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B-Real on Cypress Hill’s First Original Spanish-Language Album: “We Wanted to Challenge Ourselves”
Cypress Hill have released Dios Bendiga, their first album of entirely original songs written in Spanish, marking a deliberate creative risk decades in the making. Rapper B-Real told Consequence that the group, long regarded as pioneers who helped bring hip-hop to Spanish-speaking audiences, wanted to "challenge ourselves" by engaging directly with today's thriving generation of Latin American rap talent rather than resting on their earlier legacy.
The band had considered such a project for years but were repeatedly sidetracked by touring and other commitments; renewed momentum came through recent collaborations with Spanish-language artists including Lupillo Rivera and Santa Fe Klan. Unlike 1999's Los Grandes Éxitos en Español, which reworked existing hits into Spanish, Dios Bendiga required writing fresh material from scratch. The breakthrough came during an intensive two-week writing session last November, led by Eric Bobo as musical director and shaped by producer DJ Flict, resulting in a record the band says still sounds distinctly like Cypress Hill.
In short
- Cypress Hill release Dios Bendiga, their first all-Spanish original album
- B-Real says the band wanted to "challenge ourselves" creatively
- Album was written in an intense two-week session led by Eric Bobo
Explained simply
Cypress Hill are a hip-hop group formed in Los Angeles in the late 1980s. Its members include rapper B-Real and drummer Eric Bobo, and the group became known for blending rap with Latin influences and for recording songs in both English and Spanish.
Spanish-language rap has grown across Latin America and among Spanish-speaking communities elsewhere, with artists such as Santa Fe Klan reaching large audiences. Cypress Hill have worked with newer Spanish-language performers in recent years, connecting the group’s early role in bringing hip-hop to Spanish-speaking listeners with a changing music scene.
The group’s earlier Spanish-language album translated existing hits, while Dios Bendiga consists of new songs written in Spanish. It reflects a shift from adapting familiar material to creating a full record in the language, while drawing on the group’s established sound.
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