The Joe Rogan ExperienceJoe Rogan Experience #1285 - B-Real
EVERY SPOKEN WORD
150 min read · 30,306 words- 0:01 – 8:02
From stoners to advocates: legalization, Jack Herer, and corporate weed worries
- JRJoe Rogan
Three, two, one. (fingers snap) Boom. What's up, brother? How are you?
- B-B-Real
What's up, bro? (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Good to see you, my friend. Always.
- B-B-Real
Thanks for having me.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's been a while, man.
- B-B-Real
Yeah. We've both been busy. It's crazy.
- JRJoe Rogan
And in the meantime, weed became legal.
- B-B-Real
Yes.
- JVJamie Vernon
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
You guys were at the forefront, man. You guys were way ahead.
- JVJamie Vernon
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
You were ahead of everybody.
- B-B-Real
You know, we took a shot.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JVJamie Vernon
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
We took a shot, you know, as stoners and advocates and whatnot. You know, uh, uh, we were stoners at first, right? You know, that's how you start. Like you know-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- B-B-Real
... your friend says, "Hey, man, try this," or you're the one who says, "Try this." Right? It's one or the other. And, you know, eventually you start getting into the High Times magazines and stuff like that, and looking at the, you know, the centerfold pictures of the weed, but also-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) Centerfold pictures of weed.
- B-B-Real
... we, we like, w- we like to read too (laughs) occasionally.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
So, you know, we'd get into some of the activism aspect of it as well, and that's when we heard names like Jack Herer, who pretty much opened our eyes to everything. And then, you know, I think we became real advocates, you know. At first, you know, we thought we were-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- B-B-Real
... you know, sort of, we read the High Times magazines and we were stoners, so we thought we were advocates. But, like, in reading what other freedom fighters were actually doing out there, and protests and rallies, and all that stuff, you know, we, we really weren't advocates like we thought. Uh, we became that later, for sure.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, Jack was way, way, way ahead of the curve. He's a such an interesting story, uh, rest in peace, because he was a, a Goldwater Republican, you know.
- B-B-Real
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
He was a, just a buttoned down, old school Republican.
- B-B-Real
Yeah. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
And then he got a girlfriend. And then the girlfriend-
- B-B-Real
(laughs)
- 8:02 – 10:53
Michael Phelps, stoner stereotypes, and social-media “gotcha” culture
- JRJoe Rogan
You know what, how funny was it that he got in trouble for that?
- B-B-Real
You know, what I find it funny is how, how, um, you know, they- they put these, uh, stereotypes on stoners for so long, like they're l- we're lazy, unproductive, and all that stuff. This guy's one of the most decorated Olympians in the history. You know what I mean? What has he got, like, 15 gold fucking medals?
- JRJoe Rogan
Something preposterous. (laughs)
- B-B-Real
Yeah, Mr. Big Lungs, that's what we call him, Mr. Big Lungs. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) That guy probably could take a rip on a bong.
- B-B-Real
Think about it.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, my God.
- B-B-Real
I mean, shit.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right? He had probably has crazy capacity. There it is.
- B-B-Real
He could probably snap a two-gram bowl, this guy.
- JRJoe Rogan
Who was the person who ratted him out?
- B-B-Real
Some low-
- JVJamie Vernon
Yeah, some kid.
- JRJoe Rogan
Some kid?
- JVJamie Vernon
Yeah.
- B-B-Real
Some, yeah-
- JRJoe Rogan
Some dirtbag.
- B-B-Real
... little dickhead.
- JRJoe Rogan
What a piece of shit.
- B-B-Real
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Imagine just going to a party, trying to have a good time, some kid's there with his phone, "He, he, he, he."
- B-B-Real
That's social network for you, though. They wanna go viral, so they'll- they'll get you in that moment where, you know, you're supposed to be a friend.
- JRJoe Rogan
But that was, like, before all of that shit was happening. Like, what year was that? If- let's guess. What year was that, '12, 2012?
- B-B-Real
Well, before, yeah, before, uh, let's just say, before, you know, uh, Instagram kicked off.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- B-B-Real
But there was still YouTube and Twitter.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- B-B-Real
You know, if you wanted to put somebody on blast or you wanted to have a viral video, YouTube has been there for a long time.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, Twitter was, like, 2007, right? Wasn't it?
- B-B-Real
I- I believe so, yeah.
- 10:53 – 13:15
Cypress Hill’s early identity: blending East/West Coast sound and staying mysterious
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, I don't know, man. You guys were so far ahead of the curve, though, you know? I mean, you- you were- you had weed songs, like, when? Like, what year?
- B-B-Real
That was, uh ... The- the first album was in '91.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- B-B-Real
And we started writing for that album probably, uh, four years prior.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- B-B-Real
And, uh, you know, the weed songs, those came about because we were weed heads, you know. We just, "Fuck it, let's be ourselves," right?
- JRJoe Rogan
But it was a different thing, though, for people that were- were fans, uh, 'cause, uh, I- when I was listening to you, I was, uh, just getting ready to move from Boston to New York. And, uh, back then, you would hea- hear about new hip hop bands from, like, friends.
- B-B-Real
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Like, you didn't, like, there was-
- B-B-Real
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
There was no-
- B-B-Real
It was word of mouth.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, man.
- B-B-Real
Yeah, man. For sure.
- JRJoe Rogan
I would hear about it, like, somebody that I- I think somebody I worked out with had it. And I was like, "What the fuck is this?" And they were like, "That's Cypress Hill." I was like, "Damn."
- B-B-Real
Yeah, we were trying to be different, you know, um, not sound like a typical West Coast, you know, group.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- B-B-Real
Because a lot of, a lot of West Coast groups at that point, you know, what the labels were looking for were NWA, you know, types, and, you know, things like that, like either ...... you know, gangster, West Coast gangster rap. They were looking for that or either the, the Kid Frost, Chicano type.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- B-B-Real
And we didn't wanna do that. We didn't wanna, uh, foothold ourselves like that. You know, Muggs being from New York, he wanted to sort of blend both worlds, right? So, you know, we went with, with-
- JRJoe Rogan
(sniffs)
- B-B-Real
... the East Coast type sound with LA, you know, type of slang, mixed with, with East Coast slang.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- B-B-Real
And so people, you know, they were like, "Where the fuck are these guys from?" And, and people thought we were from Cypress Hill, New York, 'cause there's a Cypress Hill down there.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh.
- B-B-Real
And, uh, you know, people just didn't really know at first because we were one of the first groups that didn't put our images on any of our first, um, you know, any of our singles or, or our art covers. We never did, like, the, the shots like, you know, that, that were existing at that time where it's a clean shot of the group or the artist or whatever.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- B-B-Real
We were always on some... You know, 'cause we were metal heads too, you know. Before the hip hop, we liked the obscure metal albums, so we didn't, we were like, "We're not gonna put ourselves on the covers. We're just gonna do these crazy obscure covers and make people, you know, try to guess who we are, be mysterious."
- 13:15 – 14:38
Longevity in hip-hop: consistency, touring, and pacing releases
- JRJoe Rogan
Damn, we talk about longevity. I mean, you guys, you guys have been around a long fucking time.
- B-B-Real
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
And-
- B-B-Real
Crazy.
- JRJoe Rogan
... you never dropped off at all.
- B-B-Real
It's crazy, you know. Um, we, we didn't expect it. We didn't know how long our run would be. We just kept working, you know. We, we always had a strong work ethic. We were never the types just to sit around. We were always doing something, you know. Muggs is always making beats. Um, you know, I'm always writing to something. I'm always into one project or another. So it's, it was always just about keeping busy and, and that, that, uh, suited us well.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's crazy. 28 years later-
- B-B-Real
(sniffs)
- JRJoe Rogan
... still banging it. (laughs)
- B-B-Real
It's crazy when you say it. (laughs) 28 years.
- JRJoe Rogan
28 years later from your first album, man.
- B-B-Real
Wow, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
And a- and again, you guys never dropped off for a second, not once. You were always there.
- B-B-Real
You have to be consistent in hip hop, you know, in, in music in general, especially, like, if, if there is a time where radio stops playing your music or, you know, as MTV stopped playing music videos and, and they went for more, um, reality show type programming, you gotta g- you gotta stick out there. So for us it was, you know, constantly doing shows. We didn't put out as many albums as we could've, but we thought less was more, you know.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- B-B-Real
Instead of, like, driving the music into your heart like a stake or something (laughs) like that-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
... we'd just, you know, let everything breathe for a while.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- 14:38 – 29:58
Shotokan training and competitive paintball obsession (Stoned Assassins)
- B-B-Real
And there was, there was a time where, you know, we sorta let go of doing everything. It was, like, a six-year period where we just kinda took off. We, we didn't... We weren't away completely. We were still doing, like, sporadic shows here and there to keep up the profile, but we weren't, like, touring and working on music. I was off fucking around, uh, competing in paintball tournaments and crap like that. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Wait, really? (laughs)
- B-B-Real
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
You would get into paintball?
- B-B-Real
Oh, man. Uh, yeah, I had a team called Stoned Assassins and, and-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
(laughs) And it was competitive paintball. At the time, I was, you know, training, uh, martial arts as I've done throughout my life. And, uh, I was also playing competitive paintball and-
- JRJoe Rogan
What kind of martial arts were you doing?
- B-B-Real
Shotokan.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh.
- B-B-Real
I started off with taekwondo and I got sort of, I mean, it's, it's like it was, uh, it was... The dojo was cool, you know, and, and I was progressing quickly, but I sorta fell out with the master there, with the sifu or whatever. I can't remember what his-
- JRJoe Rogan
Sa Bo Nim.
- B-B-Real
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- B-B-Real
And, uh, one of my partners who I grew up with who was one of my partners in our Dr. Green Thumb, um, brand and whatever, his father, um, was a, was a, you know, sensei and, and his sensei and became my sensei. I went from taekwondo to Shotokan and I started training with him. I mean, he had been in the dojo since he was five years old training with his father, so, you know, I came into that. It, it took, it took a little bit of, uh, convincing for me to go from one thing to another 'cause it's such a different style.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- B-B-Real
Um, but, you know, I adapted to it and I liked it and it was, um, very different. Less flash, but, uh, (laughs) he's very disciplined and, and his father, you know, he was, you know, born in Japan, raised out there, and he, he, you know... Their, their shit is kinda different. They go to, to, to, um, martial arts universities and they get degrees in different martial arts. So they-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, yeah.
- B-B-Real
... can go and take, like, okay, hapkido and jujitsu and Shotokan and, and all this and, you know, get their, their degrees, you know. They work their way up in the belt system and all that stuff, but they become teachers through, through that university, I guess, and-
- JRJoe Rogan
That's fascinating.
- B-B-Real
And, uh, yeah, his, his father was one of the guys in one of the federations that, uh, he's one of three or four senseis that have to come in and give you the black belt when you actually get it.
- JRJoe Rogan
Ah.
- B-B-Real
Yeah, it, uh, what was it, uh, SKFA or something like... I gotta, you know, I'm just going to-
- JRJoe Rogan
Shotokan Karate Federation or something like that?
- B-B-Real
Yeah, something like that.
- JRJoe Rogan
(clears throat) Yeah, I mean-
- B-B-Real
So you could imagine when Lyoto Machida came on the scene, you know-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
... we were like, "Yeah, someone representing the style that, you know, we were training under anyway."
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, a lot of people got excited when he came about. He was really the first guy to legitimize karate in the modern era of mixed martial arts. He showed-
- 29:58 – 34:58
Flat Earth debates, microdosing, and why conspiracy ideas spread
- JVJamie Vernon
... Flat Earth conversations that come up.
- B-B-Real
Oh, I, you know-
- JVJamie Vernon
Just plug your ears and keep moving.
- B-B-Real
I get those from-
- JVJamie Vernon
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
I get those from time to time, you know? You know? I get the Flat Ear-
- JVJamie Vernon
People need to stay the fuck off of YouTube, man.
- B-B-Real
Sh- (sighs) man. Stay-
- JVJamie Vernon
(coughs)
- B-B-Real
Yeah.
- JVJamie Vernon
They get confused.
- B-B-Real
Yeah. That's it, that's the craziest shit.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- B-B-Real
'Cause I always argue like this about the flat Earth, right? So, hey, listen, if we got a flat Earth, there's a edge, right? And there's always thrill-seekers looking to do something thrilling. And there's always a thrill-seeker that fucks up and falls right off of that edge, right? So how many-
- JRJoe Rogan
(clears throat)
- B-B-Real
-motherfuckers would be falling off the edge of the Earth if we really had one?
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, for sure.
- B-B-Real
You know?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. There would be climbers. There'd be a bunch of dudes who would try to hang off the edge and take selfies.
- B-B-Real
Think about it, right? 12 people this year have died at the Grand Canyon. That's the Grand Canyon.
- JRJoe Rogan
Is that really that many?
- B-B-Real
That many.
- JRJoe Rogan
Damn.
- B-B-Real
So far, in, in this year. And some people die of a heart attack there because, you know, it's too much for them to be on that little bridge that they have there that, that extends past the, the edge of the canyon. They, they put in a l- a little bridge way so that y- you can go and look down. And-
- JRJoe Rogan
People have heart attacks doing that?
- B-B-Real
And people h- have had heart attacks from that.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
But the other guys are the ones trying to do selfies.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh.
- B-B-Real
Falling off the fucking bridge and plummeting, right?
- 34:58 – 39:09
Surveillance reality: social posts, border checks, and being “watched” as a public figure
- B-B-Real
Yeah, they are. That is for sure. I mean-
- JRJoe Rogan
No, they really are.
- B-B-Real
That ... It's, it's, you know, since George Bush Jr. was president, they've been listening to our phone calls. I mean, that's a fact. I mean, that was one of the, the things they enacted with the Homeland Security-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- B-B-Real
... that they can record every American's call. And, you know, whatever conversation mentioned certain keywords, as we were saying earlier, they would, you know, they would get shuffled off to a certain department and those guys were red-flagged and looked at. And that still happens today.
- JRJoe Rogan
To, still to this day? You don't need a warrant? They can just listen?
- B-B-Real
I mean, I'll tell you this, right? There was a ... I'd been traveling, what? 20, 20 some odd years at, at this point where, um, when I, when I, I was coming back into, to the United States, for a long time I would not get, um, randomly checked or anything like that. They just let us go by. And I, I made a few posts somewhere, you know, with an abundant amount of cannabis, right? And right after that post-
- JVJamie Vernon
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
... each time I came back into the United States, they send me into secondary for a search. And I started asking like, "Hey, um, been traveling for X amount of years. Now, every ... I've noticed that the last four times that I've come back from another country, you guys are randomly, you know, checking my bags now."... what's the deal? Am I red-flagged? What's going on with my passport? Um, well, you know, we're ... I'm not really allowed to tell you this, but, I mean, have you been ... What kind of postings have you made on your social networks?
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- B-B-Real
Yeah. And I said, "Okay, say no more."
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- B-B-Real
And I already knew what it was 'cause I had put like, you know, a, a post with like four, five, six pounds in it. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) What does five pounds of weed even look like?
- B-B-Real
It's a lot.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's so light. (laughs)
- B-B-Real
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
That's like giant pillows-
- B-B-Real
Oh, it-
- JRJoe Rogan
... filled with weed.
- B-B-Real
Yeah. So, you know, right then and there, I knew, you know-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- B-B-Real
... from that reaction that he had that anybody with any sort of, um, that's involved in entertainment, music, athlete, you know, whatever, actor, actress, they're watching all of our shit.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, for sure.
- B-B-Real
They're listening and they're watching.
- JRJoe Rogan
(coughs) Well-
- B-B-Real
So-
- JRJoe Rogan
... especially someone like you who's been at the forefront of pushing cannabis legalization and always talked about it openly, flagrantly, even when it was w- a Schedule 1 substance-
- B-B-Real
Oh, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... everywhere, you know?
- 39:09 – 48:01
Medical cards, OG doctors, and cannabis health: lungs, training, and harm comparisons
- JRJoe Rogan
Did you ever get your lungs checked out from all those years of weed smoking?
- B-B-Real
Yeah, I mean, I, you know, I get physicals and stuff like that and, uh, you know, occasionally I'll have my lungs checked and they tell me they're great.
- JRJoe Rogan
Isn't that amazing?
- B-B-Real
It's crazy, you know, because I think if-
- JRJoe Rogan
(coughs)
- B-B-Real
... if you keep active, you know, like you train and, and, and, uh, a lot of us train now, like o- this generation, they're not like lazy stoners, they don't just-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- B-B-Real
... sit back and do nothing. There still are those, but, you know, I, I don't think it has the, the same carcinogens as, you know, people expect it-
- JRJoe Rogan
It doesn't.
- B-B-Real
... you know, like cigarettes.
- JRJoe Rogan
It doesn't.
- B-B-Real
And so-
- JRJoe Rogan
(coughs)
- B-B-Real
... you know, you might look at-
- JRJoe Rogan
I gotta cough up.
- B-B-Real
... someone's lungs who, who, who smoke cigarettes and, and you might see something there and like, "Hey, you need to, you know, slow the fuck down over here." But in, in every time that I've had my lungs checked or whatever for whatever, uh, whether I've, you know, gotten sick or whatever, they're, they're always telling me, "Lungs are in good shape." And it's a funny thing because, you know, in, I think in 1987, you know, I was 17 and I was gangbanging, I got shot and, you know, the, I got hit by a .22 and, and it, as hollow points do, it, um, it, it broke into three, three pieces, the hollow point, and one of them pr- punctured my, my lung on my left side. And, uh, you know, they were telling me, uh, "Well, you know, um, do you smoke?" Um, "Nah, I don't really smoke." Because I didn't smoke cigarettes. I smoked weed, but I wasn't gonna divulge that at the time. I was 17 and, you know ... And, uh, they said, "Well, you know, well, that's good 'cause you'll never smoke again." It was like, "You, you, they punctured your lung and blah, blah, blah." They thought I was gonna have to work off one lung, but in the three days, you know, they were able to get the blood out of the lung and I was able to get it back, you know, through the exercises they told me, you know, to get it back to its regular size. And I've never had a problem since then, knock on wood.
- JRJoe Rogan
Did they take the piece of metal out?
- B-B-Real
No, I still got the three pieces. That's like when I go do my physicals and they do the, you know, the-
- JRJoe Rogan
MRI?
- B-B-Real
... the MRIs and the X-rays and all that, the doctors, you know, sometimes they forget 'cause they see so many patients and they say, "Mr. Friese, um, these appear to be bullet fragments. What, what is that?" "Well, you just said it, doc, they're bullet fragments."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
"You've seen them a dozen times." You know? And, uh, yeah, I, I was very lucky. I was very lucky because it, you know, punctured my lung and then two of the pieces, one was by the heart and one was by my spine. But I was at, uh, Martin Luther King Hospital in Lynwood and we called that place Killer King 'cause you'd go in there for something small and end up dying or come out, you know, gimped out or something. So, you know, I wasn't gonna allow them to try and get to those bullets, you know, or those fragments.
- JRJoe Rogan
To open you up?
- B-B-Real
Yeah, nah, no, no, 'cause, you know-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
... it ... They didn't have a great success rate.
- JRJoe Rogan
What kind of, uh, lung exercise they give you?
- B-B-Real
(sighs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Try to pump your lungs back up?
- B-B-Real
They give you this breathing apparatus that has like a ball in it, right? And it has two lines and, you know, the, it's, the, the first line you're trying to ... They're telling you every day for five minutes to 10 minutes to blow that-... you know, not all in one shot, but, like, to keep practicing getting the ball up there, and that will in- help inflate the lung and get it back. So I had to do that for probably like three weeks, and, uh, you know, and the puncture wound, it healed itself pretty much. And, uh-
- 48:01 – 55:18
Getting shot, gang life, and how music became the exit route
- JRJoe Rogan
Did you always have that style?
- B-B-Real
No, I didn't, you know?
- JRJoe Rogan
When did you develop that?
- B-B-Real
One, once we started working on our Cypress Hill demos, um, Muggs came to me and said, "Hey, man, you gotta do something. You gotta do something different, otherwise you're gonna write for Sen." 'Cause Sen had a good voice, his shit was locked in. In my voice, I was rapping in a voice similar to the one I talk in. And although the rhymes were good, it didn't cut through on the style like on, on, you know, on the beats. It, it just sounded like, you know, some regular shit. So, you know, I didn't wanna be someone's writer, you know? I wanted-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- B-B-Real
... to write for myself. So, you know, uh, there was a guy that we used to listen to, uh-... um, coming up was name was Ramel Z. He was on this, uh, record called Wild Style, and he was in a movie. He was this, uh, rapper who was very, uh, obscure, but he was an artist too, you know, like a graffiti artist, but then also an, an artist-artist, you know, but he was also a rapper. And what he would do is he'd rap in a regular style, like his talking voice, "This is the brother they call the Ramel." He had a deep voice like that. And then he would flip right in the middle, "Taking it uptown to Cypress Hill with the shotgun," blah, blah, blah, like that and, you know, we were always freaking out on that he had two styles. So, I tried throwing my voice in that sort of similar style and it ended up sticking. I didn't really, like, I didn't think anybody was gonna like it.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
I thought they were gonna be like, "Get the fuck outta here with that," but they ended up liking it. And, uh, I think the first song that, um, came about in that style was, uh, the song Real Estate off our first album. It's, uh, y- you know, that was where I tried it the first time, they liked it, so then Kill A Man came next.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- B-B-Real
And I tried that song in that style, then Hand on the Pump, and it just became a flow after that. And I really did not feel it at first. I was like, "Fuck, I can't believe they got me rapping in this voice right now."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
And it, it, it took...
- JRJoe Rogan
(clapping) Woo.
- B-B-Real
It took a minute to get used to that, you know, like doing it live, because, you know, I had a tendency... We... As, as rappers, you know, that don't know 'cause there's no school for this unless you have somebody who's done it and they teach you, okay, this is what the get down is. And we didn't have that really. It was all hands-on learning. I... You know, for the first few years, man, I was trying to do the voice and I'd end up s- you know, getting over hyped 'cause the crowd is hype. And I'd start yelling the verses instead of, like, rapping them, like, on the record. I'd throw my voice out. My voice would get scratchy. I'd be sounding like Busta Rhymes and shit, you know what I mean?
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
And it took me five years to actually harness how to actually do the shows with this voice. And I had to go to this opera singer, um, coach.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- B-B-Real
She... Uh, her name was something... Elizabeth Sabine or something like that. She trained a lot of folks, but she, she, sh-... Her shit was like to teach you the operatic way of, of singing which is from the diaphragm, tighten the stomach, take little breaths, but those little breaths make your lungs expand, you know, a lot and it's less projection from your throat and more from the bottom. And she taught me that technique, and I never went hoarse again after that. I, like, would... You know, people often compliment me on, you know, sounding so close to how the records are. There's once in a while where I might get excited and start saying it louder than it might be, but I'm always sort of right there. And I gotta, you know, I gotta give all props to her 'cause if she hadn't showed me that technique, I'd probably still be yelling and screaming my shit out. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
Fucking up my voice, you know?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, that brings up an interesting point. Is this her?
- JVJamie Vernon
Yeah, she's teaching somebody-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, look at this.
- JVJamie Vernon
... how to sing heavy metal right here.
- B-B-Real
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
No way. Let me hear s-... Oh, we can't play this on YouTube.
- NANarrator
That's awesome.
- JRJoe Rogan
We'll get kicked off YouTube. (laughs)
- B-B-Real
And she was a... And she was an opera singer at one time.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- 55:18 – 1:02:54
Building the Cypress sound: B-Real’s voice, breath control, and opera coaching
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. The- the whole rap world has always been fascinating to me, like how someone gets in. Like, how do you get started? Are there open mics? Like, what?
- B-B-Real
Yeah. Back in the day, man, they, someone had to be the guy e- endorsing you, you know-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- B-B-Real
... like saying to, you know, these guys over here, "Hey, man, listen to this- these artists right ... or this artist right here. They're the new shit. They're gonna be the one." And then you would have to do a couple showcases and stuff like that and, you know, win some people over. I mean, we- we definitely did, uh, our share of showcases in the beginning but we were getting passed on left and right because, you know, people thought, you know, "What are they talking about with this cannabis shit?"
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
(laughs) And we- and we didn't sound like a- a West Coast group, you know, because we were trying to sell our shit to West Coast labels here, and they did not get us. It wasn't until, you know, um, Muggs had- had, you know, he'd previously been in a group called 783 and he had worked with these guys called the Rhyme Syndicate, which was Ice-T's guys. So he kind of, you know, he was the guy that people knew. And then, um, Sen Dog's brother, Mella Manace, eventually would get in the door. And so people started hearing about us through, you know, through more Muggs than Mella. Mella- Mella didn't really do shit for us, you know, all- all truth told. But Muggs, you know, they kept hearing about a group that he was forming outside of 783, which came to be Cypress Hill. And so, you know, the guys, uh, that worked on him worked with him on, uh, the 783 records was Joe Nicolo of- of Ruffhouse Records. You know, he wanted to sign whatever Muggs was doing, and, you know, he eventually ended up signing us, um, and they had a distribution deal with R- uh, with Sony Music. So, you know, we, you know, put out our records through Ruffhouse Columbia or Ruffhouse Sony, something like that. And that's how we got put on, you know. And- and, again, it had to be word of mouth because if nobody heard of y- h- heard of you, you had to have some really fucking dope music for them to even, like, consider you. If you didn't have, like, someone backing you, it was tough. You know, you had to have someone come speak on your behalf and say, "Hey, these guys are the new- new shit." And- and, uh, fortunately for us, once we put out our snippet tape, like when Sony put out our snippet tape, guys like EPMD, right? And they were one of our favorite groups in the world, man. They were the top five for Cypress Hill. It was, you know, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, EPMD.
- JRJoe Rogan
I love EPMD.
- B-B-Real
Yeah, fuck. They were the shit. And, uh, those were the guys that took our snippet tape and they were showing our snippet tape to other rappers, like, "Hey, guys, look at these new fucking guys." 'Cause, you know, Busta Rhymes told me this story. "Yo, I've ... Yo son, I heard your shit-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
... from EPMD way back in the day. They was playing it for, uh, Public Enemy and I just happened to be in the room, and what?" And, you know, Ice Cube, when we met him for the first time, you know, um ... And we had our ups and downs with him but he's one of my homies. Um, he- he told me, "Yeah, man, the first time I heard of y'all was through EPMD. They ... We was on tour, was doing a show, and they came in-
- JRJoe Rogan
That's wild.
- B-B-Real
... with y'all tape and that's how I heard of y'all." And- and, you know, they- they were like our first street team, man. Fucking EPMD-
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- B-B-Real
... our fav- our favorite ... one of our f- top three favorite groups was out there, like, with our snippet tape, telling people, "Hey, these guys are the new shit." And-
- JRJoe Rogan
Are they still together?
- B-B-Real
Uh, they do- they do stuff occasionally but, uh, th- I think they do more work, you know, individually now. I know Erick Sermon is putting out a- a record right now. He was just promoting it on- on, uh, some radio show. And, uh, I mean, those guys still active- stay active. I mean, he's a producer, so he's always making music. But as a rapper, you know, they don't put out as much stuff as they used to. But yeah, they're still active.
- JRJoe Rogan
You know who I miss? Kool G Rap.
- B-B-Real
Kool G Rap.
- JRJoe Rogan
Ev- I still bust out-
- B-B-Real
He ... Hey, a lot of guys don't have a style if he doesn't, you know, if he had never come out.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- B-B-Real
So many people were influenced by him.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- B-B-Real
Bad motherfucker.
- JRJoe Rogan
A lot of people forgot about him, man.
- B-B-Real
A lot of people forgot about him, and he was one of the baddest dudes. I mean, a lot of people, you know, would talk about Big Daddy Kane-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- B-B-Real
... and Rakim.
- JRJoe Rogan
Sure.
- B-B-Real
But you couldn't talk about them without talking about Kool G Rap 'cause he was like one of those guys, like spitting mad verses, man. Like his bar work was incredible.
- 1:02:54 – 1:35:59
Breaking into the industry: showcases, co-signs, and old-school hip-hop networks
- B-B-Real
It, it was one of my favorites, man, you know. And it was a honor to me, because, you know, like, I was really good friends with them to begin with. I saw them come out the gate before they exploded and became Rage Against The Machine.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- B-B-Real
And so for them to cover one of our songs, we were like, "Man, fuck yeah." You know. Because it, they, they helped us get better. You know, there was a lot of groups that we looked to, uh, for influence, even if they were doing different style of music. Like Public Enemy was an influence to us. Rage Against The Machine was an inspiration to us, to like push the envelope a little bit more on what we were doing. Not necessarily like how they were, 'cause they had their own sound, just like we had our own sound. And so they made us push, you know. And groups like that made us better. So when we heard this guy fucking doing, or this band doing a cover, and then they asked us to come play this song with them-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) That's awesome.
- B-B-Real
... which, which would be their last night as Rage Against The Machine for a long time. This was like their last show right here.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- B-B-Real
We got to do that with them.
- JRJoe Rogan
That must've been amazing.
- B-B-Real
And I was wearing a dad hat before dad hats were cool.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
(laughs) I will not wear one right now.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
Ever. I don't know what I was thinking, but fuck it. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
That's hilarious. That's hilarious.
- B-B-Real
No, it was a fun show, man. I went into the mosh pit be-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, did you really?
- B-B-Real
Yeah. Before that song, before they called us up for that song, for most of their set I was in the mosh pit. And there was U- U- USC, uh, (laughs) front linemen down there wrecking shop-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, no.
- B-B-Real
... in the mosh pit, bro.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- B-B-Real
I was in there with them. They were protecting me. I was like, "Oh, shit, be real. You're up here." I'm like, "Yep." Then we were-
- JRJoe Rogan
That's hilarious.
- B-B-Real
... wrecking shop together. It was, it was awesome.
- JRJoe Rogan
There's a video of Dana White in a mosh pit once. I don't know what the fuck he was thinking. He must've been drunk.
- B-B-Real
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
He jumped in the mosh pit like years ago, but he's-
- B-B-Real
He's a big dude, though.
- JRJoe Rogan
He's a big dude, but he's jumping around in there, moshing around. Yeah, I dated a girl who got KO'd in a mosh pit once.
- B-B-Real
Oh, man.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
Episode duration: 2:18:00
Install uListen for AI-powered chat & search across the full episode — Get Full Transcript
Transcript of episode Jo61b3Ex6Ag
