Dubcnn had the fantastic opportunity to hook up with a Hip-Hop legend, B-Real of Cypress Hill. He goes in-depth with us in this interview, and tells us about his production company "Audio Hustlaz", working with Young De and his project "The Harvest". Of course we talk about his upcoming solo album "Smoke & Mirrors" which is set to come out next year, as well as the new Cypress Hill album that is being worked on right now. B-Real also talks about DJ Quik, Fergie, Psycho Realm, Omar Cruz, Joell Ortiz and much more.




As ever, you can read this exclusive interview below and we urge you to leave feedback on our forums or email them to [email protected].

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Interview was done in December 2007

Questions Asked By: Nima

B Real Gave Dubcnn A Shoutout! Check That Here

Full Audio Interview Here
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Dubcnn: Dubcnn right here with the one and only B-Real. How you doing man?

I'm good man, just lounging up in the studio!


Dubcnn: You've been in the game for almost two decades now, how would you rate the year 2007?

It's been okay, I'd give it a 7. There has been some good stuff and there has been a lot of bullshit, but some of the good stuff is really good, so you know. But that's what it is with Hip-Hop, there's so much of it now that it's a matter of opinion over what's good and what's not. My opinion is that there were a few good things out there and a lot of crap, so it is what it is.


Dubcnn: You just put out your latest mixtape "Gunslinger Vol. 3", tell us about that.

Basically the mixtapes are just for me to keep something in the street, so that I'm giving something extra to the street before the next Cypress Hill record, before my solo record and stuff like that. It's just to show the versatility of the type of beats we can fuckin' get on and make crack, you know? So it serves a few different purposes. Plus I just like making songs and writing music, so that's another outlet to put out music, you know?


Dubcnn: How would you say Vol. III compares to the two previous mixtapes?

I just tried to keep it consistent, I listened to the songs that were on Vol. I and Vol. II and tried to pick out songs that are as good as those, if not better. I tried to take it up to another level with each record, so I feel real good about this one. The songs are a little bit deeper, it all came together pretty good, I like it!


Dubcnn: You also started your production company "Audio Hustlaz", what's that all about?

Basically, Audio Hustlaz is the production company, myself and my partner J Turner, and we've just been trying to develop artists like Young De and a couple of others that we've been working on, trying to get our production out there. Not a lot of people know that I do beats as well, so I have a couple of projects going on. Me and my partner are doing a compilation called "The Harvest" via Audio Hustlaz, which is obviously going to highlight new artists and my productions. Hopefully that shit gets out there and the word gets out there that not only am I slaying the rhymes but I'm cracking the beats too!


Dubcnn: How did you hook up with Young De and what did you see in him that made you want to work with him?

I think I met Young De through Mellow Man Ace and Kurupt. He's one of Kurupt's boys, but I met him through my partner Mellow Man, brought him over to the studio. He had actually been kicking it for a while, but he had never said anything to me about getting on any songs, so I didn't know that he was spitting! Then when we got him on the first song, I was really impressed, so I decided to start making beats primarily for his album, mixtape or whatever he was doing. We've been working ever since!


Dubcnn: Who else is a part of your "Audio Hustlaz" company?

Right now it's just my partner J Turner, myself, Young De, this other girl named Keen and Eric Bobo of Cypress. That's pretty much us for right now, but we're trying to build up the camp kind of like we did with the Soul Assassins camp, recruit other rappers and producers, artists, whatever.


Dubcnn: You recently announced a project called "The Harvest", where you're giving 20 up and coming artists the chance to get on a project with you. When do you think we can expect that to drop?

Sometime next year. We're in the middle of it right now, we've got about 10 songs done, we're trying to get 20. Once we get to the 20, we're going to start mixing it down, see what we gotta fix or make better. We'll probably trying to get it out sometime after the summer.


Dubcnn: So we see you've got a lot on your plate, but you know everybody wants to know when we can expect your planned solo album? Is it still called Smoke & Mirors?

Yeah it's still called "Smoke & Mirrors", I'm trying to get it out by May, and following that with a Cypress Hill release in June or July or something like that.


Dubcnn: This is your first real solo album, after almost 20 years in the game, is that a big challenge for you?

I mean there is a little bit of pressure, but I've always worked well off of pressure, and I just like making music, so whatever other outlets I can use while Cypress is in hibernation, I'll use that avenue! Fortunately, we're working on the Cypress record now, as we're finishing my record, so it's going from one project into the other! It's good, I just love doing music, so the more the better for me!


Dubcnn: What do you think the fans should expect from your album musically, that old Cypress sound or something completely new?

On my record it's definitely different from Cypress Hill. Different content a little bit, different sounds and all that stuff. With Cypress Hill it's a certain formula, but with my stuff I had to be different, cause if I'm doing the same stuff, then I'm really not doing a different album, it would just be an extension of Cypress, and I don't want it to be an extension of Cypress. I want it to be able to stand on its own, that way when the Cypress shit comes, that stands on its own too, you know?


Dubcnn: Which producers will you working with?

I did some stuff with Scoop D'Ville, I did stuff with this cat named Nalo, I worked wit the Wreck brothers with Fredwreck and Salaam, who else... Soopafly did a few joints for me, as well as Sick Jacken from Sick Symphonies and Psycho Realm did a couple of songs with me as well. So I got a few heaters on this record, definitely some street anthems.


Dubcnn: What about features, any planned collaborations?

You know, I didn't really rely on getting too many features, the only ones I really wanted to get were Damian Marley which I got, and I wanted to get Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube. I'm still trying to get those joints with those two guys, cause I think that would be good for the West Coast showing us three together on my record or what not. So I'm trying to make that happen, and that would be it for the cameos and the features, cause I don't want to be leaning on nobody.


Dubcnn: What about Cypress Hill man, I heard there's a new album in the works?

We barely got into production with that like 2 months ago, so we're still kind of new and fresh, seeing where the vibe takes us and what not. Muggs is doing some songs, I'm doing a couple of songs, we're getting Premier to do a few songs and a couple of other cats, just to shake up the vibe a little bit! It's going to be a powerful record, I can tell you that with what we've done so far! It's going to be pretty powerful.


Dubcnn: You know there's a lot of talk right now, and people are saying "Oh Muggs isn't really a part of this album, so this can't be a real Cypress album." What do you have to say about that?

Muggs is definitely going to be a part of this album! I mean he's doing 6 songs! That's pretty much a majority of the album, we put like 12-13 maybe 14 songs on there and he's doing 6 of them, so there will still be that vibe that he brings. He's still one of us, he just took a step back on the production to pretty much open the door for a new type of sound, that maybe Premier can contribute. It's just opening up a little bit, cause we've been one way for so long, so we just wanted to make things a little bit different. But this is definitely going to be a powerful record for sure.


Dubcnn: It's good to hear that ain't nothing changed with Cypresss!

Oh no, we're all good man, it's still all about Soul Assassins man, it's all good!


Dubcnn: What are you trying to achieve with this Cypress Hill album, the 9th or 10th album in total?

Well you know, we're like a franchise, homes! We wanna keep winning and keep winning, we're never satisfied, so we look at it like a competition. You can't win them all, but you gotta get back up and keep trying to win. That's what we're about, we know that there's still a lot of good music left in us, so we just wanna keep on making it happen!


Dubcnn: You hooked up with Snoop Dogg for his single "Vato" last year. There were mixed reactions from the latino crowd to that song, some considered it disrespectful. Would you say that song was misunderstood?

Yeah it was definitely misunderstood, because if it was a disrespect, I never would have gotten on it man! I'm a proud latino and all that, and I wouldn't take too kindly to anybody disrespecting my race and my people and stuff. I definitely don't think that it was a disrespect, I think that it was a misunderstanding. I think the way that they had recorded it the first time with Pharrell, and Pharrell really not knowing the history here in Los Angeles, he didn't know, so they called me to come and make things better, I did what I could, and some people liked it, some people still thought it was a disrespect, but me I know it wasn't a disrespect, so people can have their opinions. They can say what they want, but Snoop Dogg knows what's up, he got love for latinos, so I wouldn't even question that.


Dubcnn: What happened to the planned remix of "Vato" with Diamonique and other latino rappers that was supposed to come out?

I don't know! I really couldn't tell you, that's pretty much a question for Snoop Dogg, maybe they had just decided to move on to the next single, because of the controversy, I don't really know. Maybe you'll hear it somewhere, maybe it's gonna pop up somewhere.


Dubcnn: How do you feel about the new breed of latin rappers such as Omar Cruz and Joell Ortiz?

I like Joell Ortiz, I think he's one of the better new latin rappers coming out. He's really dope, he's very lyrical, atleast from what I've heard. I've heard a few songs that he's done, I like him a lot, he's got a good delivery, he's got a good flow. Omar Cruz, he's okay. It's not something that I normally listen to, not my type of rapper, but Joell Ortiz is definitely dope.


Dubcnn: What about La Coka Nostra and Ill Bill?

Yeah I like La Coka Nostra man, they're really dope. All those white boys can rap pretty good! *laughs*


Dubcnn: What about the West Coast in general right now, which up and coming artists are you rooting for?

Well with the West Coast it's hard man! A lot of the new cats out here they don't get love unless they're endorsed by Dre or somebody. So it's hard to really know who's out there, but Bishop Lamont is pretty good. It's hard man, cause L.A. is so big you just don't know who the new rappers are out here, you kinda gotta go look for them. I like what Sick Jacken is doing, I like the type of shit he's doing right now with Cynic, they're putting it down.


Dubcnn: Yeah I was just about to ask you what you thought about the Legend of the Mask and the Assassin album that Sick Jacken and Cynic put out with Muggs this year.

Yeah, I like it! There are definitely some dope songs on there! They opened up for us at the House Of Blues for Halloween, and when those songs came on, when they started playing their set, people went nuts, so they definitely got some heaters!


Dubcnn: I heard that Duke is giving his return to the mic, could that create a possibility for a reunion with you, Jacken and Duke?

Yeah I would do it with them in a heartbeat! Me and Jack have already been talking about stuff like that, so it's just about both of us finding the time to do it.


Dubcnn: I heard that DJ Quik produced some tracks for you back in 2005 when ya'll did "Fandango". What happened to those songs, and can we expect you and Quik to work on anything in future?

Actually "Fandango" was for his record, and after we did that we talked about doing some beats for my record and stuff like that, but then he went on vacation for a while and that kind of got put on hold. But I think maybe before I finish my record, before I turn it in, I'm gonna try to get a couple tracks from him, cause Quik is one of the dopest producers out here in the West Coast that produces not just the West Coast sound. A lot of people don't really realize how dope Quik is, cause they don't get to hear his other beats that he has that aren't necessarily West Coast style. I'm gonna try to talk him into giving me a few of those kinds of beats before we turn it in.


Dubcnn: You've also been getting down with Fredwreck, how would you describe your chemistry with Fred?

Oh Fredwreck is like my little brother man, he lives maybe 5 minutes around the corner from me and we kick it a lot. Right now he's in Dubai, he's been gone for the last 3 or 4 months doing MTV in Dubai, but yeah he's my boy! He was the DJ for Cypress Hill on tour for the last couple of years when we've been doing shows, and we've definitely got a good chemistry. I understand the way he produces, he understands the way I write, and he gave me a few heaters!


Dubcnn: I heard that Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas redid a Cypress Hill classic, do you know when we're going to hear that track?

I hope that it comes out! She fuckin' killed it man, I mean she really killed it! Out of all the people that have tried to do remakes of our songs and stuff like that, I think she did it the best.


Dubcnn: Which track did she do?

She did "How I Could Just Kill A Man", but she turned it into "How I Could Just Thrill A Man". But she used the same style, she sung the style that we were rapping, and it came out really fuckin' dope. Hopefully it gets out there!


Dubcnn: Is there a possibility of getting another "Unreleased & Revamped" album?

I don't know, I mean it's possible, but we're going to take things one step at a time. We're going to work on this record, make the best record possible, and then see where we go from there.


Dubcnn: Do you feel that you as a Hip-Hop pioneer get the respect you deserve from the industry?

I think in some regards we do, but in other regards we're definitely looked over on a lot of shit. I don't really care what they think, for me it's what the fans think and feel. That's what matters to me. If the critics and the magazines don't give us our props and our respect that we deserve, I could give a fuck, as long as the fans know and that we know what we've done.


Dubcnn: Do you have any upcoming tours planned with Cypress Hill or solo?

Cypress Hill, we're going to Australia in February for a few festivals down there, and we'll probably be touring after we release the album. For my solo shit, I definitely have planned to do shows, I just gotta get the release date first and figure out a single and then figure out what kind of venues I'm going to be in and all that. We'll see what happens!


Dubcnn: To end this off, I have a throwback question for you. You remember the joint "Throw Ya Hands In The Air" with MC Eiht, Eric Sermon and Redman?

Yeah!


Dubcnn: I'd like to ask you how that track came together, how ya'll came up with that and how it was recorded.

Actually, everybody did them in different studios. I did my part in Muggs' studio, he sent the beat out to Eric Sermon, he did it in his studio with him and Redman. I think MC Eiht came down to Muggs' studio to do his part. But they are all good friends of ours, so it just came together naturally. That was one of the better remixes that we put out. Too bad Sony didn't really know what to do with it at the time!


Dubcnn: Yeah I miss those posse cuts like "Hit 'Em High" or this one.

I think it will come back! Everybody goes in cycles, so I think eventually it will all come back to that.


Dubcnn: I really appreciate your time B, before we go is there anything else you'd like to let everybody know?

I just want to thank everybody for their support throughout the years. If they want any info on Cypress and my shit, they can go to brealonline.com, [or my] MySpace, they can find out what's up with our merchandise, find out what's up with our tour dates, album information and all that shit.