Lawrence Muggerud (born January 28, 1968), professionally known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

DJ Muggs, is an American DJ,

audio engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction ...

and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. He is a member of

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...

, a member of the trip hop band Cross My Heart Hope To Die and the leader of hip hop and art collective

Soul Assassins Soul Assassins is a hardcore hip hop project of Cypress Hill member and producer DJ Muggs. Each album features a plethora of guest rappers and is primarily produced by Muggs; the second and third studio albums see contributions from other produ ...

. During his career he produced tracks for

House of Pain House of Pain was an American hip-hop trio that released three albums in the 1990s. The group consisted of DJ Lethal, Danny Boy, and Everlast. The group's name is a reference to the H. G. Wells novel '' The Island of Dr. Moreau'', a refer ...

Funkdoobiest Funkdoobiest was an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California, United States, composed of rappers Jason "Son Doobie" Vasquez, Tyrone "Tomahawk Funk" Pacheco and DJ Ralph "Tha Phunky Mexican" Medrano. They are members of the Soul Assassi ...

Daddy Freddy S. Frederick Small (born 1965), better known as Daddy Freddy, is a Jamaican ragga vocalist. Early life Small was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and grew up in the city's Trenchtown district.Huey, SteveDaddy Freddy Biography", Allmusic, retrieved ...

, Pavlos Fyssas,

Die Antwoord Die Antwoord (, Afrikaans for "The Answer") is a South African alternative hip hop group formed in Cape Town in 2008. The group comprises rappers Watkin Tudor "Ninja" Jones and Anri "Yolandi Visser" du Toit, a male/female duo, and producers ...

Westside Gunn Alvin Lamar Worthy (born July 27, 1982), known professionally as Westside Gunn, is an American rapper. He is a co-founder of independent hip-hop label Griselda Records. He is the brother of rapper Conway The Machine and cousin of rapper Benny the ...

, remixed songs for

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

, U2,

Kaliphz Kaliphz were a British hip hop group, formed in Rochdale by 2-Phaan (real name Mush Khan) and Jabba da Hype (real name Jabbar Khan). They began as part of the breakdancing scene in the early 1980s before branching out into spoken word and rap a ...

Simply Red Simply Red are a British soul and pop band formed in Manchester in 1985. The lead vocalist of the band is singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall, who, by the time the band initially disbanded in 2010, was the only original member left. Since t ...

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depech ...

, and collaborated with Tricky, GZA,

Sick Jacken The Psycho Realm is an American hip hop group started in 1989 by brothers Sick Jacken (Joaquín Gonzalez) and Big Duke (Gustavo Gonzalez) from the Downtown, Pico-Union area of Los Angeles. History The first recorded Psycho Realm song, "Scan ...

Planet Asia Jason Cullen Green (born October 24, 1976), better known as Planet Asia, is a rapper from Fresno, California. He is prominent for being one half of the now reunited hip-hop duo the Cali Agents and is currently a member of the groups Gold Chain ...

Ill Bill William Braunstein (born July 14, 1972), known by his stage name Ill Bill, is an American rapper and record producer from Brooklyn, New York City. Having gained fame in the underground hip hop group Non Phixion, Ill Bill is known for his diver ...

Meyhem Lauren Meyhem Lauren (born May 14, 1983) is an American rapper from Queens, New York. He is a founding member of the Smart Crew collective. He has collaborated with the likes of DJ Muggs, Alchemist, and Harry Fraud. He stars in ''Fuck, That's Delicious' ...

and

Roc Marciano Rahkeim Calief Meyer (born February 11, 1978), better known by his stage name Roc Marciano, is an American rapper, songwriter, and producer. Career Roc Marciano started his career in 1999 when he joined Busta Rhymes' collective the Flipmode ...

. As part of Cypress Hill, he received three

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nominations for "

Insane in the Brain "Insane in the Brain" is a 1993 song by American hip hop group Cypress Hill, released as the first single from their second album, '' Black Sunday'' (1993). In addition to hitting number one on the US rap chart, the song also was a mainstream hi ...

", "

I Ain't Goin' Out Like That "I Ain't Goin' Out Like That" is a 1993 song by American hip hop group Cypress Hill, released as the third single from their second studio album, '' Black Sunday'' (1993). During a scheduled Saturday Night Live performance, the song was cut shor ...

" and "

Throw Your Set in the Air "Throw Your Set in the Air" is a song by Cypress Hill, released in 1995 as the lead single from their third album, '' Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom''. Along with "Insane in the Brain", the song is used in ''The Simpsons'' episode "Homerpalooz ...

Life and career

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent, Muggs was born in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and was adopted into a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

family. He moved to Bell Gardens at age fourteen, and got his start DJing for hip hop group

The 7A3 The 7A3 was an American hip hop group based out of Los Angeles, California, United States, which released one album in 1988 called ''Coolin' in Cali''. It was originally composed of brothers Brett and Sean Bouldin, and DJ Muggs, who later achi ...

, who put out one album in 1988 before disbanding.

Cypress Hill (1988–2004)

After linking up with

B-Real Louis Mario Freese (born June 2, 1970), known by his stage name B-Real, is an American rapper. Since 1991, he has been one of two lead rappers in the hip hop group Cypress Hill, along with Sen Dog. He has also been a part of the rap metal band ...

and Sen Dog to form the group

, he went on to produce seven studio albums with the group from 1991 to 2004. Of the seven, four reached platinum status, and three gold. Meanwhile, he scored hits on the side with

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be p ...

's "

Check Yo Self "Check Yo Self" is the third and final single from American rapper Ice Cube's third solo album, '' The Predator''. It was released on July 13, 1993, and features New York City rappers Das EFX. It topped both the ''Billboard'' R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap c ...

" and

's " Jump Around". During Cypress Hill's early years, DJ Muggs met

The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Be ...

and his

Dilated Peoples Dilated Peoples is an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. They have had little mainstream success in the US, with the exception of the song " This Way", a 2004 collaboration with Kanye West. Better known in the UK, they reached t ...

brethren on tour, deciding to take the young producer under his wing, providing a jump-start for his career.

Soul Assassins

In 1997, Muggs released an album under the name

. The album, '' Soul Assassins I'', reached #86 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and earned critical praise. Produced by Muggs, it featured

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and w ...

, B-Real,

La the Darkman Lason Jackson (born July 23, 1979), better known as La the Darkman, is a Wu-Tang Clan affiliated rapper and MC. Biography Jackson was born in New York City, New York and grew up Crown Heights, Brooklyn with his brother William Jackson. He negot ...

Mobb Deep Mobb Deep was an American hip hop duo from New York City. The duo consisted of rappers Prodigy and Havoc. They are considered to be among the principal progenitors of hardcore East Coast hip hopEdwards, Paul, 2009, '' How to Rap: The Art & Sc ...

, RZA, GZA,

Goodie Mob Goodie Mob is an American hip hop group based in Atlanta, Georgia, consisting of CeeLo Green, Khujo, T-Mo, and Big Gipp. History The group was formed in 1991 by Cameron " Big Gipp" Gipp, Willie "Khujo" Knighton Jr., CeeLo Green (born Tho ...

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

and

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, ...

. In 2000 he returned to the Soul Assassins with ''

Soul Assassins II ''Muggs Presents Soul Assassins II'' is the second studio album by American hip hop collective Soul Assassins. It was released on October 3, 2000, via RuffLife Records. Recording sessions took place at The Cutting Room, at Battery Studios, at Gree ...

'', which reached only #178 on the charts but garnered similarly positive reviews. He also put out the record ''

Dust Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in ...

'', an atmosphere-heavy

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...

affair with Greg Dulli, Amy Trujillo and

Everlast Erik Francis Schrody (born August 18, 1969), known by his stage name Everlast, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter, who was the frontman for hip hop group House of Pain. He was also part of the hip hop supergroup La Coka N ...

on vocals. After the 2004 album '' Till Death Do Us Part'', which reached #23 on the ''Billboard'' 200, Cypress Hill went on a hiatus from recording, enabling its members to focus more on their side projects.

Further solo projects and return of Cypress Hill (2005–2010)

In 2005, DJ Muggs teamed up with

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close aff ...

's GZA for the album '' Grandmasters'', the first project released on his label Angeles Records. Patterned after a chess game, it received positive reviews; Muggs also announced a ''Soul Assassins III'' album, produced jointly by himself and Alchemist, reportedly to be preceded by a record called ''Cloak & Dagger'', also featuring Alchemist. Instead, Muggs produced an album for

Psycho Realm The Psycho Realm is an American hip hop group started in 1989 by brothers Sick Jacken (Joaquín Gonzalez) and Big Duke (Gustavo Gonzalez) from the Downtown, Pico-Union area of Los Angeles. History The first recorded Psycho Realm song, "Scan ...

member Sick Jacken, '' Legend of the Mask and the Assassin'' two years later, in 2007. In 2008, Muggs announced that his album with California rapper

would be the third Soul Assassins album, but the two released '' Pain Language'' later that year as a simple collaboration. Before the release of his solo album ''

Smoke n Mirrors ''Smoke N Mirrors'' is the debut solo album by American rapper B-Real of Cypress Hill. It was released on February 24, 2009 through Duck Down Records with distribution via Koch Entertainment. Production was handled by Jay Turner, Scoop DeVille, ...

'' in 2009, B-Real reported that Cypress Hill has been working on an album for roughly a year. Currently in the mixing phase, Muggs has produced half of the album's material so far, going to

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop du ...

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongside DJ ...

and

Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji Shinoda (; ja, 篠田賢治, Shinoda Kenji; born February 11, 1977) is an American musician, singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and was the band's collaborative vocal ...

for the rest. In 2009, Muggs entered the

Gumball 3000 The Gumball 3000 is an annual international celebrity motor rally, which takes place on public roads. The name comes from the 1976 movie ''The Gumball Rally''. It was established in 1999 by Maximillion Cooper, with his vision to combine cars, ...

cross-country race, and on June 23, 2009, '' Soul Assassins: Intermission'' was released, featuring RZA,

Prodigy Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to: * Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer ** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess Arts, entertainment, and ...

Evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, evidenc ...

, The Alchemist and

Bun B Bernard James Freeman (born March 19, 1973), known professionally as Bun B, is an American rapper. He is best known as one half of the southern rap duo UGK (UnderGround Kingz), a group he formed in 1987 alongside Pimp C. Aside from his work wit ...

. The first single for the album was "Gangsta Shit" by Bun B and M1. Despite its high-profile guest list, the release was met with lukewarm reception, and Muggs later clarified its status as a preview before the release of ''Soul Assassins III'', the next full-fledged installment of his Soul Assassins series. Muggs plans next on recording his 5th V.S. album with group member

. and in 2013 he confirmed a VS album with

as well. On the Soul Assassins official website, it was also revealed that Muggs contributed production to

Apathy Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of inter ...

's song "Fear Itself" from rapper's ''Honkey Kong'' album, which was released August 23, 2011. In 2011, Muggs announced the release of a new album entitled '' Bass for Your Face'', which he described as a 'West Coast

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

album'. In October 2011, Muggs confirmed via his

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account that

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

frontman

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D helped creat ...

would contribute to the album, and the lead single would feature UK artist

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B. D ...

and Los Angeles upstart MC Bambu.

Cross My Heart Hope To Die

Muggs returned to the trip hop genre by teaming up with vocalist Brevi, fellow producer Andrew Kline (from the

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...

band Strife) and Sean Bonner, who served as a curator, hacker and creative technologist of the project. CMHHTD released their debut four-track self-titled extended play on April 2, 2013, and it was promoted by three music videos "Wild Side", "Miracles" and "Roller Coasting". On July 29, 2014, the band released their second extended play, ''Vita E Morte'', it was supported by two music videos "Two Shots" and "Tears Of God". Both EPs were released via

Alpha Pup Records Alpha Pup Records is an American independent record label and digital distributor based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Daddy Kev and Danyell Jariel in 2004. ''LA Weekly'' placed it at number 2 on the "Top 10 Most Exciting L.A. Indi ...

and also were released later as ''Cross My Heart Hope To Die'' eight-track album.

Personal life

He has one daughter named Francisca (Frankie).

Discography

Studio albums

* 1997: '' Muggs Presents... The Soul Assassins Chapter I'' * 2000: '' Muggs Presents Soul Assassins II'' * 2003: ''

'' * 2009: '' DJ Muggs Presents Soul Assassins: Intermission'' * 2013: '' Bass for Your Face'' * 2018: ''Soul Assassins: Dia del Asesinato'' * 2020: ''Winter'' * 2021: ''Dies Occidendum'' * 2021: ''Winter 2''

Extended plays

* 2012: ''Sound Boy Killa'' * 2012: ''Sound Clash Business'' * 2018: ''Frozen Angels'' * 2019: ''Members Only''

Mixtapes

* 2000: ''Cornerstone Mixtape 16: Kalifornication'' (with Insane Mixaken) * 2002: ''Soul Assassins Mixtape Vol. One'' * 2004: ''The Last Assassin'' (with Chace Infinite) * 2005: ''Mash Up Radio (Hip Hop vs. Rock) Vol. 1'' (with DJ Warrior) * 2005: ''Mash Up Radio (Hip Hop vs. Rock) Vol. 2'' (with DJ Warrior) * 2005: ''Machine Shop Mixtape Volume 1'' * 2006: ''Soul Assassins: Take Aim'' * 2006: ''Mash-Up Radio: The Aftermash'' (with Ern Dog) * 2011: ''The Los Angeles, Philippines Mixtape'' (with Bambu) * 2012: ''Rock the Bells Official Mixtape''

Collaborations

* 1999: ''

Juxtapose Juxtaposition is an act or instance of placing two elements close together or side by side. This is often done in order to compare/contrast the two, to show similarities or differences, etc. Speech Juxtaposition in literary terms is the showin ...

'' (with Tricky and Grease) * 2005: '' Grandmasters'' (vs. GZA) * 2007: '' Legend of the Mask and the Assassin'' (vs.

feat. Cynic) * 2008: '' Pain Language'' (with

) * 2010: ''

Kill Devil Hills Kill Devil Hills is a town in Dare County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 7,633 at the 2020 census, up from 6,683 in 2010. It is the most populous settlement in both Dare County and on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The ...

'' (vs.

) * 2017: ''Gems from the Equinox'' (with Meyhem Lauren) * 2018: ''Kaos'' (with

) * 2019: ''Hell's Roof'' (with Lil' Eto) * 2019: ''

Tuez-Les Tous ''Tuez-Les Tous'' is the first collaborative full-length album by American hip hop producer DJ Muggs and Haitian rapper Mach-Hommy. It was released on March 29, 2019 via Soul Assassins Records. Produced entirely by Muggs, it features guest appea ...

'' (with Mach-Hommy) * 2019: ''Medallo'' (with Crimeapple) * 2019: ''Kill Em All'' (with Mach-Hommy) * 2019: ''Dump Assassins'' (with Tha God Fahim) * 2020: ''Kilogram'' (with Al Divino) * 2021: ''Death & the Magician'' (with Rome Streetz) * 2021: ''Rammellzee'' (with Flee Lord) * 2021: ''Mile Zero'' (with

Yelawolf Michael Wayne Atha (born December 30, 1979), better known by his stage name Yelawolf, is an American rapper. Born in Alabama and raised in Tennessee, he embarked on his career independently in 2005, releasing one extended play (EP) and four mixta ...

) * 2021: ''American Cheese'' (with Hologram) * 2021: ''Cartagena'' (with Crimeapple) * 2022: ''Gold'' (with Rigz) * 2022: ''Sin Cortar'' (with Crimeapple) * 2022: ''What They Hittin 4'' (with Jay Worthy)

Cypress Hill

Cross My Heart Hope To Die

* 2013: ''Cross My Heart Hope to Die EP'' * 2014: ''Vita E Morte'' * 2014: ''Cross My Heart Hope to Die''

Awards and nominations

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References

External links

*
Interview With HipHopDX
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muggs, Dj 1968 births Living people American adoptees American hip hop DJs Cypress Hill members American male musicians American audio engineers American hip hop musicians Musicians from Los Angeles 20th-century American musicians 21st-century American musicians Musicians from Queens, New York American hip hop record producers American people of Italian descent Anti- (record label) artists Columbia Records artists