B-Real

Louis Freese, better known by his stage name B-Real, is an American rapper of Mexican and Cuban heritage. He is best known for being the lead rapper in hip hop group Cypress Hill, who debuted with their self-titled album Cypress Hill in 1991.


Born on June 2, 1970 to a Mexican father and an Afro-Cuban mother, B-Real moved with his sister and mother out of his father's home to South Gate before ending up in South Central Los Angeles Before dropping out of Bell High School, he befriended future Cypress Hill members Sen Dog and Mellow Man Ace. Sen Dog, who was affiliated with the Bloods gang set known as "Neighborhood Family", would later introduce B-Real into the set. B-Real's career as a drug dealer and gangbanger began to come to a close after he was shot in the lung with a .22 pistol in 1988.

After being introduced to DJ Muggs by Julio G the KDAY Mixmaster, B-Real and Sen gained interest in Muggs' concept of an album based on experiences from Cypress Ave in South Gate. The group was signed with Ruffhouse/Columbia records in 1991, and made their influential debut that year. B-Real would use his life-threatening experiences as material for the group's self-titled debut album, and subsequent releases.

Cypress Hill's trademark sound - an eccentric combination of B-Real's exaggeratedly high-pitched nasal vocals and DJ Muggs' distinctive beats - led to the trio becoming the first Latin rap group to have Platinum and Multi-Platinum albums. They remain the best selling Latin rap group to date.

Aside from Cypress Hill, B-Real has been involved in several other musical projects. In 1996 he contributed to the soundtrack for the movie Space Jam. In 2002, he teamed up with Mellow Man Ace and Son Doobie for the short-lived Serial Rhyme Killas, which released one 12" single in 2002. The group recorded a full-length debut album, entitled Deluxe Rapture, but it was never released. B-Real formed a rap metal group, Kush, with Deftones guitarist Stephen Carpenter and Fear Factory members Christian Olde Wolbers and Raymond Herrera. According to B-Real, Kush is more aggressive than other bands in the genre., and in 2007 announced that he would collaborate with Sick Jacken once again on a new album.

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