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With his work in the pioneering hip-hop group Cypress Hill, rapper B Real became something of a hip-hop legend for several reasons. Most immediately, his trademark rhyming style, featuring an exaggeratedly nasal whine and a jazz singer's skill at staying just behind DJ Muggs' already sluggish beats, was one of the most instantly recognizable flows of the 1990s. Furthermore, B Real and his partners Sen Dog and DJ Muggs were the first Latino hip-hop stars, ushering in a richly varied subgenre of hip-hop that thrives to this day. Finally, Cypress Hill's fervent proselytizing on the subject of marijuana legalization both brought the subject to its highest public awareness since the days of Cheech & Chong and paved the way for a generation of weed-happy middle-class high-school kids to discover and identify with hip-hop to an even greater degree than before. However, that B Real therefore is indirectly responsible in part for Kevin Federline should not be held against him.
Born Louis Freese in Los Angeles on June 2, 1970, B Real met Mellow Man Ace (Ulpiano Sergio Reyes) and his brother Sen Dog (Senen Reyes) in high school in the mid-'80s, forming the trio that would eventually become Cypress Hill (named after a local hangout in their South Gate hood) after Mellow Man Ace left to pursue a successful solo career and DJ Muggs (Lawrence Muggerud) came in as producer and DJ. During this period, B Real and Sen Dog were involved in a local branch of notorious street gang the Bloods; B Real was shot in a drug-related incident in 1988, leading both men to get out of the thug life. However, those experiences formed the narrative of the group's first album, 1991's Cypress Hill.
One of the first commercially successful gangsta rap albums, the album was controversial despite the trio's attempts not to glamorize gang life. Released in 1993, Black Sunday was an instant hit due to the weirdly catchy single "Insane in the Brain," and the same year, the trio's contribution to the pioneering rap-rock soundtrack Judgment Night found them working with fellow marijuana enthusiasts Sonic Youth, with whom Cypress Hill also guest-starred in a classic Lollapalooza-parody episode of The Simpsons. Playing the actual Lollapalooza tour in 1994 and 1995, the band added percussionist Eric Bobo (the son of legendary salsa drummer Willie Bobo) and pursued an increasingly rock-oriented style on its evermore infrequent albums.
During this period, B Real also created a hardcore gangsta side project, the Psycho Realm, releasing two albums, 1997's The Psycho Realm and 2000's A War Story. B Real even teamed back up with Mellow Man Ace for the short-lived Serial Rhyme Killers, who released one 12" single in 2002. Finally embarking on a solo career in 2006, B Real released three reggaeton-influenced mixtapes in a series dubbed The Gunslinger. That same year he landed on the million-selling Snoop Dogg album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment with the collaborative track "Vato." In 2009, Snoop would return the favor by appearing on B Real's solo debut, Smoke and Mirrors. Other guests on the album included Damien Marley, Sick Jacken, and Too Short.
Wikipedia:
Louis Freese, (born June 2, 1970) better known by his stage name B-Real, is an American rapper, and a film and TV actor. He is best known for being the lead rapper in hip hop group Cypress Hill.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).
Early life and career[edit]
Born to a Mexican father and a Cuban mother, B-Real moved with his sister and mother out of his father's home to South Gate before ending up in South Central Los Angeles. Before dropping out of Bell High School, he befriended future Cypress Hill members Sen Dog and Mellow Man Ace (who forwent staying with the group to go solo). Sen Dog, who was affiliated with a Bloods gang set known as "Neighborhood Family", later introduced B-Real into the set. B-Real's career as a drug dealer and gangbanger ended after he was shot in the lung in 1988.
After being introduced to DJ Muggs by Julio G the KDAY Mixmaster, B-Real and Sen gained interest in Muggs' concept of an album based on experiences from Cypress Ave in South Gate. The group was signed with Ruffhouse/Columbia records in 1991, and made their influential debut that year. B-Real would use his life-threatening experiences as material for the group's self-titled debut album, and subsequent releases.
Cypress Hill's trademark sound - an eccentric combination of B-Real's exaggeratedly high-pitched nasal vocals and DJ Muggs' distinctive beats - led to the trio becoming the first Latin rap group to have Platinum and Multi-Platinum albums. They remain the best selling Latin rap group to date. Speaking in March 2010 to noted UK urban writer Pete Lewis - Deputy Editor of the award-winning Blues & Soul - B-Real stated: "Fortunately I guess the fact we were able to achieve what we achieved, being Latino but without really exploiting that side of it, showed like a whole generation behind us how you could have that success without being labelled as just one THING. Because back in the day, when you were labelled 'a Latino rapper', the record companies would only try to market you to that Latin fan-base which didn't really EXIST yet!... So yeah, it feels good to see people recognizing us as some of the pioneers that opened the doors for a lotta these other Latino rappers to come through."
Aside from Cypress Hill, B-Real has been involved in several other musical projects. In 1996 he contributed to the soundtrack for the movie Space Jam. In 2002, he teamed up with Mellow Man Ace and Son Doobie for the short-lived Serial Rhyme Killas, which released one 12" single in 2002. The group recorded a full-length debut album, entitled Deluxe Rapture, but it was never released. B-Real formed a rap metal group, Kush, with Deftones guitarist Stephen Carpenter and Fear Factory members Christian Olde Wolbers and Raymond Herrera. According to B-Real, Kush is more aggressive than other bands in the genre. He was also previously a member of the group The Psycho Realm, and in 2007 announced that he would collaborate with Sick Jacken once again on a new album. He recently revealed in an interview that he plans on recording a "V.S." album of Cypress member DJ Muggs. In 1998, he appeared as a newborn baby singer for The Rugrats Movie, reported as a minor role.
His live streaming site, Breal.tv features live interactive programming over the internet. He is the host of The "Dr. Greenthumb Show" and "Meditation".Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).
Production work[edit]
In addition to his career as an MC, B-Real has worked as a music producer for six years, with clients ranging from Proof of D12 to the WWE. He intentionally kept his production for Cypress Hill down to a minimum, as not to interfere with DJ Muggs' involvement in the group, but has produced several tracks for his own solo projects. B-Real also manages a team of music producers known as the "Audio Hustlaz." B-Real personally produced three tracks on his solo album Smoke N Mirrors, 'Don't Ya Dare Laugh', 'Fire' and 'Dr. Hyphenstein', looking to outside producers for the other tracks. B-Real and his production crew will be working alongside DJ Muggs and others on the upcoming Cypress Hill album.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).
Solo projects[edit]
B-Real has released three mixtapes as a solo artist "Gunslinger", "Gunslinger Vol. II" and "Gunslinger Vol. III". He released his first solo album, entitled Smoke N Mirrors and has teamed up with Snoop Dogg in a single called Vato for Snoop Dogg's album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).
Collaborations[edit]
Throughout his career, B-Real has had an extensive list of collaborations including Kottonmouth Kings, Beastie Boys, Snoop Dogg, Psycho Realm, Eminem, Ice Cube, DJ Quik, Pearl Jam, Chino XL, Dr. Dre, Apathy, Mike Shinoda, Malverde, Fear Factory, Roni Size, Nas, KRS-One, Adil Omar, Xzibit, Young De, RBX, LL Cool J, Warren G, Busta Rhymes, Tony Touch, Kool G Rap, Big Pun, OutKast, Prozak, Nina Sky, Fat Joe, Method Man & Redman, RZA, U-God, Raekwon, Kurupt, D12, Proof, Everlast, Dilated Peoples, Guru (rapper), MC Eiht, House of Pain, Ill Bill, La Coka Nostra, Deftones, MC Ren, Damian Marley, King Tee, Tom Morello, Ras Kass, Outlawz, Daron Malakian, Sonic Youth, The Transplants, Funkdoobiest, Travis Barker, Slaine (rapper), Tim Armstrong, Defari, Slash, Mack 10, Prodigy, Bitza (from Romania), Rusko (musician) (from the U.K.) and many more.
