After taking a hiatus following the release of 2004's 'Till Death Do Us Part,' a newly rejuvenated Cypress Hill are beginning work on a new, as-yet-untitled album for release next year. "We all had solo projects," B-Real told Spinner backstage at L.A.'s Rock the Bells. "When you take a break, everybody's got whatever they had out of their system as far as their creativity and what not. Come back and you can be fresh, try to get on the same page and do some different things."

Before fans hear new music from Cypress, however, ears will be treated to those solo projects, including B-Real's 'Smoke in Mirrors.' "It's hip-hop," he said. "I dedicated my solo record to straight-up rap music. There's really not too many collaborations 'cause I wanted to carry it on my back." To that end, Real handled much of the production duties, along with Fred Wreck and Scoop Deville, among others.

As for his current trek as part of Rock the Bells, Real hopes to pepper in some solo 'Smoke' dates into his schedule, prior to entering full Cypress mode. "I gotta dedicate a lot of time to making the Cypress record, so I'll probably do dates sporadically," he said. "I want to keep working until I'm absolutely done with everything. But there's definitely some stuff off ['Smoke'] that I want to be able to go do live."