Cypress Hill blew up the set at the Uptown Friday

Plus, percussionist Eric Bobo on what he's up to.
Allison Scavo,
Photo Apr 27 2024 9 45 18 Pm

Cypress Hill. // photo by Allison Scavo

You may know Cypress Hill for their hit “Insane in the Membrane,” but what you may not know is that this band is a Latin based hip-hop band. The Cuban-American sibling duo, Sen Dog and B-Real, shared an energy that whimsically yet fiercely flowed off and was synergistic with their on-the-spot digital counterpart DJ Lord, all while former Beastie Boys percussionist Eric Bobo laid it out on the drums. Having sold 20 million albums worldwide, this multi-platinum group absolutely shot it up, pun intended, on Friday night. As ethereally connected as the band was with one another, the audience bounced and screamed right along. When my timeframe of shooting the band was over, I went to the back to watch. People were swarmed up and down aisles, in the walkways, in lines—literally everywhere people were bouncing and screaming along. They truly do bring everyone together. Most people know them for genre bending into rock ‘n’ roll, but after sitting down with Eric Bobo I learned how much they bring in from Latin and Spanish roots.

Photo Apr 27 2024 9 51 47 Pm

Cypress Hill. // photo by Allison Scavo

The Pitch: Thank you for taking time to meet with me. I’ll just jump right in. One of the biggest questions that the fans asked is what is your favorite strain of weed?

Eric Bobo: Well, right now my favorite strain has been the lemon cherry gelato. It has, nice flavors. I’m into the flavors. There’s a lot of weed strains out there that have different names, but they all kind of taste the same. I like to have that fruity taste. I like lemon cherry gelato a lot.

I love that. I really like flavored stuff too. So this tour is the “We Legalized It Tour.” Are you going to all the legal states?

I think the majority of them. I think so. I didn’t really think about it and see it on the schedule. Like, are all of these states legal? Yeah. All these states are kind of legal. Yeah. If they are, that’ll be great. The other states, they need to get on board.

Absolutely. So your Back in Black album, you said that there would be one more after that. Do you have any inside scoop of how that’s coming along or when we could expect it, or if it has a name?

That’s a good question. You know, there is going to be new music. With the statement of the album being kind of like the last, it’s not the last of Cypress Hill making music. I think it’s the way that it is kind of released. For now, we’ve become more of a singles based thing that just put singles up. People aren’t really listening to albums the way that we did back in the day. So, you know, I think that it could be that we have enough of a catalog that if we decided to just release a single or a couple of songs in a year, that’s great. And we just go and we are able to perform those songs as opposed to releasing an album, and then it’s out to everybody, and everybody has their favorite or everybody has a thing, and they’re not listening to it in a cohesive way.

I think that kind of misses the whole gist of it. That was the thing back in the day: Listen to a whole album, get the whole vibe of the record, as opposed to getting a vibe of one song. But to go back, there will be new music. We are now kind of focusing a little bit more on the touring aspect, but we do have songs in the works and we’re just figuring out how we’re going to let them be released.

That’s perfect. I think that the singles idea is really good. So, the songs that you are working on, are they more rap or rock oriented?

It’s a little of both. We really want to see what other sounds we like, but I think that we’re going to get some traditional hip hop songs and we’re going to get some rock, rap songs.

Well, you were the first major hip hop group to include Spanish and Latin into your lyrics, so I’m not surprised that there’s going be something a little different in there. You guys have kind of always genre bended and mingled sounds together, and that’s why you guys are like such superstars. Would you say that it’s better to be rap superstar or rock superstar, or is there even a difference?

If you hear the rap stories, you hear those crazy stories. I joined all the TV out the window kind of stories, which we were influenced with not only hip hop, but also rock bands. And we kind of model ourselves after them them. If they demolish the dressing room, let’s try it and see what happens. You know what I mean?

It’s hard to say we’re rock or rap superstars because we just float in on both. It’s crazy. We have the rock n’ roll lifestyle as far as on tour. That was kind of more us back in the day. I think that that’s part of the reason why we were also accepted in the rock and alternative genre, because our music could have been hip hop, but our attitude was rock. The way we presented ourselves was more rock. So we were able to cross that bridge.

You did it very well. That actually kind of segues perfectly into this next question. So were there any elements specifically that mixed in genres, was there anything specific that triggered that? Or was it just an idea and it flowed in naturally?

I think Muggs was just, he was really into a lot of the soul samples and also some of the rock samples, because he also grew up with it and was familiar with both sides—with rock music and hip hop music, different genres. So he definitely had an ear of how to implement blues and rock elements of rock sounds into traditional hip hop, which made it a different sound. That was able to really help us, you know, segue into being able to do rock festivals and stuff like that. Also with the imagery as well, you saw our albums and they didn’t look like traditional hip hop records. They had the skulls. It was more dark and more on the rock side of things. So that helped out. Then, when we started to add in the instruments, we came up with Skull and Bones, and we started to bring out the band and everything like that, that was another thing. So we’re across the board and we just try to get in where we fit in, I guess.

Speaking of, what is Muggs up to these days?

Muggs, well, he stays in the studio. I believe he is out in Europe doing a European tour, but he stays in the studio. A lot. So he has projects coming up. I mean, this guy can release like 10 projects in one year, he’s just that guy. He’s our brother and it’s always great. So we’re going to be doing more work with them as well and everything. Yeah, you know, it’s a passion.

So what is in your personal rotation for music right now? Who are you listening to?

Oh man, that changes daily. It does. I’ve been kind of listening to some classic rock for some reason. I’ve been kind of going backwards, kind of listening to those ’70s rock or R&B and funk recordings, because I’m like listening for the sound. It didn’t have the technology that we have now, but they made classic songs and albums with a different technology, and I’m really trying to hone in on that, to get that vibe and that feeling for stuff that I’m working on as well. So it changes, but right now it’s like classic rock, classic funk. We’re talking about ’70s, ’80s. I’m in that realm right now.

I think it’s really nice that you’re going back to the basics because that is kind of like where you got your start in the, you know, late ’80s, early ’90s. You joined in 1990, right?

Actually, I started with Cypress in 93. I was performing, I was playing with the Beastie Boys before. That’s how I met Cypress, so by the time 94 came along, we did Woodstock, and they introduced me as an official member. Now, 30 years or so later, here we are.

Yeah. In 2019 you were the first hip hop group to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I work in an inner city school. We have a 99 percent minority rate here. I really want you to know that you, personally, are influencing the children today and that people who want to rap look up to you simply because 2019 was so recent, they’re watching. Did you ever think that you would get this big? I know your dad was a musician, so you grew up watching him, but did you ever think, when you were growing up or when you were with the Beastie Boys, that one day someone was going to be like, “I want to be like Bobo?”

No.

Well, they do.

Being in the music business, we listen to music to feel good, to get away from your problem. It encompasses all these emotions, so we just try to make music that is true to ourselves, and there are people out there that kind of gravitate to it and they feel it and it helps them in their lives. I’ve always wanted to make music to touch people, as music touched me growing up. There’s songs that I listen to now and I remember when I first heard them. It was great to be able to meet some of my heroes or to be influenced by them. It’s great to have those kinds of accolades. I really don’t take it like, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. I don’t take it like that. I take it like it’s a blessing to be able to reach people like that, to make them feel like, I want to do that or I want to be in music, I want to be a musician, or I want to make beats, or I want to be a music exec, or whatever. If whatever little thing that I do is able to help a person achieve their dream or go for it.

You were talking about being an influence and the people that influenced you. 20 million albums later, you’re still in the scene and influencing others, yet you remain so humble.

I appreciate your words. We’re in the business to help people, to have fun and make you feel good. I mean, the road isn’t easy, you have to work at it, you have to have some kind of dedication. Not only to what you want to do, but also to yourself. You’ve got to be sure that you’re set in what you want to try to do, and if you change your mind later on, it’s okay. Do not be afraid of failure, do not be afraid of the word “no.” These are very, very important. You tell kids, “no,” they can’t do something, they start to believe it. They don’t have that confidence to go out and get anything. It’s easier for them to say, “I can’t do it” and that’s the problem. So for us, if someone comes up to me and he says, “Oh, I’m really interested in music. I want to be a drummer. What do you think?” You know, I try to be as truthful as possible, but I don’t say anything to blow the air out of their balloon. Everybody deserves a chance. Not everybody can make it. Not everybody will make it. But you won’t know until you try it.

That’s beautiful. You should take up inspirational speeches because I’m damn near in tears. That’s really all the questions that I have for you. Did you have anything you wanted to add?

Thank you to all the people that have supported us throughout all the years, and for our new fans that are now coming on board with us, welcome to the party. Thank you very much. We’re going to still be making music and it’ll be great to see what comes from the next generation of music and hip hop and rock. And for the kids: Don’t be afraid to try. Don’t be afraid to go after those things and know that you might get more no than yes, but don’t let those no’s get in the way or take you away from what you really want to try to do in life.

Cypress Hill

Cypress Hill setlist:
DJ Lord Intro
Stoned Is the Way of the Walk
Cock the Hammer
Real Estate
When the Shit Goes Down
Hand on the Pump
A to the K
Roll It Up, Light It Up, Smoke It Up / I Wanna Get High / Cisco Kid / Dr. Greenthumb / Hits From the Bong
DJ Lord and Eric Bobo Jam
Lowrider
The Phuncky Feel One
Latin Lingo
Tequila Sunrise
Illusions
Boom Biddy Bye Bye
Throw Your Set in the Air
I Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That
How I Could Just Kill a Man
Insane in the Brain
(Rock) Superstar
Jump Around (House of Pain cover)

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