Of
Italian descent, Muggerud was born in
Queens borough of
New York City, and was later adopted by his stepfather, of
Norwegian descent. He moved to
Bell Gardens,
California at age fourteen, 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's "
Check Yo Self" and
House of Pain's "
Jump Around". During Cypress Hill's early years, Muggerud met
The Alchemist and his
Dilated Peoples brethren on tour, deciding to take the young producer under his wing, providing a jump-start for his career.
Soul Assassins In 1997, Muggerud released an album under the name
Soul Assassins. The album,
Soul Assassins I, reached #86 on the
Billboard 200 and earned critical praise. Produced by Muggerud, it featured
Dr. Dre, B-Real,
La the Darkman,
Infamous Mobb,
Mobb Deep,
RZA,
GZA,
Goodie Mob,
KRS-One and
Wyclef Jean. In 2000 he returned to the Soul Assassins with
Soul Assassins II, which reached only #178 on the charts but garnered similarly positive reviews. He also put out the record
Dust, an atmosphere-heavy
trip hop affair with
Greg Dulli,
Amy Trujillo and
Everlast 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, Muggerud teamed up with
Wu-Tang Clan's GZA for the album
Grandmasters, the first project released on his label Angeles Records. Patterned after a chess game, it received positive reviews; Muggerud 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, Muggerud produced an album for
Psycho Realm member Sick Jacken,
Legend of the Mask and the Assassin two years later, in 2007. In 2008, Muggerud announced that his album with California rapper
Planet Asia 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 in 2009, B-Real reported that Cypress Hill has been working on an album for roughly a year. Currently in the mixing phase, Muggerud has produced half of the album's material so far, going to
DJ Premier,
Pete Rock and
Mike Shinoda for the rest. In 2009, Muggerud entered the
Gumball 3000 cross-country race, and on June 23, 2009,
Soul Assassins: Intermission was released, featuring RZA,
Prodigy,
Evidence, The Alchemist and
Bun B. 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 Muggerud later clarified its status as a preview before the release of
Soul Assassins III, the next full-fledged installment of his Soul Assassins series. Muggerud plans next on recording his 5th V.S. album with group member
B-Real. and in 2013 he confirmed a VS album with
Meyhem Lauren as well. On the Soul Assassins official website, it was also revealed that Muggerud contributed production to
Apathy's song "Fear Itself" from rapper's
Honkey Kong album, which was released August 23, 2011. In 2011, Muggerud announced the release of a new album entitled
Bass for Your Face, which he described as a 'West Coast
dubstep album'. In October 2011, Muggerud confirmed via his
Twitter account that
Public Enemy frontman
Chuck D would contribute to the album, and the lead single would feature UK artist
Dizzee Rascal and Los Angeles upstart MC
Bambu.
Cross My Heart Hope to Die Muggerud returned to the trip hop genre by teaming up with vocalist Brevi, fellow producer Andrew Kline (from the
hardcore punk 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 and also were released later as
Cross My Heart Hope To Die eight-track album. ==Discography==