Cypress Hill

Cypress Hill is an American hip-hop group whose members have been involved in competitive paintball, particularly through vocalist B-Real (Louis Freese) and the tournament team Stoned Assassins. During the 2000s, B-Real competed in the National Professional Paintball League (NPPL), participated in paintball promotional activities and contributed music to the video game Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball MAX'D.[1][2][3]

The group's involvement connected professional paintball with the music industry, including a live performance by B-Real at the 2003 NPPL Las Vegas Open.[1]

Involvement in paintball

Stoned Assassins

B-Real became involved in organised tournament paintball during the early 2000s.

He was associated with Stoned Assassins, an American tournament team that competed in national seven-player paintball competitions.

Biographical accounts also identify Cypress Hill producer DJ Muggs as having been involved in establishing the team, although his individual tournament participation has not been independently confirmed.[4]

Stoned Assassins competed in the NPPL Super 7 World Series, including tournaments at Las Vegas, Miami, Huntington Beach and San Diego.

The team was sponsored by Warped Sportz during the 2003 season.[1]

2003 NPPL Las Vegas Open

B-Real competed with Stoned Assassins at the 2003 NPPL Las Vegas Open, held from 10 to 13 April.

The event was the second tournament of the inaugural NPPL Super 7 season and took place at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Contemporary WARPIG reporting identified B-Real as a Stoned Assassins player and documented his live musical performance at the tournament's players' party at Sam's Town casino.[1]

The performance accompanied the presentation of the inaugural NPPL tournament DVD and other entertainment activities.

Stoned Assassins also appeared in the official preliminary tournament results.[5]

Subsequent tournament competition

Stoned Assassins continued competing in the NPPL during the following years.

At the 2006 Huntington Beach Open, the team reached the Division II semi-finals.

Stoned Assassins lost to Ballistic in the semi-final round but defeated Island Breed to secure third place in the division.[6]

The team also competed at the 2007 NPPL San Diego Open and the 2008 Huntington Beach Open.

In 2009, Stoned Assassins appeared at the Huntington Beach tournament organised by the US Paintball League (USPL), the successor to the original NPPL Super 7 organisation.[7][8]

These appearances document the team's continued involvement in national paintball competition beyond its early association with Cypress Hill.

B-Real and paintball

B-Real has discussed his involvement in paintball in interviews outside the specialist paintball press.

In an April 2009 interview, he described the Stoned Assassins as his professional paintball team and discussed the organisation's approach to tournament preparation.[9]

In a June 2023 interview on the First Smoke of the Day podcast, he again discussed competitive paintball, the equipment used by his team and his experiences participating in tournaments.[10]

B-Real has also recalled participating in recreational and exhibition paintball events involving other entertainers, including Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees and actor William Shatner.[11]

His participation extended beyond promotional appearances to organised tournament competition.

Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball MAX'D

B-Real contributed to the soundtrack of Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball MAX'D, a paintball video game published by Activision in October 2005.

On 17 May 2005, Activision announced that B-Real and DJ Lethal of Limp Bizkit had collaborated on a song titled Play for Real specifically for the game.

The publisher also identified B-Real as executive producer of the game's soundtrack through 3volution Productions.[3]

The game was released for Xbox on 18 October 2005.

Activision's release announcement again confirmed the participation of B-Real and DJ Lethal in its soundtrack.[12]

B-Real was also identified among the professional paintball personalities represented in the game's player selection.

Connection with tournament paintball culture

Cypress Hill's connection with paintball was principally established through the competitive activities of B-Real rather than through a formal tournament organisation operated under the band's name.

Stoned Assassins maintained its own identity as a paintball team.

B-Real's tournament appearances, musical performance at the 2003 Las Vegas Open and contribution to the Greg Hastings video game provide documented examples of connections between competitive paintball and the American music industry during the 2000s.

References

WARPIG – 2003 NPPL Las Vegas Open. Bill Mills, April 2003. Contemporary reporting documenting B-Real's participation with Stoned Assassins and live performance.
WARPIG – 2003 NPPL Super 7 Rankings. Historical records documenting Stoned Assassins.
Activision – Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball MAX'D Announcement. 17 May 2005. Documents B-Real's soundtrack contribution and executive production role.
B-Real – Biographical information. Secondary account identifying DJ Muggs with the founding of Stoned Assassins.
WARPIG – 2003 NPPL Las Vegas Open Preliminary Results. Official tournament scoring records.
WARPIG – 2006 NPPL Huntington Beach Open. Contemporary coverage documenting Stoned Assassins' third-place Division II result.
WARPIG – 2007 NPPL San Diego Open. Contemporary tournament coverage.
WARPIG – 2009 USPL Huntington Beach Open. Tournament coverage documenting Stoned Assassins' participation.
Unkut – B-Real Hearts Paintball. April 2009. Reproduces an interview discussing his paintball team.
First Smoke of the Day – B-Real: Paintball Passion. Episode 100, 26 June 2023.
Georgia Straight – Cypress Hill's B-Real Gives Vancouver's Weed a GreenThumbs Up. 2019. Interview discussing his involvement in paintball.
Activision – Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball MAX'D Released. 18 October 2005. Official release announcement and soundtrack information.

External links