Cypress Hill – American hip-hop group
Cypress Hill was formed in California in 1988. Initially, the musicians performed Latin rap but then switched to other rap styles. The founders were Senen Reyes (known as Sen Dog) and Ulpiano Sergio Reyes (performing under a pseudonym Mellow Man Ace).
In 1971, both musicians emigrated from Cuba to the United States. They settled in California and met Lawrence Muggerud (known as DJ Muggs, who performed with the band 7A3) and Louis Freese (aka B-Real). The four artists decided to form a band, which they called DVX. DVX stood for Devastating Vocal Excellence. In 1989, Mellow Man Ace left the group in order to pursue a solo career, which turned out to be fairly successful. After his departure, the artists changed the name to Cypress Hill (after a street in their town) and began working on a debut album. Later, in 1994, Eric Bobo joined the band.
In 1991, the group presented its first album, Cypress Hill. The LP earned high scores from the public and the critics. It climbed to the 4th spot of Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums Chart, settled on the 5th position of Top Heatseekers Chart, and came in 31st on Billboard 200. It was an impressive success for the debut album. Such songs as "Hand On The Pump", "The Phuncky Feel One”, “How I Could Just Kill A Man", and "Latin Lingo" reached high spots on the charts.
