Cypress Hill is a latin- american hip hop group from Los Angeles. It was founded in 1988 and has sold up to 17 million records worldwide by 2006.
The group consists of DJ Muggs (Lawrence Muggerud, DJ and producer, (*28. January 1968), B-Real (Louis Freese, Rapper, (*2. June 1970), Sen Dog (Senen Reyes, Rapper, *20. November 1965) and Bobo (Eric Correa, Percussionist (*27. August 1968, became a member in 1994). One aspect their popularity is their commitment to the legalisation of Cannabis consumption.
The name Cypress Hill refers to the place where the first members of the band have lived, who grew up mostly in Cypress Avenue in South Gate, Los Angeles.
Their first album, which was self-titled, was released in November 1991. Its single was "Phuncky Feel One," but it was the B-side "How I Could Just Kill a Man" (formerly "Trigga Happy Nigga") that attracted more airplay on urban radio and college radio. Based on the success of the single and other tracks such as bilingual track "Latin Lingo" and X-rated Spanish track "Tres equis", the album sold two million copies. Subsequently, DJ Muggs produced House of Pain's first album, then working with the Beastie Boys and Funkdoobiest. The band made their first appearance at Lollapalooza on the side stage in 1992.
Black Sunday, the group's second album, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in 1993, recording the highest Soundscan for a rap group up until that time. With "Insane in the Brain" becoming a crossover hit, the album went double platinum in the U.S. and sold 3.25 million albums.
As one of the first rappers fighting for the legalization of marijuana, Cypress Hill was banned from Saturday Night Live after Muggs smoked a joint of marijuana and the band trashed their instruments while playing their second single "I Ain't Goin' Out Like That". The band headlined the "Soul Assassins" tour with House of Pain and Funkdoobiest as support, then performed on a college tour with Rage Against the Machine and Seven Year Bitch. In 1993, Cypress Hill also had two tracks on the Judgment Night soundtrack, teamed up with Pearl Jam and Sonic Youth.