Cypress Hill Complete Much-Anticipated Fourth Album

Sen Dog rejoins as rap group prepares for upcoming Smokin' Grooves tour.

"This is the head-slammin' shit," Muggs said shortly after completing the album in his L.A. loft studio last week. "We still got a dark, sinister mood on our record, but it's a lot more uptempo. It's kind-of a rock feel."

Now, with all three charter members back behind the wheel, Cypress Hill are preparing to hit the road in July for the Smokin' Grooves concert tour, where they'll debut a number of cuts from Cypress Hill IV.

"Sen Dog's the missing link to the group," the DJ said. "It's like having a formula without one of the fucking ingredients. He brought back that flavor we needed for us to be a full, cohesive unit. We got our old vibe back."

"Everything's up to 110-112 beats per minute on the new album," Muggs said as he prepared to complete the record's final sequencing on Tuesday (May 26). "That ain't going on in rap right now. We're trying to bring shit back to how it was in '88-'89. Our music's breakin' up and changin' up a lot, like it was on the first album. We're coming with different styles, different flavors, different vocal tones."

Fans who've been waiting patiently for the latest Cypress offering will be rewarded by an album packed with 18 numbers (23 cuts total, including non- musical interludes). Among the songs that will be featured are "Clash Of The Titans," "Audio X," an homage to a particularly successful ganja grower named "Dr. Green Thumb," plus a Sen Dog solo piece called "Looking Out My Window."

Another track, "Looking Through The Eye Of A Pig," includes a role reversal for the hard-hitting street rappers. "B-Real places himself as the police officer," Muggs said. "Instead of talking shit about the cop, he's being the cop, talking shit about people on the street and how scandalous they are."

Conversely, "Riot Starter" revolves around old-fashioned MC boasting. "It's about how we go to your town and just tear shit up, police barricades and everything," Muggs said. "That's a regular, everyday thing for us -- when we come to the city, riots just start to break off."

----The Smoking Grooves Tour:----
"This lineup is the best ever," he said. "That's the only reason I did the tour."