Senen Reyes (also known as Sen Dog) and Ulpiano Sergio Reyes (also known as Mellow Man Ace) are brothers born in Pinar del Río, Cuba, who immigrated to the United States with their family in 1971, and settled in South Gate, California. In 1988, the brothers teamed up with New York City native Lawrence Muggerud (also known as DJ Muggs) and Louis Freese (also known as B-Real) to form a hip-hop group named DVX (Devastating Vocal Excellence). The band soon lost Mellow Man Ace to a solo career, and changed their name to Cypress Hill, named after a street in South Gate. After recording a demo in 1989, the band signed a record deal with Ruffhouse Records, and their self-titled first album was released in August 1991, with the lead single 'The Phuncky Feel One'/'How I Could Just Kill A Man' receiving heavy airplay on urban and college radio, most notably peaking at #1 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks chart. The success of this and their other singles led 'Cypress Hill' to sell two million copies in the U.S. alone, and it peaked at #31 on the Billboard 200. 'Black Sunday', the group's second album, debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 in 1993, recording the highest Soundscan for a rap group up until that time. 'Insane In The Brain' became a crossover hit, and garnered the group their first Grammy nomination, while 'Black Sunday' went triple platinum in the U.S. and sold over 3.million copies. The group played at Woodstock 94, officially making percussionist Eric Bobo a member of the group during the performance, and followed that by playing at Lollapalooza for two successive years, topping the bill in 1995. Cypress Hill's third album 'III: Temples Of Boom' was released in 1995, and peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200, with 'Throw Your Set In The Air' being the most successful single from the album, earning the band their third Grammy nomination. Shortly after the release of the album Sen Dog became frustrated with the rigorous touring schedule, and just prior to an overseas tour he unexpectedly left the group. Cypress Hill continued their tours throughout 1995 and 1996 with Eric Bobo, and also various guest vocalists covering Sen Dog's verses, but in 1997 the group took a break while the various members pursued solo careers. Their record label issued a nine track EP titled 'Unreleased And Revamped' in 1996, while a bootleg titled 'Unreleased And Unknown' also appeared around the same time, containing much rarer material than the official EP. This included both sides of the unofficial 12" single 'Freak To Tha Funk'/'Ghost Rider (Crossfire)', which was pressed up from tapes apparently stolen from the band's studio, and while it is not the best sound quality, it is one of the rarest Cypress Hill records. It also included 'Roll It Up, Light It Up, Smoke It Up', which was the band's contribution to the 1995 stoner film 'Friday', plus a couple of 'III: Temple Of Boom' out-takes in 'Whatta You Know' and 'Smugglers Blues'. It was completed by the Ice Cube and Macc10 Disstrack 'Fuck Westside Connection', and one of the better unreleased tracks from the 1996 EP, 'Intellectual Dons', making for a great collection of rare Cypress Hill tracks. Unfortunately it was only 27 minutes long, so I've added a few more rarities from the same period, which are the 'Throw Your Hands In The Air' single, which was nothing to do with 'Throw Your Set In The Air', the b-side of the 'Lick A Shot' single, 'Scooby Doo', and an instrumental version of 'Killa Hill Niggas' from the flip of 'Throw Your Set In The Air'. That all makes a great near-40 minute album all from 1995, from the band that Rolling Stone magazine had named Best Rap Group in their music awards of a few years earlier.
Track listing
01 Roll It Up, Light It Up, Smoke It Up
02 Freak To The Funk
03 Killa Hill (Instrumental)
04 Throw Your Hands In The Air
05 Ghost Rider
06 Intellectual Dons (feat. Call O Da Wild)
07 Whatta You Know
08 Scooby Doo
09 Smugglers Blues
10 Fuck Westside Connection
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