Life’s a lot different for Cypress Hill rapper B-Real than when he was a kid.
Born in Los Angeles and raised in South Gate and Bell, B-Real — whose real name is Louis Mario Freese — says he was always surrounded by people he knew and members of his family. “It’s very tight-knit,” he says. “Back in the day, we were trying to go everywhere together, like whatever clubs were popping off that were playing hip-hop. Any sort of event that was hip-hop-related, we’d try to get to it.”
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
That sort of access and exposure served B-Real well, with Cypress Hill finding mainstream success with its self-titled LP in 1991. The group’s biggest single, “Insane in the Brain,” became a crossover hit in 1993, garnering the group both its first Grammy nomination and its first — and last — appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” The trio was banned from the show after DJ Muggs lit a joint during the act’s second song, something that was seen as wildly scandalous at the time.
Years later, though, Cypress Hill and B-Real are still tight. Over the summer, the group released its 11th studio record, “Dios Bendiga,” which the trio says is a tribute to its Latino heritage, roots and community. A tour of Latin America is scheduled to start Nov. 5 in Bogotá, Colombia.
When B-Real’s not on the road, though, he’s a resident of Moorpark in Ventura County, where he says life can feel slower and more isolated than it did in his youth. Fortunately, he says, he still gets to the city often, whether it’s to his gig as a host on Shade 45, Eminem’s Sirius XM channel, or to hang out with his pals.
With all that in mind, here’s how B-Real would spend a perfect Sunday in Los Angeles.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
6:30 a.m. Gym, then breakfast at the spot with a shorter line
I’ll hit the gym and then, if we’re having a “family Sunday,” then that’ll mean we’re getting up and heading out to breakfast, either at El Torito or Brent’s Deli in the Valley.
I know El Torito is generic, but their brunch is pretty good. We started going there because at Brent’s, if you don’t go early, you’re going to be sitting there for 30, 40 minutes. One week we got there kind of late and were going to have to sit too long, so we went over to El Torito. They usually have a line and a wait too, but this day there wasn’t and the breakfast buffet was really popping off. I was pleasantly surprised.
Brent’s has been a staple in the Valley for a long time, though. When we moved into the area, a lot of our friends that already lived there recommended Brent’s to us. Now we know the owners, who are very cool people and who have embraced us in a great way. I generally do a build-your-own omelet there or maybe steak and eggs. The pastrami and eggs is awesome too.
9 a.m.: Bowling for 200
If I’m not hanging out with my family or working on a Sunday, I’ll call up a couple of my guys at [my digital platform] BRealTV that are into bowling and we’ll go to one of the various bowling alleys that we frequent to get our rolling in.
If we’re downtown, we’ll bowl this place called Shatto 39 and when we’re out in the Valley, we’ll do either Corbin Bowl or Winnetka. Winnetka’s the really good spot. They’ve got really well-kept lanes and a pro shop. The lanes are key, because sometimes you go to these places and the lanes are overworked or underworked and it’s nothing but frustration.
I used to bowl a lot when I was a kid and I just recently got back into it three or four years ago. My average is about 150, but I’ve been trying to get back up to the 200s, which is what it was when I was a kid. To get those big numbers, you’ve got to bowl with frequency and we only go maybe once or twice a week.
It’s a release for us, though. Our squad does all sorts of things together. Sometimes we go on bike rides as a group too, like we’ll do 20, 30, or sometimes 50 miles together. As of late, though, it’s been bowling. It’s a little frustrating when you’re not hitting the pins the way you want to, but it’s still good to be doing something.
Noon: K-BBQ
After bowling, we typically end up at any one of our favorite Korean barbecue restaurants. We’ll go and get a fair amount of protein after expending all that energy and frustration, depending on whether we had a good game.
We try different spots. Parks is a good spot for Korean barbecue and that’s off Vermont by Shatto 39. If we’re at Corbin or Winnetka, though, we’ll do Ayce Gogi.
I’ve been eating Korean barbecue since 1994. There was a spot off of La Cienega here called Woo Lae Oak that was a high-end Korean barbecue spot. We had a business meeting there with our manager or agent or lawyer or something and then we had just started going there religiously every Friday.
2 p.m.: LAFC all day
A lot of times on a Sunday there’ll be a LAFC match so I’ll take myself down to support our guys. I’ve been a season ticket holder for many years now. It’s always good because it’s a different kind of energy and usually we’re on our feet the whole time so we’re burning off what we just had at the Korean spot.
The first few years LAFC was around, we were on tour a lot so I didn’t get a chance to go to any matches or anything like that, which was tough because when you’re a fan of a team, you want to try to go and to absorb the atmosphere and be around the other fans. You want to see the level of appreciation and adulation that the team gets.
What really sparked me getting season tickets was that I had a few friends that were season ticket holders and they had been pretty close with some of the team reps. They asked me to do some music for them and I obliged because I was a fan. We made a song with DJ Flict — who produced it — Kid Ink and myself as a theme song for the team and it just so happened that they won the Cup that year. That sort of locked me into the team and to the organization, and I went on to do more songs for them. I’ve even played in the drum lineup in the supporter section.
6 p.m.: Movie time
After the game, it’s most likely time for movie night with the family, whether that means we’re going to a movie or if we’re popping one off at the house. It just depends on the vibe. If I have Shade 45 on Monday, then it’s got to be an early night but if I don’t have a shift, then we might go to an actual theater to see a movie, which is a better experience.
10 p.m.: Off to bed
If I’ve got Shade 45 on Monday, then I’ll probably conk out anywhere between 10:30 and 11 so that I can get enough sleep to get up early enough to get my workout in before I go to the station. If it’s not a Shade 45 night, then I might stay up a little longer, like maybe 11:30.
It’s tough because as a young adult, I was always pretty much an insomniac. I didn’t go to sleep ‘til maybe 3 in the morning and then I woke up at 6 to go do my workouts. I was just running on very little. As I got older, I realized that I needed more sleep, so I would force myself to go to bed and now I’m finally in the rhythm of it for the most part. Now I’m trying to master that 10 o’clock sleep hour but it still feels like I’m missing s— if I go to sleep too early.
