30 years ago Cypress Hill released their debut album and to celebrate this milestone, the American rap group announced that they will release their own comic book! The comic, Cypress Hill: Tres Equis, will tell the story of the group’s founding in Los Angeles.
Cypress Hill released their self-titled debut album in the year 1991, featuring their debut smash hit How I Could Just Kill A Man, which has been featured everywhere from the rapper 2Pac-starring thriller Juice (1992) to Radio Los Santos in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. It was also the first glimpse of the mega-stardom Cypress Hill would have and continue to have to this day.
To celebrate this feat, the band has partnered up with Z2 Comics for Tres Equis, a graphic novel penned by Noah Callahan-Bever and Gabriel Alvarez, with illustration by Felix Ruiz (Wolverine MAX), Jefte Palo (Taskmaster), Juan Gedeon (Venom), Damion Scott (Marvel’s Voices), Angel Hernandez (Star Trek) and Paris Alleyne (AFTERFLIFT).
The official synopsis for the Cypress Hill: Tres Equis graphic novel reads:
1991: XXX years ago, a trailblazing trio made music history blending East Coast hip-hop fundamentals with West Coast chicano swagger to form a sound all their own. Before they became icons, Louis and Senen were just a couple teenage cholos from around the way, trying to stay out of trouble — Until a series of chance encounters with both sides of the law changed their path forever. Guest-starring Officer O’Malley, Sister Maggie, and many more!
Callahan-Bever said, “This is a dream project. Growing up I had two loves: comic books and hip-hop music. I’ve been fortunate to spend the last 25 years working around hip-hop, as a journalist and music executive, but never got the opportunity to realize my dreams of making a comic,” calling this moment in time, “a professional grail moment.”
The story will feature guest appearances from some of the characters referenced in the band’s songs, like Officer O’Malley from Hole in the Head and Sister Maggie from Stoned Is the Way of the Walk.
Cypress Hill’s B-Real shared, “Just the idea of doing a Cypress Hill-based graphic novel in itself was exciting to me. The possibilities of telling the stories in this form are basically limitless and [the comic] can go anywhere we wanted to take it.”
Hip-hop scholar Gabriel Alvarez, who will co-write the graphic novel, likened the partnership between Cypress Hill and 2 Comics to “nachos and cheese,” said, “It’s been fun reconnecting with Noah and every time I see the Cypress artwork I’m blown away. It’s incredible. I can’t wait to get my own copy. Thank you Z2 for making a dream come true. And thank you Cypress Hill for making some of the greatest music I’ve ever heard.”
Cypress Hill: Tres Equis is available to preorder and will be released in August in three formats: a standard softcover edition, a deluxe hardcover edition, and a limited super deluxe edition, all of which will be available in both English and Spanish. The deluxe and super deluxe versions will come with a copy of Cypress Hill pressed on green vinyl with new cover art from Ricardo Lopez Ortiz, plus art prints from Ortiz, Scott, and Gedeon.
