Cypress Hill and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony

The group have achieved enormous success, selling over 18 million albums worldwide. Their music style is unusual to say the least: an interesting blend of hip hop, Latin hip hop, Trip hop, West Coast hip hop, hard core hip hop, rap rock, rap metal, nu metal and psychedelic hip hop.

The band formed back in 1988, when brothers Senen Reyes (also known as Sen Dog) and Ulpiano Sergio Reyes (aka Mellow Man Ace) teamed together with Lawrence Muggerud (also known as DJ Muggs) and Louis Freese (also known as B-Real) to form the group DVX (Devastating Vocal Excellence). When the band lost Mellow Man Ace to a solo career they started anew and changed their name to Cypress Hill, after a street in their home town of South Gate.

In 1989 the band signed with Columbia Records and releases their first album in August 1991. The album was a success, selling two million copies in the USA alone. Following this, their second album (‘Black Sunday’) debuted at the number one spot in 1993. This was a massive deal at the time for a rap group. In 1994 the group were honoured by being named Rolling Stone magazine’s named best rap group in their music awards, voted by critics and readers.

The band has toured with several big names including Ziggy Marley, The Fugees, Busta Rhymes, Rage against the Machine and A Tribe Called Quest. They have also produced covers of classics such as Guns N’ Roses ‘Paradise City’.

The band are known for their distinctive rapping style and the fact that they sing in both Spanish and English. One of the band's most striking aspects is the exaggeratedly high-pitched nasal vocals of one of their members when rapping.

The group started performing around the Cleveland area in the early ‘90s under several names such as The Band-Aid Boys and B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e. The group was fairly large containing five members: Layzie Bone, Krayzie Bone, Bizzy Bone, Flesh-n-Bone, and Wish Bone. They released their first album “Faces of Death” in 1993 under the guidance of Krayzie Bone’s older brother, but the album did not gain them the success they were hoping to achieve. After the group released their debut album they were persistently seeking to find someone who could give them a record deal. After much searching they finally caught the eye of NWA’s Eazy-E who signed them to his label and convinced the group to change their name from B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.

In 1994 the group released their first EP “Creepin on ah Come Up” on Ruthless Records to commercial and critical success. The EP reached No. 12 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The EP contained the very popular singles “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” and “For tha Love of $”, which featured Eazy-E. The EP showed Bone Thugs-n-Harmony shifting styles from the hardcore and abrasive gangsta rap style to a more G-Funk style that was prevalent in West Coast hip-hop.

The year 1995 showed Bone Thugs-n-Harmony releasing their second album “E. 1999 Eternal”, which would become the group’s most popular album. The album has been certified 4x Platinum and reached the No. 1 slot on the Billboard 200 chart. The album was also a critical success having been nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Album and The Source labeled it as one of the best rap albums of the ‘90s. The album contained the singles “1st of that Month”, “East 1999”, and “Tha Crossroads”. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony were also praised for their melodic approach to rapping as well as the soundscape of the album, which included infectious G-Funk beats and dark uses of synthesizers.

After achieving mainstream success with their music career, the group started their own label called Mo Thugs Records that released albums for many Cleveland based artists. The group’s third album “The Art of War” was released in 1997 to commercial success and contained several unique collaborations, which included a song with Tupac Shakur labeled “Thug Luv”. The group’s fourth album “BTNHResurrection” also received commercial success, but it would be the last album that Flesh-n-Bone would appear on until their 2010 release “Uni5: The World’s Enemy”.

In the early 2000’s Bizzy Bone, Layzie Bone, and Krayzie Bone would take a break from the group and each release solo albums. For the group’s 2006 album “Thug Stories” the group was only down to three members, Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, and Wish Bone, but the album was well received and placed high on the Billboard charts. Their 2010 album “Uni5: The World’s Enemy” saw all original members of the group reunited again.

Over the years the group has collaborated with some of the most celebrated performers in the business including Phil Collins, Mariah Carey, The Game, Akon, and will.i.am. The group has also worked with some of the most well-respected rappers including 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., and Big Pun. The group’s final album has plans for collaborations with Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and A$AP Mob. Their final album will only have one copy released, which will have a starting bid of $1 million dollars, and the album will be backed by a large world tour.