dog (born Senen Reyes, November 20, 1965, in La Habana, Cuba) is an Afro-Cuban rapper, and member of the well known rap group Cypress Hill. He is the older brother of fellow rapper Mellow Man Ace.
Sen Dog has been developing his own solo career in addition to his work with Cypress Hill. Along with his brother Mellow Man Ace, he formed the duo "The Reyes Brothers" and in October 2006 released the album "Ghetto Therapy." In addition to his work with Cypress Hill and Mellow Man Ace, he headlines a punk rock and rap fusion group known as SX-10, which is releasing its next album early 2006".[1]. In 2007 Sen Dog will also release his debut solo album, a second Reyes Brothers album in Spanish, and a new Cypress Hill album.
Background
DJ Muggs was first a member of the 7A3, a group that didn't manage to release an album before being dropped by their record label. He then formed Cypress Hill with B-Real and Sen Dog, a group became one of the most popular and influential hip hop groups of the 20th century. DJ Muggs also works as a producer and DJ for other artists such as House of Pain (song "Jump Around" and many others on the group's debut album), Tricky (album "Juxtapose"), Funkdoobiest (song "Bow Wow Wow" any many others), Ice Cube, KRS-One, Eminem, Everlast and MC Eiht.
In 2003, he released his solo album Dust, which somehow departed from the usual hiphop forumla, has a trip-hop/rock sound and features artists such as Greg Dulli, Amy Trujillo and Everlast on vocals.
DJ Muggs and Cypress Hill are part of an even bigger collective of musicians, graphic and other artists, the Soul Assassins, who have so far released two compilations albums, and another one is in planned for some time in future.
Today, DJ Muggs has his own Sirius satellite radio show on Shade 45 dubbed "Mash-Up Radio", a show where he and other DJs play their rock/rock blends. In 2005, he has founded the record label Angeles Records together with Self Scientific. One of the first releases on the label was DJ Muggs' collaboration album with GZA/The Genius of Wu-Tang Clan called The Grandmasters.
Technique
DJ Muggs' beats have been known for their dusty-sounding, eerie and soul-driven melodies. Most of Cypress Hill's production was minimalistic with hard-hitting drums and bass, looped throughout the song; the recent GZA album Grandmasters featured that production. In the later 90s/early 00s, Cypress Hill began incorporating rock more into their beats, coming away with a rap/rock sound akin to that of Rick Rubin. This gleaned spotty reactions from many fans, though just about as many praise the change.
Albums
- Tricky with DJ Muggs and Grease - Juxtapose (Island) (1999)
- Muggs - Dust (2003)
- DJ Muggs Vs. GZA - Grandmasters (2005)
Mixtapes
- DJ Muggs, 2003: Soul Assassins Mixtape Volume One
- DJ Muggs, 2003: Classic Mixtape Volume One
- DJ Muggs, 2004: Rock Superstar
- DJ Muggs & Chace Infinite, 2004: The Last Assassin
- DJ Muggs, 2005: Soul Assassins Take Aim
