Photo credit: Estevan Oriol
[B-Real](https://www.instagram.com/breal/?hl=en) will forever be remembered as a legend in the rap game. 2020 marks the 30-year anniversary of Cypress Hill, one of the most iconic rap groups to grace hip-hop. Serving as one of the two lead rappers alongside Sem Dog (and producer DJ Muggs), the West Coast, Latino American act hails a long catalog of timeless hits: “How I Could Just Kill a Man,” "Insane in the Brain,” “"I Ain't Goin' Out Like That,” “Dr. Greenthumb,” and many more.
Recently celebrating his 50th birthday, real name Louis Freese has a ton to celebrate. For one, Cypress Hill received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — which speaks volumes to their legacy. If that’s not enough, B-Real went on to form rap rock supergroup Prophets of Rage with 3 members from Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave and 2 members from Public Enemy. Still, we can’t forget his solo artistry which includes producing on top of releasing his own mixtapes and projects.
Beyond the music, B-Real is a staple figure in the cannabis industry, one of the leading advocates for marijuana legalization in the States. From opening his own Dr. Greenthumb dispensaries (using his own cultivation) to numerous collaborations with notable brands such as G-Pen and Daily High Club, the sky’s the limit when it comes to his reach. Regardless, his journey is an inspiration to anyone with a dream, turning his life around from a gang member who got shot in his lung to changing the hip-hop and marijuana industries for the better.
Most recently, B-Real teamed up with Berner for another explosive joint project titled _Los Meros._ Flaunt caught up with B-Real via Zoom to discuss his rise in the cannabis industry, his weed consumption, studio dynamic with Berner, _The Last Dance_, and more!
Photo credit: Estevan Oriol
**You got into the weed industry early on. Did you foresee what it has grown into?**
Some of us knew the possibilities when we were talking about uit way back. It’s been the #1 cash crop, even in the black market for so long that when it got to the legal market, it was going to do the same thing. It took some time for people to realize that, for people’s guard to come down if you will. For so many years, we’ve been given misinformation and propaganda against cannabis. People were so closed-minded in relation to cannabis. We’re able to break down those walls in the early ‘90s ourselves in Cypress Hill, Red & Meth, Snoop and Dre when they came out with _The Chronic._ Made it a little bit more acceptable so people started learning about it. Rather than just smoking it which a lot of us were doing, people did the knowledge and got to know about cannabis. The more acceptance, understanding, education people had allowed it to open up to where it’s at now.
**You’ve been staying busy, talk about the** [**new partnership with G Pen.**](https://www.gpen.com/blogs/news/dr-greenthumbs-x-g-pen-inside-our-latest-collab)
I’ve known the guys at G Pen quite a while, we always talked about working together. It was a matter of time that something actually manifested. Their brand has grown, our brand has grown, it made perfect sense to do something together. We’ve always supported them regardless, now we’re looking forward to it. They’re one of the best in the game, we always want to work with companies on that level. At the same time, we know them. We have a relationship so it makes it easy. They do quality work, it’s great.
**You also have your own cannabis-inspired beer called Insane OG with Sweet Water Brewing.**
That’s something I didn’t see coming. When that opportunity presented itself, it was a total surprise because people are always reluctant to put cannabis and alcohol together — even though most of us consume it together. Whether we’re watching a sporting event or we go to a concert, a festival or some show, some of us might be smoking weed but there’s also a drink in hand. It went hand and hand to do something in that world. Fortunately, Sweet Water’s a great brewing company. They created the [Insane OG Mexican lager](https://www.sweetwaterbrew.com/brews/420-strain-insane-og/) for us, it opened the doors for us. If I wanted to push more towards that in the future, this allows me to do that. I thank Sweet Water. They used our terps, injected our terpenes into the beer. I was amazed by a lot of the response we’ve gotten, it’s incredible. Even in the pandemic, the stay-at-home orders, people have been tagging us like “yo, we got your brew man.”
**What changes have you seen in the cannabis business as a result of Coronavirus and quarantine?**
People buying more weed in that time for sure. That first week, the same thing grocery stores saw was panic shopping. Everybody’s buying as much as possible because they didn’t know the next time they could go buy. Fortunately, they labeled the cannabis industry as an essential business and we’re able to keep open. The numbers are there. It went back to what they normally do, but it’s waves. Sometimes it’s massive, it comes in and you’re like “wow, a lot of people came in to buy cannabis.” Other times it’s normal, the normal flow before the pandemic.
I imagine all cannabis shops are doing well right now because one thing that keeps people calm while at home is smoking cannabis. Consuming a cannabis product of whatever kind: a concentrate, a tincture, edible, or flower. It chills people out, makes the time at home not so bad. \[chuckles\] I imagine everybody’s stocking up every week so they don’t have to go to the stores as much. People smoke cannabis like eating food, it goes like that \[snaps fingers\]. Those who need it for medicinal purposes are going to go get it. They don’t have to deal with it shutting down on them. People use cannabis and all the cannabis byproducts for their actual medicine. People are against taking pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter drugs because they don’t trust the pharmaceutical industry, along with all the side effects that shit causes.
People choose to use cannabis in whatever form they use it. Fortunately all our shops (not just Dr. Greenthumbs), we’re serving that purpose. I believe the recreational user is benefiting from that, which is cool. We should all be very thankful. Straight-up recreational users should be thankful they kept it in the laws and the legislation that there’s still the medical aspect of it. If that wasn’t there, perhaps these shops are shut down. If there’s no medical purpose for it, then we might not be open as an industry.
photo credit: Pedro Garcia
**How much do you smoke in a day?**
Oh man, it fluctuates. Sometimes a lot, sometimes a hell of a lot \[laughs\]. On average if we’re in studio, 20 to 30 joints. That’s because there’s a few of us there. We stopped sharing joints. When we do The Smokebox, everybody has their own joint. We’ve been rolling our own since before this happened. I did a Smokebox, my staff and I would share joints. But right when this shit broke, we stopped doing that and started rolling our own. Before it became really serious. Now that I’m rolling my own, I’m probably smoking a good 15 per day.
**You only smoke papers?**
I only smoke papers. Every now and then depending on who it is, I might hit a blunt. But shit’s too harsh on my throat, then the congestion it causes after that because of the blunt wrap. We’re not really supposed to inhale tobacco.
**Anything really!**
Here’s the thing: I never liked tobacco, but I smoked blunts for a while. When I realized what it’s doing to my lungs on stage, what it’s doing to my throat, I had to stop. It was affecting my breathing, the blunt wraps were hard on my lungs and throat. It’s tobacco, you’re not supposed to be inhaling any kind of tobacco. Even with papers when I inhale, I immediately exhale. The old school smoker from way back when I was a young buck told me “all that shit ya’ll doing, holding it in for 20 seconds, that ain’t getting you any higher. It’s fucking with your head because you’re stopping the oxygen going to your head. You’re creating this whole illusion that you’re getting higher if you hold it in, you’re stopping the oxygen to your fucking brain for that whole time so you think you’re higher.” On top of that, letting all that smoke sit in your lungs, you’re building shit up in your lungs while it’s sitting there. Better to inhale, exhale. You’re going to get just as high. When he told me that, I didn’t really believe him. \[laughs\] You know how young folks are: don’t believe the old folks. I tried it one time and sure enough, he’s right. I smoked exactly the way he said to and I got high as fuck, the same way I would’ve if I held it in and played that whole game we’d been playing since kids.
Photo credit: Pedro Garcia
**Is there an artist who’s outsmoked you?**
Nah, not that I remember.
**How much are you and Berner blowing through?**
Oh me and Berner are twins. We smoke. People come to our sessions and unless they’re on our level with the smoke game, then we’ll put them to sleep. Him and I sort of push each other. \[laughs\] He comes with a backpack full of different strains of weed, I come with a toolbox full of different strains of weed. We go jar for jar. Whoever’s with us, they get the benefit of the flavor tasting. An artist smoking me out? Nah, bnot with the flower. Never.
**You guys just released your new tape. What does _Los Meros_ mean?**
It’s a slang term for “the bosses.” One term for the boss of bosses is mero mero, right? This would be a derivative of that. Los Meros: the bosses. We’d made a few projects before this. We had our _Prohibition_ series: Prohibition 1, 2, and 3. They’re meant to be EPs, but they turned out to be albums. We didn’t go official, we put them out as mixtapes. We realized from the first one to the next one to third one, the chemistry we had and how much fun we had being in the studio creating together. It was really fucking easy. Some of the easiest studio sessions in my career have been recording with Berner.
The ideas that we bounce off each other, he’s really fast. The work ethic is unprecedented. The guy works. When you have 2 guys who work, you get things done. If we really wanted to, if this was a goal to put out a 3-album series in a year, it’d be nothing for us. We’d be able to knock that down easy. The way we bounce ideas off each other and make it work, it makes it fun and easy.
**What was it like seeing yourself in the Netflix documentary _LA Originals_?**
It was cool, those guys have been my friends for 30 years plus. To see the work they put in finally get out there, for people to know their story and how much they influenced the look and aesthetic of hip-hop and even R&B... once the hip-hop heads started getting tattooed by Cartoon, a lot of R&B heads wanted those same tattoos. R&B heads who were fans of the hip-hop heads making big names like 50 Cent and them. Cats had tattoos before 50 obviously but once the hip-hop heads started getting inked up like that, the R&B heads started doing that.
Realistically, they’re always on some clean shit. They never showed any tattoos or anything, that game changed up. These dudes wanted to go to the best so they went to Cartoon. He was one of the best and still is. A lot of people didn’t know unless the artist would shout him out and say “I got this ink from Mr. Cartoon.” Some of that shit doesn’t happen. Sometimes it does, but a lot of the times when he’s giving these guys these dope ass pieces, Instagram hadn’t existed yet. It wasn’t the big thing, but now people are starting to see where these artists got that ink from.
[](https://www.instagram.com/p/CAekR5FhzSE/)
[@estevanoriol @biglucks17 and I @breal on a throwback!! #family](https://www.instagram.com/p/CAekR5FhzSE/)
Photo Credit: Pedro Garcia
**What’s your relationship with Estevan Oriol now?**
He’s my big brother. We always stayed tight. We’ve been tight from the days when he’s on the road with us. Before that, when he’s letting me in clubs when I was 17. We’re all still pretty tight. There’s a time when we’re all doing our own thing, we weren’t necessarily linking as much as we’d normally linked but we all stay in contact and try to work together. We all got mad love for one another so it’s good to see those dudes getting their props, getting their dues.
**Do you miss touring, or are you enjoying this time at home?**
You know, this is one of the few times I got to sit at home and not tour. Obviously, not by choice. I’m trying not to think negatively of it. This is a time that’s meant to be here with family and stay safe, take a little bit of time off. Even if you didn’t want to, you could rest up and get healthy. Rejuvenate yourself so when it does open up, you’re ready to run out the gate. Ready to win. My mentality is keep doing what I can from here, keep myself ready for when everything opens back up.
**What’s the first thing you’re gonna do when quarantine is over?**
Shit, that’s a tough one because there’s so many things you could do. I’d like to go to a Laker game, that’d be my thing. We’ll see when we’re able to do that again.
**Have you been watching _The_ _Last Dance_?**
Yes. It’s dope they told that story: what it took for them to get there, al that stuff they’re going through. The personality he had to have to win, because you don’t really know those behind-the-scenes motivations or inspirations from a player to the team. Especially the greatness that particular group of guys achieved together, it's special. The fact they told that story was awesome. I’m a Lakers fan, but I was also a Michael Jordan fan because I’m a basketball fan. I can appreciate great players, he’s definitely the greatest to play. A lot of people would say he’s an asshole and he pretty much was \[laughs\], but that’s the mentality he had to have to win.
