Born Louis Freeze on June 2, 1970 to a Cuban mom and Mexican dad, B-Real grew up in South Central Los Angeles. At a teenager, he joined he Bloods and was shot in 1987, puncturing his lung. Leaving the gang life behind, B-Real began rapping with his friend Mellow Man Ace, the younger brother of Senen "Sen Dog" Reyes. After Reyes met New York transplant Lawrence "DJ Muggs" Muggerud, the trio formed Cypress Hill and released their debut album in 1991.

Contrasting their darker gang-influenced experiences with an appreciation for Cheech & Chong, Cypress Hill appealed to a broad cross-section of hip-hop heads and laid-back stoners. While "Pigs" and "I Could Kill a Man" spewed anger at the police and haters, "Light Another" and "Stoned Is the Way of the Walk" pointed to more peaceful solutions to problems by sparking a blunt. The first hip-hop star to embrace this new form of smoking, he was featured in a High Times centerfold in 1992, titled "How to Roll a Blunt."

In that interview and cover story (written by CelebStoner's Steve Bloom), B-Real explained why marijuana was such a big part of their music and image:

"We try to give you a little piece of knowledge of this plant so you don't misjudge it before you really know what's up with it. A lot of people don't even know what it's about. A 40-ouncer can kill you, literally. How can a joint kill you? Not even in the long run. There hasn't ever been one death behind a joint. Compare that to liquor, and liquor's legal. You could apply the same laws to weed as cigarettes and liquor."

This "knowledge" led NORML to name Cypress Hill their spokesgroup at the time.

Their second album, Black Sunday, opened with "I Wanna Get High," sang about taking "Hits from the Bong" and reminded fans to "Legalize It." The album featured Cypress Hill's biggest hit, "Insane in the Membrane."

Seven albums later, Cypress Hill (in 1994, they added percussionist Eric Bobo and more recently DJ Julio replaced Muggs) remain a tight, touring unit. Rise Up is their first album in six years.

In 2009, B-Real went solo with the star-filled Smoke N Mirrors.

B-Real hosts the Cypress Hill SmokeOut every October in San Bernardino and his own webcast B-Real TV every day at 4:20.

"I will do my best to uphold the title [of Top CelebStoner]," B-Real says. "I will keep fighting for legalization."

Photo by CelebStoner

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