Cypress Hill's Sen Dog: From Cuban Refugee to Hip-Hop Icon

For this episode of De Los Podcast, hosts Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito sit down with Sen Dog, founding member and rapper of Cypress Hill — one of the first Latino hip-hop groups to break into the American mainstream. Born in Pinar del Río, Cuba, Sen Dog came to the U.S. as a refugee with his family, eventually settling in South Gate, Los Angeles — the very neighborhood that would give Cypress Hill its name. In this conversation, he traces the full arc: from watching Soul Train on Saturday mornings and meeting a teenage Dave Lombardo of Slayer in high school, to touring the country in a tiny Astro van before "I Could Just Kill a Man" hit number one in New York overnight. He opens up about what it meant to be a Black Latino in a hip-hop scene that had no category for them, the band's legendary Simpsons cameo, and their genre-defying collaborations with Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, and Biohazard — including his own metal project, Power Flow. Sen Dog also shares why he returned to Cuba for the first time in decades, what it felt like to step onto his grandmother's porch again, and how that trip led him to discover that his family's last name — Reyes — traces back to an ancestor sold into slavery in Cuba from Benin in the early 1800s. All of it is part of his upcoming documentary, Mi Familia, a migration story that goes from the slave ships to South Gate, Los Angeles. Plus: why he says "I'm a refugee and I say that proudly" in today's political climate, the story of picking up Celia Cruz at the airport, and why all he needed to become a rapper was a pen and a piece of paper. Produced by Los Angeles Times, L.A. Times Studios, and Sonoro. 🎙 De Los Podcast drops new episodes every week on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation. From the Los Angeles Times and Sonoro comes the De Los Podcast — a weekly conversation where music, pop culture and Latinidad collide. Hosted by De Los editors Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito, the show pulls back the curtain on the stories, people and cultural moments shaping the Latino experience in the U.S. and beyond. Every episode is a front-row seat to conversations with the artists, actors, filmmakers and thinkers who are moving the culture forward — not just talking about it. Guests include Leslie Grace, Sen Dog of Cypress Hill, Xolo Maridueña, Fabrizio Guido, producer and singer Empress Of, among others. Think of it as the cultural conversation that major American media rarely makes room for — a space where Latinos get to talk, unfiltered, about what they create and who they are. Produced by Los Angeles Times, L.A. Times Studios, and Sonoro. New episodes every week — available on YouTube and all major podcasts.