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'Come blaze with us': Rap legends Cypress Hill to headline 4/20 event in Vancouver

A group of rap superstars — who live large, with a big house, five cars — will be the top musical attraction at the 2019 4/20 cannabis event in Vancouver.

Last year's event saw rap legend Raekwon the Chef as headliner

CBC News ·
Rappers Sen Dog, left, and B-Real of Cypress Hill perform on stage in Germany in 2010. The weed-loving California rappers will be performing in Vancouver for the annual 4/20 smoke-in. (Hermann J. Knippertz/The Associated Press)

A group of rap superstars — who live large, with a big house, five cars — will be the top musical attraction at the 2019 4/20 cannabis event in Vancouver.

Organizers tweeted that hip-hop group Cypress Hill will perform a free show at the unsanctioned event which is expected to bring tens of thousands of people to Sunset Beach in Vancouver's West End for a massive smoke-in.

The band also tweeted its confirmation, inviting attendees to "Come blaze with us."

Cypress Hill is best known for a string of hits in the 1990s: Insane in the Brain, How I Could Just Kill a Man, Rock Superstar and Throw Your Set in the Air.

They are considered pioneers of West Coast hip-hop. This month, it was announced they would become the first Latino hip-hop group to be immortalized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

They also really, really like weed.

Controversial event

The 2017 4/20 event featured another rap legend: Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon the Chef.

The 2019 edition will be the first since recreational pot was legalized in Canada.

The event started out as a protest against weed's illegality but despite the laws mellowing out, organizers have said there is still a need for their activism.

A cloud of smoke hangs over the crowd as thousands of people smoke marijuana during the annual 4/20 marijuana celebration in Vancouver on April 20, 2018.
A cloud of smoke hangs over the crowd as thousands of people smoke marijuana during the annual 4/20 marijuana celebration in Vancouver on April 20, 2018. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

The 2018 edition brought a reported 40,000 people to Sunset Beach — the event's home since 2016 — but also saddled the city with costs of more than $230,000, according to the City of Vancouver. Organizers paid the city and park board $63,201 in costs.

The idea of finding an alternate location for the event has been long discussed. The Pacific National Exhibition grounds have been floated as one possibility.

However, despite both 4/20 and the PNE offering music, munchies and varying types of cones, the fair is not insane, in the brain or otherwise, about hosting the smoke-in.

Sunrise at Sunset Beach in Vancouver, and most of the garbage has been hauled away after the 4/20 gathering of cannabis enthusiasts on April 20, 2018. Every year, the event, which is not sanctioned by the park board, draws ire over the mess left behind. (Gian-Paolo Mendoza/CBC)

Corrections

  • A previous version of this story mistakenly stated that it cost $300,000 to rehabilitate Sunset Beach after the 4/20 event in 2018. According to the City of Vancouver, the total cost of the 2018 event incurred by the city and Park Board was $235,666, with organizers paying $32,104 toward those costs.
    Apr 10, 2019 10:24 AM PT
  • The previous correction gave the wrong total submitted by organizers to the city and Park Board for costs related to the 4/20 event in 2018. In fact, organizers paid the city and Park Board $63,201.
    Apr 16, 2019 9:12 AM PT
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