Cypress Hill Till Death Do Us Part

It took Cypress Hill six albums and more than a dozen years to get dorsum to their roots.

The title of B-Real, Sen Domestic dog, and DJ Muggs' seventh and latest album, Till Decease Do Us Part, released Tuesday, is a testament to the group'southward longevity, while its songs highlight the foundation upon which their xv-year-long career has been congenital.

"We kind of just let it flow," B-Real said. "We didn't actually retrieve about whatever sort of direction. If anything, nosotros wanted to capture the essence of what the group is, and that'due south the hip-hop side of who we are. That's what got the states into this; that was the 1 thing on our listen. Everything else simply brutal into identify."

Rather than furthering the inroads into hard stone and heavy metal hybrids they paved on their last two studio albums, 2000'southward Skull & Bones and 2001's Stoned Raiders, Cypress Loma fully cover their hip-hop roots on the dark, gangsta raps "Another Body Drops," "Street Wars" and "Money," while "Till Decease Comes" and "Never Knows" are ruminations on thug life. As its title hints, "Latin Thugs" honors their ethnic background with a horn loop, peppy percussion, lyrics spit in Spanish, and a guest appearance by Latino MC Tego Calderón. "That track is obviously for the Latin cats out there who've been representing and putting it down for us for the longest," B-Real said.

But virtually prominently, Cypress Hill'southward proclivity for a particular plant is represented by the reggae and dancehall vibes woven through songs similar "Ganja Charabanc," which features an appearance by Damian Marley (yes, i of Bob's sons), "Bong Hitting," and the album's first unmarried, "What Is Your Number?," which lifts a riff from reggae-flavored punk pioneers the Clash'south "Guns of Brixton."

"We're ever trying to evolve and make the audio grow," B-Real explained. "And [reggae] is one matter that we never touched on, which has been a big influence on usa. And then it made sense to put a reggae vibe behind [the album]. I don't recall people were expecting something similar that" (see "Cypress Colina Tap Into Reggae For New LP — What Took Them And then Long?").

Fans of the Beastie Boys, especially, will be perplexed by "Busted in the Hood," a track that takes the Boys' 1986 classic "Paul Revere," adds a pinch of bouncy reggae season, and alters the lyrics into a story about a drug dealer caught by the cops, rather than a tale of rhymin' and stealin' in the old Westward.

"Information technology's our story told to their fashion," B-Real said. " 'Paul Revere' was big in pretty much all the neighborhoods in Los Angeles, as far every bit ganstas become. The gangstas took that vocal and came up with their ain sh--. Information technology took me back to those days when I was out in the street with those guys listening to that song."

While Till Death Exercise United states Part refers to the core trio, the album boasts several guests. Besides Calderón and Marley, "What'due south Your Number?" features an appearance past Rancid'southward Tim Armstrong, and "Last Express mirth" finds rapper Twin and Mobb Deep'due south Prodigy lending a mitt. "Whenever I walked into the studio, Muggs had a unlike collaboration going," B-Real said.

Cypress Hill boot off a four-calendar week tour with Blink-182 April 29, after which B-Real said the grouping may take off for Europe. And in between working on his much-talked about side project Kush, with members of Fear Mill and Deftones (meet "B-Real Finishing Up Kush LP, Going Grimmer For Next Cypress Hill Album"), he tin can be plant splattering his rivals with paintballs on a team, the Stoned Assassins, he formed with Everlast (come across "Everlast Battles Volition Smith, Takes Out White Trash"). All the same, farther collaborations are non out of the question.

"I'd like to work with Busta [Rhymes]," B-Real said. "He'due south always been someone that I wanted to work with because our voices are and then different. He'due south always been one of my practiced friends. Possibly Eminem, Jay-Z ... I like Jay-Z a lot. I hope that if he [actually retires from music] that he's happy and fulfilled with what he wants to do with his career. Just at the same time, as a fan, I definitely would similar him to keep making hot records."

Cypress Colina tour dates, co-ordinate to Columbia Records:

4/25 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox
4/29 - Nampa, ID @ Idaho Center
four/xxx - West Valley Metropolis, UT @ E Centre
5/1 - Englewood, CO @ Coors Amphitheatre
5/iii - Dallas, TX @ Smirnoff Music Middle
5/4 - Selma, TX @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
5/5 - The Woodlands, TX @ C.W. Mitchell Pavilion
5/vii - Atlanta, GA @ HiFi Buys Amphitheatre
5/eight - Orlando, FL @ TD Waterhouse Centre
five/nine - W Palm Beach, FL @ Sound Communication Amphitheatre
five/11 - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amp. Charlotte
5/12 - Raleigh, NC @ Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek
5/14 - Columbus, OH @ Germain Amphitheater
v/15 - Maryland Heights, MO @ UMB Bank Pavilion
5/xvi - Bonner Springs, KS @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
5/18 - Minneapolis, MN @ Target Eye