Interview with Sen-Dog of Cypress Hill, 2013
The below interview first appeared on the Australian events site Everguide, which no longer exists. Most importantly, when researching for this interview I came across the Cypress Hill and Sonic Youth collaboration ‘I Love You Mary Jane’.
Hannah Joyner: Hello?
Sen-Dog: Hello how are you?
HJ: Great thanks. How’s everything going with you?
SD: I am doing good, had a good party last night watching the Superbowl.
HJ: Oh cool, what did you think of Beyonce’s performance?
SD: I thought she was great, she was really good. I always like watching Beyonce because there’s so much sexiness and sassiness. She’s a really great entertainer. The fact that she brought out Destiny’s Child to do some of the show with her, I thought that was really cool.
HJ: Have you ever performed at an event like that? Like at a sports game.
SD: No (laughs) I don’t think professional baseball or football would take much time for us smoking weed on TV. Cypress Hill has definitely never been invited to do something like that.
HJ: (Laughs) would you like to? Or is there a sport you’d happily perform half time at?
SD: I would love to do something like that. I think that’s the ultimate challenge for a performer. To get up there live and play, not just in front of a packed-out stadium, but knowing that people around the world are watching. I’d love to do that.
HJ: Ambitions. Well, 2013 makes this 22 years since your debut album. Did you imagine yourself around for this long?
SD: Not at all. We had this idea of maybe being around five or six years, maybe some tours, a few records, but girls wouldn’t like us because of our hardcore nature and all that. We were wrong about all that shit though and 22 years later as it turns out, girls loved our stuff and we’re still going even though we never thought that far in advance.
HJ: And now you’re putting out records with Snoop Dogg as the creative director.
SD: Yeah I never saw that coming. I’ve always been a big fan of his but didn’t imagine him being a working part of our records. It’s a great thing, he’s been one of Cypress Hill’s biggest supporters throughout the years. So, to sit down and talk music with him and smoke joints and just love making music together. I’m really proud of what we accomplished with that.
HJ: I’m really interested to know because your career has spanned from the early ’90s, but how has the public’s perception of rap music changed?
SD: Well it’s changed a lot, especially with acts like Eminem coming on the scene and taking it to the next level. He really helped prove that hip hop music is something that anyone of any race could do. So the scene has changed a lot. For the good sometimes, and some for, you know, whatever (laughs). I think overall though, hip hop has proven to be a force and a mainstay. People used to say that hip hop wouldn’t last, but they said the same thing about rock and roll. We’re all still here, proving that hip hop is still relevant and coming out with newer styles. Even Nicki Minaj is taking it to another level with her blend of hip hop, proving she can MC and spit.
HJ: What I like about Cypress Hill, as opposed to modern hip hop, is that you have a ‘message.’ Would you say that is lacking with modern hip hop and rap?
SD: Well you know, there’s a lot of ‘good time’ music out at the moment, a lot of stuff that is played at dance clubs. It did use to be more about having a message. I remember the reason I got turned on to Public Enemy was because of their message. You know what I mean? The reason I liked Ice-T was because he was anti-police and anti-law and he didn’t give a shit about what the consequences were. I loved that message. The message nowadays is more or less ‘Bitches, cars, houses, jewelry,’ and things like that. That wasn’t what I got into hip-hop for. I can see why kids like it but you have to be more accountable for what you are putting out there for kids to listen to. That’s the way kids are going to be behaving on the street after they listen, so if you put out a message that is basically all about yourself, then the kids will act that way too. Music with a message is still what gets me at my core; it’s the most powerful form of hip-hop.
HJ: I was a kid when I became aware of you, and only because Cypress Hill cameo’d on The Simpsons. It’s a shame that the Internet is taking away those great pop-culture platforms. It’s not so collective anymore.
SD: Well, one never knows. You never know what will pop up next week or next year or ten years from now. I still think it is possible for an artist with a message like us to reach a wide audience without the same platforms. As long as labels want to look for that because a lot of labels are just after that hit and then a different one the next year type of deal. I believe there are still artists that are pensive about what they write. I believe there will continue to be artists that get to really affect the world, yes.
HJ: Is there any around today that you think has that potential? Or just any artists that you’re liking.
SD: Well that depends on if we are talking hip hop and I don’t listen to much of what my kids listen to so…
HJ: What do your kids listen to?
SD: Well, my son is definitely an old-school hip-hop guy, he listens to the stuff with a message like KRS-ONE. My daughter is the one I catch listening to Nicki Minaj and Drake and all that new stuff. There’s definitely a gap.
HJ: (Laughs) That’s awesome. I suppose, Cypress Hill never really stuck to one genre. You had all those crossovers with Rage Against the Machine. Did you ever feel any need to stick to one style of music?
SD: We never felt any pressure, even though when we first came out we were strictly hip hop. Our first two albums were strictly on that hip hop purist tilt but that wasn’t the way we grew up. We were scatterbrains when it came to music. Growing up for me, my parents played a lot of salsa music, like Tito Puente. Then I would hang out with my friends and listen to some hardcore punk-funk music, like Parliament-Funkadelic. Then hip hop came around, and it was early days but I liked what those guys were doing. In my school, there were different sections of what everyone was into, so I’d go to football practice and all those guys were listening to heavy metal stuff, so I had to listen to all that. So growing up with so much music everywhere, you couldn’t be a fan of just one kind of music. So after those first records, I was like, ‘Man, I want to start doing some different things,’ and the whole group was feeling the same way.
HJ: Do you still have your side rock group SX-10?
SD: SX-10? Wow, that’s my baby right there. I went to high school with the guitar player, Andy Zambrano. We ran into each other again later on and he was like ‘Come and rap or write some stuff for my band’ and it turned out to be more than I expected it to be. I’ve always appreciated the liberty it gives me to express myself apart from what I’m doing with Cypress Hill. That’s the reason Cypress Hill continues to flourish because we encourage each other to go out there and pursue side projects. So when we come back together we have all these new experiences and strategies we’ve learned from other people. SX-10 really brought me out of my shell. I was a bit hesitant on the first couple of Cypress Hill records. So when I went to SX-10 I didn’t have the luxury of having B-Real there with me, so I couldn’t get help on rhymes or anything. I had to do it all myself. So I found out who I was lyrically, but also almost as a person and to grow musically.
HJ: Actually, heavy metal is what Soundwave is all about, which is what you’re coming out for. Metallica and Linkin Park are on the lineup, are you a fan of those groups?
SD: Definitely, Linkin Park use to open for SX-10 before they got big and I love what they do. When they started they became the band of the future and there’s no limit to what those guys could do. As for Metallica, what can I say? If you’re not a fan of Metallica or heard a Metallica song, then something’s wrong with you. I’m very proud to say I am going out on tour with bands like that. There are not many hip hop acts that could go on stage and compete with those guys, and Cypress Hill can so it’s a big deal for us.
