Biograhpy

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The History of Cypress Hill

1. Biography
2. Band History
3. Interesting Facts

Biography of the band members:

B-Real
Real name: Louis Freese
He has one of the most easily recognized voices in the hip-hop world - a nasal voice that conveys sneering superiority, anger and aggression. He is of Mexican-Cuban origin and was born on the 2nd June 1970. Before Cypress Hill he was the only Latino kid gangbanger with the black kids in his neighborhood. In the 80's he dealt with break-dancing in his group the Street Dancers, street football and visited some house parties. B met Sen at school and began to hang out with his brother Mellow Man Ace. Before he dropped out of Bell High school he wanted to become a journalist and had dealt intensely with poetry and prose. "In East L.A., those school districts, regular schools, the teachers really gave a shit. I did OK in school, my grades were cool. But once I came over to Bell and Maywood - year round schools - I found that teachers didn't give a shit. Students were like crazy because there's so many kids in the school. The districts are always rotating kids. I wasn't used to this and the teachers didn't really give a shit. I didn't want to be there." That's when he separated from his father. B-Real, his mother and his sister moved to the Bell area and South Gate. Moreover he was a member of the South Central Blood Set Neighborhood Family. B-Real: "When I started banging it was something that just happened. I moved out to South-Central from Southgate, and 'cause Sen knew some brothers out there and was considered a part of Neighborhood Family, he introduced me to 'em. Members of my own family had always been involved with gangsterism, so it was easy for me to be attracted to it." At that time his poor relationship to his family reflects itself in his lyrics of Illusions: "Now shit is on the rise so my family despise me". Later he got into conflict with dealing crack: "I can't even write raps no more." Eventually in 1988 he landed in the Martin Luther King hospital because a .22 slug went into his back through his lung. He coughed up and swallowed blood. B-Real: "That shit stays imprinted in your mind always. I felt like I owed Sen and Muggs my life-they could have let me stay out there." He digested his experiences in the track Lick A Shot: "Where did that .22 come from? When the bullet past through my lung I've lost my breath I'm winded I've been hit, by a slug that wasn't intended" His body is studded with tattoos. For example a snarling tiger which was drawn in Amsterdam. A fire breathing dragon blames his travel to Tokyo. Several skulls were inspired by the macabre Cypress Hill logo. And there are twin harlequin faces over his right breast-one smiling, one weeping. The motto inscribed beneath is "smile now, cry later". A weed leaf decorates his right upper arm. By the way: He is a tidiness fanatic. Therefore it's easy to assume that his house in the Hollywood Hills above the Sunset Boulevard is clean as well. He owns a pool and several platinum albums, concert photos, Japanese swords and some tae kwon do belts decorate his living room. He often writes his rhymes in this room. His girlfriend and his friends stay in his house when the band is touring. The Vibe Magazine delivers some information about a conflict with three masked hoods after he has returned from Venice beach: "Me, like a dumb-ass, left the shotgun upstairs. There was no first line of defense. That's why I like these hills. The seclusion. I could make a quick call to Muggs and he'd block them off-that would be it." That's one reason why he has bought a sig-sauer 9 mm with night-vision sights and the Colt .380 B during the next day.

further information:
he lives in Sherman Oaks, California
he likes to play video games, especially “Madden, NFL”
reads a lot of books
believes in god
he drives a Chevy
likes gangster flicks, documentaries, autobiographies and somewhat spiritual
Public Enemy's Chuck D (real name: Carlton Ridenhour) is his idol
his son Chris was born August 27th 1986 (he became a father at 16) and B-Real isn't married
before completing IV he was together with Carmen Electra, later she was Dennis Rodman's girlfriend (now she is Rodman's ex)
B is a fan of the LA Lakers and the Chicago Bulls (despite Rodman)
often gives autographs on his female fan's breasts
has brown eyes
his mother is Cuban and his father is of Mexican descendent, but he grew up in Arizona but his family is from Durango, Mexico
smoked his first joint at the age of 13
would like to marry a German woman J

DJ Muggs
Real name: Lawrence Muggerud
DJ Muggs is Cypress Hill's trump card. He produces and arranges their tracks. Muggs certainly is one of the most important hip-hop producers of the present days. On January 28th 1968 he was born in Queens, New York. He is of Italian origin. He was inspired to become a DJ by break-dancing. At the age of 14 he moved from New York to Los Angeles and arranged '88 together with the hip-hop group 7A3 their debut The 7A3. He was their DJ and the brothers Brettie Bouldin and Sean Bouldin were emcees. The album was produced by Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo and both Public Enemy producers Hank Shocklee and Eric Sadler. Muggs: "They had a deal already. We did this club, and they were like, "Do you wanna come DJ for us", and I was like, "Bet". Then I did Mellow Man Ace's demo and got him signed. He acted like I did'nt have anything to do with it, and he went and did his thing." The first single was Party Time/Why?. Muggs had no equipment and 7A3's R&B influences were a pain in his neck. So he left the posse. 1984 he met Sen and B along with Julio G and started to hang out with them. He has been producing since 1989. He used to play baseball at high school and worked for his mother in a bar. He lives on Robertson Boulevard in LA which is just three minutes away from B-Real. As B-Real met him the first time in 1984 he said that “Muggs was that crazy guy who was a DJ and sold weed”. In 1997 he released his Muggs presents the Soul Assassins Chapter 1 compilation. His brother is DJ Estevan "Scandelos" Oriol, who often supports Cypress Hill's live performances. He sometimes stands in for him and takes pictures of their performances. Scandelos directed the Dr. Greenthumb video. In Oktober he want’s to release Soul Assassins: Chapter II.

further information:
produced remixes for U2, Me'Shell Ndegeocello and Janet Jackson
he and ex House Of Pain member DJ Lethal, who now works for Limp Bizkit, are owners of the production company "Soul Assassins"
produced House Of Pain's, moreover Ice Cube's The Predator album
had beef with Everlast and the remaining House Of Pain members because of their extravagant, wasteful lifestyle
favorite producer: Pete Rock and Marley Marl
favorite musicians: Marley Marl, EPMD and Ced Gee of Ultramagnetic, old Funk, Blues, Jazz, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and The Who
produced some Beastie Boys tracks
the recording of his Soul Assassins album began in July 1996
worked 1999 with trip-hopper Tricky on his album Juxtapose, which was released 16th August 1999
used to like PlayStation
can make good barbecues
has an Italian accent
the pipe on Ice Cube's Predator album cover used to belong Muggs
likes to smoke his weed at home and with some good music in the background
is told to visit sometimes strip bars

Sen Dog
Real name: Senen Reyes
Sen Dog is Cypress Hill's "echo". His dark deep throated voice with his strong Cuban accent draws a contrast to B-Reals nasal raps. Sen is coming from Cuba and was born in Havana November 20th in 1965 . His father used to teach at the university. Moreover his father was a salsa musician in the army and played several instruments such as flute, sax, trumpet, bass guitar and piano. Sennen met him at the age of 5 years at the airport for the first time. However, his mother was a Spanish gospel singer, who sang together with her son Sennen in church. His father refused to teach communism. So he was arrested. Family Reyes had to give up all their property and was forced to leave Cuba in 1971. At that time he was 6 years old. They moved to Los Angeles. He was influenced by his sister's music (LTD, The Bar-Kays and the Bee Gees). In the age of 14/15 he was influenced by Southgate block kids' musical flavour. He was fascinated of it. So he got in touch with music such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Soon his musical interest changed in the direction of Ska and The English Beat. When hip-hop was booming in 1981/1982 he listened to Treacherous 3, GMF, The Furious Five, Kurtis Blow, and of course Run-DMC. Sen Dog: "Fuck all this dance shit, let’s rap!" In 1988 he was sick of the street life and worked as security guard at JC Penney, a local. When he heard Run-DMC's It’s Like That, he began to rap in a group called DVX (Devastating Vocal Excellence). Members were his brother Mellow Man Ace, T-Funk (from the Funkdoobiest), B-Real and of course himself. B-Real and Sen quit DVX and met DJ Muggs in 1986 during the talent competition Three Palms in Hacienda Heights. During their track Real Estate Sen Dog jumped on the jury's table, which broke down due to his weight. The audience was filled with enthusiasm although Cypress looked upon their performance as an awful one. After the recording of III (Temples of Boom) he quit Cypress Hill in the ending of 95. He wanted to take care of his rap-metal group SX-10. He thought Cypress Hill had become too much systematic. He got replaced by the MC Shag. Good for Cypress, after three years he returned after his SX-10 album Get Wood Sampler (published on Jordan Schurs Flip label) to join the recording of IV in 98. You easily notice his experiences with SX-10 on IV. The longplayer contains much more guitar riffs than the first three ones. So he has returned to his roots: Cypress Hill. Another reason was his mother: "The main thing was my mom. We talked once or twice a day, and through our conversations she mentioned that she wanted to see me performing with B-Real and Muggs again. And I want my little daughter to know that I was part of this big-time group at one point." He already worked as manager and found his own production company. Delinquent Habits is one of his projects. You can hear his voice several times on their album. And he founded his own label Latin Thug Records where he released this year the newest SX-10 Album called Mad Dog American.

further information:
drives a BMW
owns his radiostation called "Soul Assassins Radio" and looks for new talents
vitals: 5‘ 10‘‘, 170 lb
has brown eyes
his caps often have the initials "S"
his family does not drink, swear and smoke
wants to show his kids how to roll a joint when they're grown up
likes Trent Reznor's group Nine Inch Nails and used to hear a lot Soundgarden
used to play College Football
during a concert he fell in front of Maria Carey on his bump
He’s together with Maggie Mendoza, they have a cute daughter called Dayzee Moon

Bobo
Real name: Eric Correa
Bobo has been Cypress Hill's percussionist since 1994 and plays the bongos. He partly supports B-Real and Sen Dog with his dark vocals. He used to work with the Beastie Boys and the Black Crowes. Cypress Hill met him while they were on tour with the Beastie Boys in 1992. Cypress Hill met Bobo in 1992 at a concert in Jacksonville while he was still playing for the Beastie Boys. Fred Durst from the band Limp Bizkit was on that concert too, but he wasn’t popular at that time. Muggs: "As latinos we thought it would be a good idea to build in some of this Latin Jazz Flavor." Bobo adds: “I was hanging out with Sen Dog. At that time they had no idea how to work with real musicians. But we're all latinos and we were on the same vibe since the beginning. So we moved closer together and we just started it.” Consequently the sleepy eyed guy became another band member in the end of 1994. Actually he was born in New York but after 13 months his family moved to Los Angeles.

further information:
he is son of the legendary Puerto Rican salsa musician Willie Bobo, who gave him his name Eric Bobo
he originally comes from Puerto Rico
he was born on August 27th
produced Delinquent Habits' track The Realm on their debut
smoked his first joint at the age of 15
he collects comic and likes to direct movies
one time he farted on stage
he’s got a gasmask bong
he’s featuring on a track on the SX-10 album

The History of the band Cypress Hill

The band has already existed since 1985. At that time they were called DVX (Devastating Vocal Excellence), a kind of prototype of Cypress Hill.
Sen Dog, B-Real and DJ Muggs named themselves after Cypress Avenue which runs across South Central in Los Angeles. At that time they lived in the Southgate area of South Central on the westcoast of California. Mostly Chicanos and Latinos lived in the area. The band has no typical east- or westcoast sound although Cypress Hill is coming from the westcoast.
In 1990 they got a 65.000 dollar record deal by Ruff House (Columbia/Sony) which is near a suburb of Philadelphia. Meanwhile the owners have retired.
In late 1991 their debut album Cypress Hill was published.
In 1992 their first single The Phunky Feel One was released and it was played on radio (it was not commercially available). But the b-side How I Could Just Kill A Man became one of the most-played songs of the New York radio station WBLS. Hereby the sale of their debut was raised which had already sold about two million copies. The single climbed into the top 40 of the Billboard charts and was voted for the nomination of a Hot Rap Single. Cypress Hill's first demotapes were Psycobetabuckdown, Real Estate, Light Another and The Phuncky Feel One.
In 1993 they published their second album Black Sunday which established a record for all rap-cds at that time.
In 1994 Bobo, who already worked for the Beastie Boys and the Black Crowes, joined the group. He became their percussionist. They had already appeared along with Bobo at large festivals such as Lollapalooza or Woodstock.
In 1995 they were already one of the headliners of Lollapalooza. They shared the stage with bands such as Hole, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, Sinéad O'Connor and many others. Moreover they contributed their track I Wanna Get High for the Hempilation compilation. During the same year their extreme dark release III (Temples of Boom) directly jumped on the third place of the Billboard charts. Despite low rotation on MTV and radio the album earned platinum status several times. MTV thought the lyrics were containing a lot of violence. After the tour Sen Dog quit the crew to take care of his band SX-10.
In 1996 they were one of the headliners of the Smoking Grooves Tour together with artists such as the Fugees, Busta Rhymes and A Tribe Called Quest. In the late year they published their EP Unreleased & Revamped which consists of some rare tracks and some remixes.
In 1997 nearly every band member concentrated on his solo projects. Muggs released his Soul Assassins sampler and B-Real worked together with Busta Rhymes, Coolio, LL Cool J and Method Man on the Space Jam soundtrack. Besides B-Real worked with Dr. Dre and Psycho Realm. During the summer they were performing on the Smoking Grooves Tour again.
In 1998 Sen Dog returned, after he recorded his solo-cd Get Wood Sampler with the rap-metal group SX-10. And he once again took part in recording with their new album IV. Barron Ricks did feature heavily on that album. Again, but in reunited power they heated the Smoking Grooves tour with Wyclef Jean, Gang Starr, Black Eyed Peas and Busta Rhymes. They also had a little tour through Germany with concerts in Offenbach, Munich and Hamburg.
1999 Jason Nevins produced a strange dancefloor-remix of Cypress Hill's classic Insane In The Brain, which couldn't reach the huge success of the original. Furthermore they took part in the 3D-shooter Kingpin: Life Of Crime. They placed some tracks of their album IV at disposal. They even synchronized some characters: "Fuck me... no fuck you, you piece of shit, now it's twenty dollars to get in, you cock suck". Moreover they were one of the headliners of the German festival Rock Am Ring along with Lauryn Hill, Alanis Morissette, Garbage and Metallica. By the way Cypress cancelled the Vans Warped-tour to produce their following album Skull & Bones and the Spanish album Los Grandes Éxitos En Español.
2000 They released their fifth album Skull & Bones which already went platinum. Also they released the singles Rap/Rock Superstar. “Can’t Get The Best Of Me” will be released soon. They went together with Limp Bizkit on a free napster-sponsored tour. And they will come back to Germany too.

Interesting Facts
they already skated on Beastie Boy's ramp
were nominated for several grammys
they once had forgotten their lyrics
already felt drunk off stage
trashed their equipment to get new material
trashed their company's bikes by mistake
their second album Black Sunday set a record for all hip-hop cd's in 1993
first performance: 1989 during a talent competition
Sen Dog jumped on a table, which broke due to his weight
they regularly smoke weed
sometimes the costs amount to about 280 dollar
a dime decides who has to pay
during special events they smoke up to 6 (!) grams
Bobo's father acted in the Bill Cosby Show
They would like to perform with two or three strip dancers
As I asked B-Real how much weed they use, he answered me: too much and definitely too hard to say :)