You are working on a new album for this year. Can you tell us more about it?
Right now it’s wide open, you know? We’re just doing music that feel good and that’s about it. it has content. Right now it’s nothing particular we are just doing our music.
Are you looking for a new home to release it or will you work it through your own means?
You know we are definitely interested in finding a good label for the group. We are not the kind of a band that can [just do music]. We are a label group. Once we feel comfortable with what we have… we’ve had some interest already, we are just making sure it works well.
Why did you leave SONY?
Well, the label is changing and we were changing too. We were working with the same contract since 1991. There was no interest from label to upgrade our contract. So we eventually just made our move.
Do you feel that major labels help artists get popularity and do their music or do they control the creative process too much?
Major labels do help you get the mainstream popularity and I believe that in some cases they control the artist too much or whatever but in our deal with SONY they never got involved in our creative process. That’s one thing I got to give mad props to them for. They never once told us how to write or what they wanted to hear or anything like that. At least with us they were like ‘Turn your album in and that’s it.’ They always had that appreciation. That’s one thing that I liked about being on SONY.
You are performing with an amazing roster of artists at the Rock the Bells tour this year. What is that like for you?
That’s like the ultimate man. Because you know you can go on tour all you want but every now and then some shows are like ‘Wow!’ You know what I mean? And to have my band, Cypress Hill be invited to play it it makes you feel like we really did something special to put this concert together with all these legends. That makes me feel like we actually did something special in life, to be able to play with Rage, Public Enemy, Wu-Tang, Nas, the list goes on. Just about every headlining act on that bill is a legend. It’s like an AllStar Game. I’m gonna be modest when I get to the stage that day.
Cannabis got closer to being legalized a little while back but now this process seems to have stopped. Do you think Marijuana will ever be completely legal in this country like in Holland?
I think eventually it will become legal but it’s gonna take somebody, a system, that understand how to work it. As soon as money is being made off of it… The main thing is that it will become legal but it’s not so easy to just make it happen. A lot of education needs to go to public. A lot of people don’t know w anything about it. They just see reefer but there’s so much more to it. It’s almost spiritual. It can help people with cancer and a bunch of other stuff. I think that now we are doing a new thing where more free thinkers are coming to leader position and you just have to let younger people [make decisions]. They don’t have that old school mentality. They can see how it’s good for the world. This is era of global warming and disappearing rain forest. You have to know that using cannabis will actually prolong earth cycle. We’ll see what happens but in California medical marijuana is used all the time.
You were featured in How High some time back. Do you plan on making any more movies in the near future?
Definitely I’d like to get into it, explore it, see if our heart’s in it. Also put music in more music. There are more music types in movies now. We had our song on Sopranos and I got a lot of really good feedback to that.
Some time back you went back and forth with Ice Cube with diss tracks. Do you have any current music disputes?
No, no man. I don’t. and the whole thing with Cube… I don’t know how he feels about it but I think that the whole thing was ridiculous. I wish it would have never happened. We had a really good friendship with him at the time. He was #1 in the world, he was taking us all over the world and that just messed everything up between us. Songs were being put together based on disrespecting each other and stuff like that. NWA was my favorite band growing up and I really wish that that part never happened. I ain’t trying to get into it with nobody. If anyone wants to say something like that feel free, but I feel that life is too beautiful for that. Young cats that want to knock you down from your place do that and sometimes beefs start out of nowhere. I am always very open thou. If you are an upcoming artist, feel free to introduce yourself, give me a CD or whatnot. We were young back then and shit just happens. We didn’t know how to act and shit (laughing).
You’ve been performing for more than 20 years now. Are you overall happy or disappointed with the changes in the music industry?
They are harsh on the artists to tell you the honest truth. A lot of music is being put out that is around for a few months and you never hear it again. All the downloading and stuff also changes things. We have our fan base. For us, sometimes it’s good for fans to take a break for a while and then to put out an album. You keep on showing things down the public’s throat you just gonna burn the fans out. The cool thing is to recognize that you have a fan base and they will be there when you come back with a real record. That raw uncut Hip Hop, you know? We just gotta wait for our turn again.
Is there anything you’d like to add?
Every time I do an interview I like to give a big shout-out to the fans of Cypress Hill. Anyone who ever supported Cypress, bought a T-shirt, a hat, whatever, we really love ‘em and we wouldn’t be Cypress Hill without their support and that’s the most important thing. We appreciate them, we dig them and we are here, we’re still together. We keep entertaining, do what we love!