B-Real Interview

Illuminati 2G got the extreme honor to interview one of the greats in the hip hop game, B-Real for a interview. We discuss his new solo album, Smoke N Mirrors, coming out on February 24th, the new Cypress Hill album, his production work, Soul Assassins and so much more so check it out.

For audio of the interview, click on the link below:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/55962850bbc9d914/

Illuminati 2G is here with B-Real how’s it going?

Great man can’t complain.

Let’s get right into the new album, Smoke N Mirrors, what made you want to do a solo album after all this time?

Well you know stuff I had been wanting to do for a while, but really the demand in Cypress Hill’s schedule, made it harder for me to do it. After the last Cypress Hill record, which was Till Death Do Us Part, as far as our business relationship with Sony goes. That was basically our last obligation to Sony at that point. After that we did not have a deadline to meet with and everyone had aspirations to do a bunch of different side projects and what not so that was what basically gave me the movitation. I had the time to do something different. Busta Rhymes had told me a long time ago when we were on the Smoking Grooves tour, he was telling me that I should do a solo record. Whenever Cypress is not working or you are taking time off, you should take time to record a solo record.

I always thought nah I don’t need to do that, that is really not my grind. He said yeah I know but it will show your versatility over different styles of beats and it will keep you out there while Cypress is out on hiatus. At first I really was not into doing it because I am dedicated to Cypress and I did not want anything getting in the way of that. I figured now that I have the time, it would be a thing that I wanted to do and with the the time to do it I wanted to create my own brand as far as production goes for Audio Hustlaz, and to extend our branch as far as Cypress goes by creating another brand by doing my solo records. Where I did not have time before I have plenty of time so I just decided to take advantage of that time while I had it before the next Cypress record has to be recorded.

How did you end up linking up with Duck Down Records to get the album released through them?

I was pretty lucky because I had been shopping records to a few people and they did not get where I was coming from. They wanted me to pretty much piggy back off of what I do with Cypress. As I have told many that have asked me that question, if Cypress Hill was over and broken up and we were not going to make anymore records together, maybe I would have considered that. But that is not the case so I had to have it be distinct and different so it was one of those things where Duck Down pretty much got that. They knew that I wanted to do a primarily hip hop record, I wanted to take it back to the roots of how I started out in this game, and I wanted to bring substance on my records.

I did not just want to do some rock-rap shit because that is what Cypress does. I didn’t want to piggy back off of the imagery or the concepts that we use with Cypress. I wanted to come with something fresh and something new. Duck Down saw that and they were willing to let me do it and they were excited about the material that I played them because most of my album was already done before I got the deal with Duck Down. The end product they were still pretty excited and fortunately we were able to make that deal happen.

I actually just heard a track a couple of weeks ago called Fire with Damien Marley, that is a crazy track. How did that track come together for you?

Well basically that is one of the joints that I produced on the record. I had produced the track a while back, and as the record was being made, I did not originally intend for it to go to me. I was just making beats to eventually get out to other people but in the recording process me and Young De were going through some different beats. Just deciding what beats would be good for a particular song, and he said you should use this Fire track, it will sound tight. Well actually my partner J. Turner told me that. So I was like fuck it why not let’s use it. So I laid some vocals down on it, and I met up with Damien Marley at a Snoop Dogg show. When I saw him, I thought man he would be perfect for this song, I should hit him up. Being that we had already had a working relationship because he worked with me on one of the Cypress records, I hit him up.

I said hey I got a record for my solo album I think you will be perfect for. He heard it, he liked it and eventually he got us his verses. I had to change the whole thing I was talking about on the record because he killed it. He absolutely murdered the track. So I had to come with something else to compete with what he put down on my track. It was a great surprise and it just sort of happened. I think those times are the best ways to make a track. You don’t really plan it, it just comes together.

People are starting to hear your production more and more on projects, like you did much of Young De’s Audio Hustlaz’s project and your new solo album. But you have been doing beats for over a decade. You did the whole Psycho Realm album pretty much my yourself. Are there any other projects that we can expect to hear your production on that is coming out soon?

Well for the Psycho Realm record I served more as a co-producer. I mean I produced a couple of the beats here and there but that was a joint effort between myself, Sick Jacken and Eric Bobo.

Oh ok.

I have been doing beats probably about 8 years or so on the low, maybe closer to 10. I never put my beats out there like that, like to put out beat cds and stuff like that because it is a wicked world. People will steal your ideas in a fucking heartbeat. I was not motivated to give out beats like that, so what I decided to do was find certain things that I could use my production for that would get the most impact out of it. For instance my solo record. I could have went to a bunch of different producers and knocked it out that way, but I figured it is my record, I might as well produce a few things on it and that will give more light on my production.

Because I really wanted to develop a sound before I went out there. I did not want to have a bunch of different beats that did not have my calling card on it. While I was doing my record, I eventually came across Young De. He blew me away with how talented he is for writing and his concepts and his stage presence. So I decided to start producing him. I wanted to start developing him as a artist as well as my production develop right along with him. So it will serve a dual purpose. We have been making some good music together.

Once we are done with the Cypress record, him and I have some stuff coming out together. I definitely plan on doing more beats for that record. For me, I don’t want to be one of those producers giving out beat cds. I want to find one artist, and create and develop a sound for them and build my resume as a producer. Because I think all the great producers do that. Like with Dre, he did not ship his beats out to a million people, they were specifically for certain people. Like when he developed Snoop Dogg, when he developed Eminem and when he had a hand in developing 50 to a degree and Game and stuff like that. I think great producers do it more like that then say let me spread out all my beats and see what comes back. I think you have got to be selective. You can give your beats to people and they might totally fuck the song up.

How much input at all do you…, I mean working so long with Muggs, do you create a beat and possibly let him listen to it? Do you even ask him well do you think I should change anything up or is it something to where you just right off of your sound you kind of just develop it?

What I will do is I will put it together. For this Cypress record, because this is where for the most part the majority of my production is going to right now is the next Cypress record. This is the most time that I have contributed to a Cypress Hill record so there is alot of pressure there. But what I did, because I learned from him, from a distance, watching him as he puts together things, how he puts together tracks. I took everything that I had learned, Basically I just recorded the tracks, produced them and recorded the vocals over it and when I got them close to ready but not all the way, that is when I took them to him and let him listen to what I had to get this opinion.

That is pretty much how we feel about it. That is my mentor as far as producing goes so it is one of those things that you want him to hear it, but then you will be like well should I fucking let him hear this, what if he does not like it. He knows that is something that I have been aspiring to do for a long time. He will give me helpful tips every now and then when I come and ask him to give his opinion on something.

That leads right into my next question. How is the new Cypress Hill album coming along for you guys?

It is coming along really well. It is going to be a really dope album. I think people are going to be really surprised with how much heat we still bring to the table.

Ok. Is it going to be more of a diverse sound, with your production? Because…., I know at first when people heard Muggs was taking a step back on the production, they were a little cautious about how the sound was going to be. If you can describe it at all is it going to be more of a universal sound with still that core Cypress sound? Or is it something that is completely out of left field?

No it is going to be…, the best way I can describe it is raw, gritty, to the point, in your face, adrenaline driven hip hop. On my end, I pretty much tried to take it back to that raw street shit. As far as production goes, I was very influenced by Muggs and the Bomb Squad and guys like that. They just made the tracks just so totally driven so that is the approach that I took on it. Muggs being the veteran, he is going to participate and he basically creates his time on whatever he is feeling at the time. It is going to be a combination of our vibes coming together.

We have always been on the same page creatively. It is going to mesh very well together, but definitely it is going to be a return to aggressive hip hop. It is not going to be another Skull N Bones record. I know alot of people think that with Skull N Bones and Till Death Do Us Part that we will be adding alot of rock shit to our sound. I tried to use less of it, I did have some elements of that but it is not going to be like those records. It is primarily hip hop driven. But the one rock track that we do have is produced by Tom Morello and that shit is ridiculous. It is heavy but it is funk you know what I mean?

Right

The record is going to have something for everybody, but the vibe of it is traditional, raw, hip hop. With alot of substance, because you don’t hear none of that shit these days anymore. Everybody is doing more materialistic aspect of what hip hop is. Like what I have, what you don’t have, what I am out to get and what I want. That is all good, but there is more to it then just that. Our subject matter is going to be pretty deep. At times it is going to be fun and humoristic, it is going to be a little bit of everything that Cypress Hill is, primarily the sound is going to be hip hop.

Do you have a release or anything set or are you going to pretty much let your solo go for a couple months and just go from there?

Well we are going to come with my solo first obviously and then at some point I think around June or July, we are intending to break with the Cypress. So we are giving my record a little bit of time to get out there and do what it is going to do. Kind of like springboard, after that we are going to go full blown with Cypress. But I am not going to neglect either project. I am still going to be pushing them, even if it meant when Cypress Hill goes on tour, me promoting my project while we are on that tour. Or even maybe performing some of my songs with different kinds of show sets. Just depends.

I know you had also mentioned about a year ago a compilation called The Harvest that you were working on for Audio Hustlaz. You still at work on that?

Yeah we just finished the mixes on that. We will probably be mastering that soon. That will probably come after the Cypress Hill record, because we don’t want it to drown out in between my record and the Cypress. Because what we did with that was look for a bunch of talent here in the states and overseas that we were trying to give a chance to and give life to. Because nobody else really does that. We are trying to find these new artists and give them life. It would just be ridiculous for it to come out any time in between the records.

We found alot of kids that are very talented but nobody bothers to look for. I figured I would do that, like when we were coming up, there were people that could have totally given us a chance to put us on. But they looked the other way because they had their reasons and they were trying to do their thing. Being that I have had alot of success in this business, and I have gotten alot of opportunites after the fact and we worked hard to get our opportunities, I just decided that I want to put other people on. Using my production for others to rap on. That is what the Harvest is, me finding artists to make it happen and give a opportunity to.

Ok I just got a bit of a throwback question for you. Basically you got the whole House Of Pain crew, Everlast, Danny Boy, DJ Lethal doing the La Coka Nostra thing. You got Funkdoobiest working on a new album, and Cypress is pretty much done with theirs. Is there any chances of getting the original Soul Assassins crew together to collaborate on some new projects? You guys currently working on anything?

I believe so. We are all still very close so I would think that would be something that would be up to Muggs. Because with Soul Assassins, he is our leader in the family. It would be his decision to do that, and I think that all of us would more then love to do a record together. Because we really never officially got to do a proper Soul Assassins family record. Because the other Soul Assassins records were a mix of a bunch of different artists that we had mutual respect for. It was not all family on those. I think it is something that we would all be interested in doing, definitely. Because we all have mutual love and respect for each other. I think that would be a perfect thing for us. We never got to do that particular record and I think that is pretty much what is left I think for us as far as collaborating all together aside from all the individual stuff.

Was that always the original concept? Because I remember when the first Soul Assassins compilation came out, I was like ok that will probably have just the crew on it. Did it change at any time or was it always you guys were thinking about hey let’s reach out to Dre, let’s reach out to Mobb Deep. Or was it originally going to be just the core group members?

I think originally it was going to be the core group members. But at the time alot of things was changing in our relationships. It kind of got derailed in the sense of the original direction. It was something that we planned, but Muggs had changed what the plan was because he felt that we needed to go a different direction due to what was going on with all of us. Finally we are all at a good place with our individual endeavors and getting our family back in order. I think that is something that is on the horizon.

Do you have any other plans on working with La Coka Nostra on any other projects or on their upcoming album? I seen the I Am American track that came out about a month or 2 ago.

Yeah when they call me I am usually always there. If they should call me for another song, I will definitely be contributing. They are my family and whatever they need from me, they got it 100 percent and likewise. We all look out for each other like that. I did the I Am American song but if another one pops up I will definitely be on it.

Alright well that is all the questions that I have for you, appreciate you getting down for the interview. When is the release date for Smoke N Mirrors?

February 24th Duck Down Records

Do you have any last words or shoutouts you want to get out there to the people?

I want to give a shoutout to all the fans out there that supported us throughout the years. Soul Assassins forever. Keep ya ears open for all of our family endeavors.

Appreciate the interview

Thank you.