Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill talks to qvMagazine about
their perspective on marijuana, their music, and gives advice
to our qvReaders.
by Luther Orrick-Guzman
 After
releasing "Los Grandes Exitos En Espanol," a collection
of their best English hits, but remade in Spanish, and their
new English CD, "Skull and Bones," Cypress Hill is
on top of the world. qvMagazine talked to group lead B-Real at
a Los Angeles radio station right before he and partner Bobo
were scheduled to go on a radio advice show called "Loveline"
with Dr. Drew. Here's what B-Real told us.
Currently, you've got
your Spanish CD out. What was the idea remaking your best tracks
in Spanish? It
was something to give to our Latin fans who have supported us
for so long. It was important for us to finally give them something
they could understand. And now, they'll know what a lot of our
songs are about. Before, we had a lot of fans who didn't know
what our songs were about.
What has been the craziest
venue in which you played in? Wow! So many! A lot of festivals like Woodstock
and our 2nd Smokeout Festival in San Bernardino were pretty incredible.
Speaking of the Smokeout
Festival, is it something that favors the legalization of marijuana?
Or is it just a
fun fest? It's a celebration! Of course, literature was passed
out as well.
What is your current
status with pot? We
never tell people to go out and do marijuana. But people hand
us stuff everywhere we go.
You guys have a lot
of cultural diversity in the group. How do your personal influences
get represented in the group? Each of us has his own individual background which
he brings to the table. We all constantly toss our ideas around
to each other and see if we can build off of them.
Where is everybody from?
B Real:
Muggs and Bobo are from New York and they were transplanted here
(Los Angeles). I was born and raised in LA. Sen Dog is from Cuba;
he migrated here.
Bobo: Muggs is Italian. I'm Puerto Rican. B is
Cuban Mexican, and Sen Dog is Cuban-so we all have that Latin
thing going on.
After so many years
of touring, do you still have a die hard loyal fan base, or has
it been mostly new fans over the years? Our fan base is very loyal. It's also cool because
we still play to new people all the time. As long as we enjoy
what we're doing, it's truly worthwhile. What has changed over
the years is the crowd. People have gotten crazier than they
used to be.
What gives you the most
satisfaction in your career?
B Real:Part
of it is making the music, but the other part is playing live
and seeing the people's reactions.
Bobo: For me, it's just being able to share our
music with people all around the world-and still have a lot of
fun together on stage while making a living out of it.
Tell us about your most
recent album with the new hit "Rock Superstar." It's our fifth album entitled "Skull
and Bones." We're very happy with it and hope the audience
will like it, too.
With the most recent
wave of Latin Booms in the US with the Ricky Martins, Jennifer
Lopezs and so on, where does Cypress Hill stand in the scheme
of things? I think
we stand by ourselves. We've been here for a while already. We're
not doing it the way they are. They're trying to crossover to
an American market. We're not trying to do any of that because
we're already established in that sense. What we're now doing
is reaching out to our Latin fans who don't speak English. It's
different.
How far do you want
to take the band? As
far as we can. We have to feel comfortable with what we're doing.
It's not good to kid yourself. If you're making stuff that's
sh**ty, I think you should sort of gracefully bow out. But if
we still make stuff that people want to hear, then we'll do it
as long as we can.
What kind of advice
would you give to younger people trying to break in the music
biz?
Bobo: Just
keep an open mind. Don't just listen to one type of music. Do
your homework and learn your craft.
B Real: You've got to consistently practice to
keep on top of your game. You've got to learn your game before
you jump into it. A lot of people think they can jump in and
get rich right away and that's just not the way it is. It takes
a lot of work. You've got to learn about it and study what you're
getting into. It's like when you go to college to learn a craft,
you want to be able to excel in that. The same thing with music.
You also have to know the business side of it.
So tonight you are going
to be on 'Loveline with Dr. Drew?' Are you prepared to give advice
on all issues like safe sex, homosexuality, and drugs?
Bobo: We'll,
we've been on Loveline a few times before. It's been interesting.
(Dr. Drew walks into the room)
Dr. Drew: Oh these guys are veterans! (All laugh)
Bobo: If we can't do it, then Dr. Drew will take
over.
I understand you have
a radio show. How is that going? It's just in LA right now. It's a hip hop show
with mixes, three deejays, comedy. It's a lot of fun. We've been
doing it for about two years on The Beat in Los Angeles. We're
on Friday nights from 11pm-2am.
What message would
you like to give to our qvMagazine readers? Use your common sense. That's what
makes the difference between intelligence and stupidity. You
could have all the book smarts in the world, but if you don't
have common sense, all of that means nothing.
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