Comprised of Sen Dog, Eric Bobo, and B-Real, Cypress Hill were one of the biggest rap crews on the West Coast during the 1990s and was arguably among the first stoner rap groups. The trio has always embraced and flirted with drug use. However, the collective has recently unveiled that they created their triple-platinum 1993 album, Black Sunday, while high on psilocybin.
This year, the project is celebrating its 30th anniversary and in an interview with the online music publication HipHopDX, the LA group reminisced on the album’s creation. Disclosing how the drug aided them creatively, B-Real explained, “We were on mushrooms. I remember doing the last song. Well, the last song at the time, which was ‘We Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That.'”
The emcee (real name Louis Freese) continued, “We had recorded everything previously. Muggs and I were in NY for about a month or two, and then we brought Sen Dog out the last two weeks to fill in the blanks. As you know, we got caught up with everything. Somebody gave us too much ‘shrooms. And we fuckin’ popped them. That was something we were known to do.”
In a 2018 New York Times article about the classic body of work, Sen Dog declared how amazing the project’s creation was, proclaiming, “It was this magical f*cking thing that came out of the speakers It was like, ‘Wow! Are we really listening to what we’re listening to?’ When the album came out, and it went number one, I was like, ‘OK, that magic moment that we felt that night in the studio, that sh*t was real.’”
Speaking about their pro-cannabis stance and advocacy of the drug, which has now been legalised in several US states, B-Real elaborated on how he has become involved with the Dr Greenthumb brand, explaining, “The conversation shifted in terms of cannabis in the sense that cannabis people can come out of the underground and become legitimate business people.”
Black Sunday debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200 and boasted a hip-hop classic which is the collective’s single ‘Insane In The Brain.’ Produced by DJ Muggs, the track peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Concerning the track Sen Dog explained, “There was a lot of marijuana and a lot of mushrooms throughout that whole recording.” The album was primarily recorded at Baby Monster Studios in New York and partially in LA as well.
You can hear Cypress Hill speak on their experience in the video below.
