CYPRESS HILL : Rap Trio Takes Pro-Pot, Pro-Life Stance

“Man, this joint ain’t nothin’,” says a chuckling B-Real of the rap trio Cypress Hill, taking a deep drag from his marijuana cigarette. “Bob Marley and Peter Tosh and those reggae singers--they had joints that make this look like a toothpick.”

Sitting in a Century City office with his feet up on the table, B-Real, 22, does nothing to hide his pot-smoking. Not only does Cypress Hill brazenly smoke pot on stage (never encountering arrest), the group also calls for its legalization.

Despite the flood of anti-drug messages, the group--which has been featured in High Times magazine--has managed to flourish, having been introduced recently to a wider audience by its appearance on the “Juice” soundtrack album.

Sales of the trio’s debut Ruffhouse/Columbia album, “Cypress Hill,” which includes such pro-pot numbers as “Light Another” and “Stoned Is the Way of Life,” are now well past the 500,000 mark.

Many view Cypress Hill’s stance as irresponsible, but B-Real (real name: Louis Freeze), insists that the music isn’t designed to encourage kids to smoke pot. “It’s an individual decision,” he says. “What’s right for us isn’t right for everyone. Smoking weed opens our minds and sparks creativity. It may make other people get drugged-out and crazy.”

There is one line, however, that B-Real draws when it comes to the group’s marijuana stance: “I don’t want people to think we’re drugged-out, common street hoodlums. We like weed, but not all drugs. Crack kills--we’re against that and hard drugs.”

The group--B-Real and partners Mixmaster Muggs, 26, and Sen Dog, 22--had its origins in the mid-’80s in the South Gate area, near Cypress Street.

With two Cubans in B-Real and Sen Dog (Muggs is Italian), the group does some raps in Spanish and gets strong support from Spanish-speaking communities.

About the group’s musical philosophy, B-Real summarizes:

“We’re trying to tell our stories--in a funky, lively way to make it appealing. We’re real--that’s our biggest asset. We’re a product of the streets. We point out that the life is fast and loose and it can be fun--in a dark sort of way. But it can kill you too.”