The Himalayas of hip-hop, Cypress Hill, are coming to the Majestic Ventura Theater on Thursday night. All the way from South Gate, these Hill people, as a Cuban-American/Latino hip-hop outfit, are a microcosm of American diversity. They got signed to Columbia Records early on, and at one point had two albums (their first two) in the Top 10. Around since 1988, Cypress Hill are one of the pioneers of West Coast rap, not to be confused with East Coast rappers who talk funny.

The core of the group, known as DVX at the beginning, were the Reyes brothers, Senen and Ulpiano Sergio, along with their pals Louis Freese and Lawrence Muggerud, and with nicknames adopted, we came to know them at Sen Dog, Mellow Man Ace, B-Real and DJ Muggs. When the Mellow Man became a solo man, the other three became Cypress Hill. Read more »