Hip-hop stars Cypress Hill open Slipknot's Knotfest Roadshow, coming to Providence

Ten years ago, heavy metal giants Slipknot put on the first edition of Knotfest in their home state of Iowa. The festival included circus tents, pillars of fire, amusement park rides, burlesque performers, fire-breathing artists, stilt-walkers and more, as well as performances from the likes of the Deftones, System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian, Lamb Of God, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Gojira.

Since then, Knotfest has become a touring festival called the Knotfest Roadshow. The current edition takes over the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence on May 21, with hip-hop legends Cypress Hill and punk rappers Ho99o9 (pronounced “Horror”) as the opening acts.

Cypress Hill, whose core group is rappers B-Real and Sen Dog and drummer Eric “Bobo” Correa, got involved in the roadshow through a personal invitation by Slipknot. Correa says they’re thrilled to get back to performing in front of audiences, especially as part of a stacked bill.

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"Slipknot is definitely one of the top bands out there, and I think it’s gonna be great," he says. "Being on a heavy tour like this is nothing new to us, because we’ve been fortunate to play many festivals and do a lot of tours with rock groups and heavy groups. We’re excited to get back out on the road and get in front of the people.”

Before Correa joined Cypress Hill, he was the drummer for another legendary hip-hop group, the Beastie Boys, and was involved in the making of two of their landmark albums, 1994’s "Ill Communication" and 1998’s "Hello Nasty." He says the move from that group to Cypress Hill was relatively seamless, owing to similarities between the two acts.

“I think for one, there’s definitely that hip-hop edge,” he says. “The Beasties are legends, and to be able to play with them was a dream. With embracing other genres of music, they did their punk set, then they would do some funky, jazzy kind of stuff, and they were very experimental. Cypress Hill has also been that way, by doing other genres and blending in with rock, reggae or things like that. ... Also, they can both be aggressive when they need to be and be funky when they need to be.”

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He spent three years bouncing back and forth between the two bands before finally settling in with Cypress Hill.

In March, Cypress Hill released their 10th album "Back In Black" via the MNRK Music Group. Detroit hip-hop artist Black Milk, who used to be a regular at Fete Music Hall in Providence during the early to mid-2010s, produced the record while bringing the group back to a sound that a lot of their fans were looking for.

“It was definitely great,” Correa says. “What a lot of people may not know is that 'Back In Black' was done in the middle of doing our previous album 'Elephants On Acid.' We had a break in between recording that record, and we were on a roll. We were thinking about doing an EP to keep putting stuff out there and get people amped for the next album. After considering a few different producers, I brought up Black Milk. I’ve been a fan of his from his work with Random Axe, Sean Price and J Dilla.”

“What he really brought to the table was his own brand of the dark vibe of what we do, and also that boom-bap hip-hop that a lot of our fans have been wanting to hear,” he says. “It was really exciting, and I think Black Milk got it, he nailed it, and we were able to turn the EP into an album because things were flowing so great.”

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After the Knotfest Roadshow, Cypress Hill plans to stay on the road for the rest of the year while working on new music. Correa also has a few projects that will be unveiled over the next few months.

“We’re slowly working on a new record with DJ Muggs being back in the group,” he says. “I have a side project called Ritmo Machine that’ll have an album out this summer, and I have a project with my partner Stu Bangas under the name Empires. We released an album last year with the same name, and we’re going to be working with Psycho Les from The Beatnuts and Khujo from Goodie Mob, so it’s going to be filled with music."

If you go ...

What: Knotfest Roadshow 2022

When: May 21, 6:30 p.m.

Where: The Dunkin' Donuts Center, 1 La Salle Square, Providence

Tickets: $19-$121

Info: dunkindonutscenter.com, knotfest.com, (401) 331-6700

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence to host Hip-hop stars Cypress Hill in Knotfest on May 21