In the early 1990s, Cypress Hill and Redman would two Hip-Hop artists who launched careers that have lasted well into today. While Cypress Hill hailed from Southern California and Red’ from Northern New Jersey, these acts helped expand the Rap genre’s mind with songs about mind elevation. 1991’s Cypress Hill and 1992’s Whut? Thee Album were released less than 14 months apart, each earning their creators debut plaques—and ushering in a trend in energetic Rap for the laid-back lifestyle.

Speaking with Vlad TV, Redman recalls, “I’ve known [Cypress Hill] for over 20 years. They’re not just colleagues in the game with me, they’re friends. That’s really rare in the game to have artists that support each other in this day and age. But in the ’90s, that’s what we did.”

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Redman says he “aggressively” rhymed more about his passion for marijuana after seeing B-Real, Sen Dog, and DJ Muggs garnering crossover acclaim. “When I first seen them on the High Times cover, I was like ‘shit!‘ ‘Cause in New York, we had Cambodia weed, the chocolate weed—we was known for chocolate over here—’skunk.’ It was slight green. When I saw that green shit [Cypress Hill] had on the High Times cover, I said, ‘Nah. There’s another world that I’m not tappin’ into. There’s something else goin’ on.’ Because, I hadn’t been to Cali’ yet. I’m still [only] bubbling on the East Coast.” Redman later confirms that he would be the second Rap artist to ever grace the cover of the legendary marijuana mag’.

Reggie Noble says he also admired the hippie fashion of the Ruffhouse/Sony Records artists. “[DJ] Muggs had the ski hat with the weed-plant on it. They was just in there lookin’ all smoked like hippies, but rappin’. With that green-ass bud, I was [intrigued]. ‘Let me tune into these mothafuckas.’ The next thing you know, I seen B-Real. I end up using a piece of his [“How I Could Just Kill A Man”] lyric for ‘Time 4 Sumaksion.’” Redman, who was signed to Def Jam Records, recalled the labels being unsure about clearing such a recent sample to become a chorus. “It was actually a little beef—not between us, but between the labels, ’cause they were sayin’ [the sample was too recent]. We got the [sample] clearance anyway; that was the first single that started my [solo] career.”

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Cypress Hill and Redman would eventually record together, nearly a decade later. In 2001, the two entities remade War’s “Cisco Kid” for the How High soundtrack, as well as “Red, Meth, and B” for Stoned Raiders.

“I always tell B-Real, to this day, Cypress Hill played a major part in my career, as far as their music.” Redman pointed to another one of his most renowned hits. “If you notice, I used the ‘La, La, La, La, La, La, La‘ [from ‘Hand On The Pump’] for ‘[Da] Rockwilder,’ which was our biggest record for Red & Meth.”

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Later in the interview with Vlad, Redman praises Das-EFX’s platinum beginnings, Craig Mack’s rarely-discussed role within the Hit Squad, and why he was once regularly photographed with a tissue in his nose.

This week (August 13), Cypress Hill enjoyed its 25th anniversary. Get On Down re-released the multi-platinum album in special skull packaging with 100-page liner book. The product is cleverly limited to just 1,991 copies.