Cypress Hill
American hip hop group
Cypress Hill is an American hip-hop group formed in South Gate, California in 1988. One of the first Latin American groups to gain mainstream recognition in hip-hop, they have sold over 20 million albums worldwide, and have obtained multi-platinum and RIAA platinum certifications. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast hip-hop and 1990s hip-hop. All of the group members advocate for recreational marijuana use as well as medical marijuana use of cannabis in the United States. In 2019, Cypress Hill became the first hip-hop group to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
History
Formation (1988)
Senen Reyes (also known as Sen Dog) and Ulpiano Sergio Reyes (also known as Mellow Man Ace) are brothers born in Pinar del Río, Cuba. In 1971, their family emigrated to the United States and initially lived in South Gate, California. In 1988, the two brothers teamed up with New York City native Lawrence Muggerud (also known as DJ Muggs, previously in a rap group named 7A3) and Louis Freese (also known as B-Real) to form a hip-hop group named DVX (Devastating Vocal Excellence). The band soon lost Mellow Man Ace to a solo career, and changed their name to Cypress Hill, after a street in South Gate.
Mainstream success with Cypress Hill and Black Sunday, addition of Eric Bobo, and III: Temples of Boom (1989–1996)
After recording a demo in 1989, Cypress Hill signed a record deal with Ruffhouse Records.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Cypress Hill” is american hip hop group. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Cypress, Hill and American, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american hip hop group” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q322196. VIAF identifies the subject as 126849669. The Library of Congress control number is n92039502. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1988, 2019, 1971 and 1989.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Cypress Hill”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Cypress Hill primary sources, Cypress Hill archive and Cypress research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cypress Hill”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Cypress Hill” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.