"Run-D.M.C came out and it was like some serious gangster shit: bomber jackets and Kangols [laughs]. They were just some serious hood shit and they pushed the limits as far as they possibly could at that time. They laid the building blocks for everything that was to come in that era and for everything where we are right now. It felt so special being able to see that for the first time: I was there at the birth of it and I was watching the first round of this shit build up and up. Their live performances also helped Cypress Hill. We got confidence on stage by originally going to local shows in New York City – Run-D.M.C and the like. All the really big shows too – we'd see 'Ministry' and learn from them as well as all the local acts in the city. I saw bands like Ministry and Run-D.M.C on stage very early on in the game and I drew inspiration [and confidence] from a lot of their live shows and these undoubtedly helped our own future live performances. It was very exciting to be a part of this scene at that time and to see Run-D.M.C with such unbelievable raw power at that time."

"Again, her whole catalogue is amazing. I love her music back to front. This is her hit record, as it were, not that it was a proper hit unfortunately. It's been with me for a while and I love it so much. We brought a few pieces of music to listen to while my wife was giving birth to our daughter and this was one of them. That gives an indication of how embedded in my life it is. The tone and mood it sets... She was deep into that sense of spiritual connectedness and universal love. I understand how people who aren't necessarily spiritual might see it as a foolish hippy diversion, but for me, this unlocks the potential of what music can do. At the time it was married to a political agenda, same for all these spiritual free jazz records, and I feel that it's a really unfortunate thing that people don't seem to be able to articulate that so well in the contemporary music world. This is an analysis and that's not why I love it, that's because when I put it on it's my favourite thing to be listening to. But it also stands up to analysis - there's so many reasons to love this music."