The name Eric Correa, aka Bobo, probably doesn’t mean much to you unless you’re a die-hard rap fan, but this musician can boast of being the epicenter of the 1990s hip-hop explosion that his time divided between Cypress Hill and the Beastie Boys.
“I’m blessed to be associated with two of the greatest hip-hop groups of all time,” said the 54-year-old percussionist, who will be guesting with Cypress Hill at the Festival d’été de Québec on Sunday night.
Blessed? The word is weak. Bobo was recruited by the Beastie Boys in 1992, towards the end of the Check Your Head album tour. He later took part in the recording of two of the most important rap albums of the time, Ill Communication and Hello Nasty.
Fueled by the song Sabotage and its unforgettable music video parodying the 1970s police series, Ill Communication swept away everything in his path.
“We didn’t expect the album to be the success it was. It was on MTV all the time. I totally freaked out,” Bobo recalls.
From one rocket to another
The musician then joined the ranks of Cypress Hill with B-Real, Sen Dog and DJ Muggs (who left the group for good in 2018) right after the release of the album Black Sunday in 1993. He never left her.
“I flew one rocket to one planet and then another to another planet. it was crazy I was in the right place at the right time,” says Bobo, who says he lived in the golden age of rap.
“Anyone who grew up or made music during that time will tell you that. The 1990s was a classical music decade, as were the 50s and 60s. We no longer have that feeling.”
In 2023, he says, things will be different. Example: “In the past, in hip-hop, the producer was just as important as the rapper or the writer.” Today, if you go to a hip-hop concert, you don’t even see the band,” laments Bobo.
The end of the albums
On Sunday, Lord’s Day, Cypress Hill returns to Francophonie Park. He brought up the site on his last visit to FEQ in 2014 during a series of concerts celebrating the 30th anniversary of Black Sunday, the box that contained Brain and I Ain’t’s crazy gems upside down So go out.
However, the trio could reject the album concept. In an interview with The Independent published in 2022, B-Real hinted that Cypress Hill’s next album will be their last but that the trio will continue to make music.
“We’ll continue to release new material,” confirms Bobo, but given the changes rocking the music planet, we’re not an album label right now. We listen to songs piece by piece. So instead of spending a year making an album with a concept or an album that no one is going to listen to fully anyway, why not ditch a song here and there?
- Cypress Hill, at 9:15 p.m., at Francophonie Park.