Cypress Hill concert film relives group's symphonic first — performing with an orchestra in London

“We ever effort to marque a spot wherever we tin perpetually beryllium originative in,” says Cypress Hill’s B-Real. He’s talking astir his downtown studio, wherever the bandmates person done astir of their signaling for the past decade.

If anything, it’s surely cozy. He’s huddled connected a achromatic leather sofa alongside his longtime friends and radical members during a Zoom interview. Eric Bobo leans into the camera from his right, donning a leather overgarment and hiding his eyes beneath a bucket chapeau and achromatic sunglasses combo. Sen Dog is connected his left, looking arsenic calm arsenic ever and grinning from clip to time. DJ Lord hangs implicit the couch’s edge, his chapeau leaning disconnected to the side.

The walls down them are adorned with photos and platinum records collected during their astir 40-year-long careers. A lighter flick echoes arsenic B-Real sparks up a associated and takes a puff.

The group’s latest endeavor takes them to the satellite of performance films, but with a twist.

Maybe you retrieve sinking into a recliner and kicking up your feet sometime during ‘95. You drawback the remote, flick implicit to Fox, and tune into the latest occurrence of “The Simpsons.” This occurrence brings viewers to the summertime euphony festival “Hullabalooza,” wherever Marge and Co. stumble upon immoderate backstage shenanigans.

“Hello, bands,” shouts an impatient signifier manager, “Who is playing with the London Symphony Orchestra?”

The camera pans to Cypress Hill, who susurration among themselves: “Aye man, did we bid an orchestra?”

Eric Bobo, left, B-Real, DJ Lord and Sen Dog of Cypress Hill.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

“Yeah, yeah, we deliberation we did,” says a yellow-cartoon mentation of B-Real. “Do you cognize ‘Insane successful the Brain’?”

“We mostly cognize classical… but we could springiness it a shot,” a violinist responds. What ensues is an iconic clip of them dancing astir to a symphonic mentation of the song.

It’s a hilarious infinitesimal successful tv past that easy could person been mislaid to time. But acknowledgment to DJ Muggs, the thought stuck with the members for a agelong time. It floated astir for a while, but gained momentum aft their East Coast peers, Wu-Tang Clan, took connected an orchestral show astatine Red Rocks Amphitheatre successful 2021.

“We were benignant of like, ‘Well, if they did it, let’s bash it,’ ” B-Real joked. “We convey “The Simpsons” for penning that, due to the fact that it became a portion of our history, and present adjacent much so.”

The radical began gearing up for thing special, performing “Black Sunday” successful afloat with the Colorado Symphony successful July 2023 for its 30th day and going connected to bash 4 much symphonic shows. They besides rehearsed with the LSO themselves, a “surreal” infinitesimal that “no rapper ever thinks they’re going to have.”

On July 10, 2024, their enactment led them to the Royal Albert Hall. In unfamiliar territory, the 4 stood dressed head-to-toe successful achromatic suits, accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra, playing to a sold-out assemblage of much than 5,000 fans.

“It was similar 1 of those ‘what the f—” moments like, ‘Oh, my God, I can’t judge this is happening,’ ” B-Real said. “When we started implicit 30 years ago, determination was nary mode you could archer maine that we would ever beryllium doing thing with a symphony, fto unsocial LSO.”

The amusement was a immense success, and they got distant with lone 1 “f— up” that B-Real promises helium covered up precise well: “I won’t fto nary 1 cognize wherever that’s at!”

“We’re conscionable gladsome that it worked,” helium said, laughing. “Especially being successful the suits and performing each this worldly and not being capable to determination astir with the vigor that we usually determination astir with.”

Translating it to the surface went smoothly, arsenic members routinely received “dailies” of accumulation to render their opinions on. But, arsenic Bobo admits, “they truly nailed it… we were blown distant from the archetypal cut.”

“When you’re moving with a large team, it makes it a batch easier,” Lord chimes in, arsenic Bobo takes a 2nd to airy up. “It was a communal respect.”

The coordination and seamless accumulation tin truly beryllium seen successful the last product. As was overheard during a restroom speech astatine an aboriginal premier: “Holy s—, I should’ve canceled my travel to Tokyo and been there… but watching it feels similar I’m determination anyways!”

It’s an astonishing mentation of an already critically acclaimed album. B-Real and Sen Dog jam astatine the beforehand of the stage, portion DJ Lord rips distant astatine his turntable and Bobo beats up connected the drums. At the orchestra’s beforehand is Troy Miller, who commands his musicians similar an army. Noticeably, helium can’t halt smiling portion elegantly waving astir his baton.

Fans are invited to basal up and creation along, which is arsenic admirable and hilarious. There’s thing undeniably comic astir watching radical wriggle astir beneath the reddish velvet curtains of their container seats, shouting backmost and distant with the group. In a 154-year-old venue that demands etiquette, it’s a grounds to Cypress Hill’s ever-alluring sound.

DJ Lord, left, B-Real, Sen Dog and Eric Bobo of Cypress Hill.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

Core songs present dependable wholly different: Funky classics similar “Dr. Greenthumb” crook acheronian and mysterious with a symphonic backing. Cypress Hill adjacent performs “Cuban Necktie,” a relentless opus that gets adjacent much aggravated with violins carrying B-Real’s cadence betwixt bars.

Perhaps the astir astonishing facet of the performance, however, is that nary subordinate lighted up a associated during the full show. B-Real chalks it up to the “prestige and history” of the venue and respecting its rules. Even during rehearsals, they’d marque definite to spell extracurricular erstwhile smoking.

“During our archetypal rehearsal together, erstwhile the LSO radical were starting to come, they instantly smelled the weed and said, ‘Oh, they’re here!’ ” Bobo recalls, distinguishing their words successful his effort astatine a posh British accent.

Of course, successful London wherever weed inactive remains illegal, they were sometimes “chastised” by passersby but “we didn’t springiness a f—, ‘cause this is what we do!”

Fans of the radical tin drawback the full show arsenic “ Black Sunday Live astatine the Royal Albert Hall” makes a constricted theatrical tally successful the U.S. connected March 30 and 31 and April 2. They’ll person to hold until June 6 to get their hands connected its CD, LP and cassette carnal release.

Someday, Angelenos mightiness conscionable beryllium capable to spot it successful person, arsenic Cypress Hill has been actively conversing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic astir bringing the amusement home. The 2 person struggled to really fastener thing in, but giving L.A. fans that acquisition “is the play.”

In the meantime, a Spanish-language medium is seemingly connected the horizon. Perhaps adjacent different Cypress Hill medium oregon EP, but “it won’t needfully beryllium hip-hop.”

“We consciousness similar we’ve done capable hip-hop for a f—ing lifetime,” B-Real says. “We emotion it, but arsenic a group, arsenic a band, we consciousness similar we tin drawback into anything. And that’s what we’re going to do, is drawback into anything.”