Cypress Hill Ignites Fans at ‘Smoke Out’

After waiting through nearly 10 long hours of music for its hip-hop heroes to emerge, the crowd at the National Orange Show in San Bernardino erupted as Cypress Hill rushed the stage on Sunday.

As the headliner of the “Cypress Hill Smoke Out,” the Los Angeles-based rap group used the daylong gathering as an excuse to celebrate its new album, ‘IV,” and to champion its favorite cause--marijuana. The audience shared the sentiment, producing substantial clouds of smoke during Cypress Hill’s 65- minute set, and barely registering any reaction when rapper B-Real forgot some of the lyrics of “Illusions.”

The mishap hardly slowed the momentum, however, as B-Real quickly rebounded with a humorous improvisational rhyme spree glorifying hemp. Meantime, the rest of the group--DJ Muggs, Sen Dog and Bobo--gave B-Real plenty of animated support during adrenaline-raising selections such as “Hand on the Pump” and “How I Could Just Kill a Man.”

Of the long day’s other acts, Los Angeles hip-hop group Jurassic 5 earned major points when guest Click the Super Latin “beat-boxed” through a multitude of popular rap singles. As members of Jurassic 5 egged him on, the voice-percussionist produced no fewer than three sounds at a time with his mouth.

With their frenzied music, Mexican punk band Tijuana No and Los Angeles area rock-rap outfit Dial-7 initiated a swarm of high-energy mosh pits that engulfed most of the area in front of center stage. The former also won the crowd’s favor by denouncing the U.S. government and the Border Patrol.