DJ Muggs

Lawrence Muggerud (born January 28, 1968), and better known as DJ Muggs, is Cypress Hill's DJ and producer.

Life and career

Cypress Hill (1988 - 2004)

Muggs was born in Queens, New York of Italian and Norwegian descent.^{[citation needed]} Muggs moved to L.A. at seventeen ^[2]. He briefly DJ'd the group 7A3, putting out one album before disbanding. After linking up with B-Real and Sen Dog to form the group Cypress Hill, he went on to produce seven studio albums with the group, from 1991 to 2004. Of the seven, four reached platinum status, and three gold. Meanwhile, he scored hits on the side with Ice Cube's "Check Yo Self" and House of Pain's "Jump Around." During Cypress Hill's early years, DJ Muggs met The Alchemist and his Dilated Peoples brethren on tour, deciding to take the young producer under his wing, providing a jump-start for his career^[3].

In 1997, he released what could be termed a solo album: Soul Assassins I, reaching #86 on the Billboard 200 and earning critical praise^[4]. Produced by DJ Muggs, it featured a variety of rappers including Dr. Dre, B-Real, Mobb Deep, RZA, GZA, Goodie Mob, KRS One and Wyclef Jean. In 2000 he returned to the Soul Assassins with Soul Assassins II, which reached only #178 on the charts but garnered similarly positive reviews ^[5]. He also put out the record Dust, an atmosphere-heavy trip-hop affair with Greg Dulli, Amy Trujillo and Everlast on vocals. After the 2004 album Til Death Do Us Part, which didn't reach gold but landed #23 on the Billboard 200, Cypress Hill went on a hiatus from recording, enabling its members to focus more on their side projects.

Further Solo Projects & Return of Cypress Hill (2005 - 2009)

In 2005, DJ Muggs teamed up with Wu-Tang Clan's GZA for the album Grandmasters, the first project released on his label Angeles Records. Patterned after a chess game, it received highly positive reviews^[6]; Muggs also announced a Soul Assassins III album, produced jointly by himself and Alchemist, reportedly to be preceded by a record called Cloak & Dagger, also featuring Alchemist^[7]. Instead, Muggs produced an album for Psycho Realm member Sick Jacken, Legend of the Mask and the Assassin two years later, in 2007. In 2008, Muggs announced that his album with California rapper Planet Asia would be the third Soul Assassins album^[8], but the two released Pain Language later that year as a simple collaboration.

Before the release of his solo album Smoke N Mirrors in 2009, B-Real reported that Cypress Hill has been working on an album for roughly a year. Currently in the mixing phase, Muggs has produced half of the album's material so far, going to DJ Premier, Pete Rock and Mike Shinoda for the rest^[9]. DJ Muggs has also announced a third Soul Assassins project for release on June 23: Intermissions, featuring RZA, Prodigy, Evidence, The Alchemist and Bun B^[10]. Muggs has also entered the Gumball 3000 cross-country race^[10]. Recently, the first single for Intermissions has been released: "Gangsta Shit," by Bun B and M1 of Dead Prez^[11].

Studio Discography

For releases with Cypress Hill, see the Cypress Hill discography.

• 1997: Soul Assassins I
• 1999: Juxtapose with Tricky & Dame Grease
• 2000: Soul Assassins II
• 2003: Dust
• 2004: The Last Assassin with Chace Infinite
• 2005: Mash Up Radio (Hip Hop vs. Rock) Vol. 1 with DJ Warrior
• 2005: Mash Up Radio (Hip Hop vs. Rock) Vol. 2 with DJ Warrior
• 2005: Grandmasters with GZA
• 2007: Legend of the Mask and the Assassin with Sick Jacken featuring Cynic
• 2008: Pain Language with Planet Asia
• 2009: Soul Assassins: Intermissions

References

External links

• Official Site
• Mash-Up Radio Official Site
• Interview with ArtOfRhyme.com
• soulassassins.com
• discography