B Real's signature nasally whine and dope lyrics — we're talking literally and figuratively here — have helped hip-hop and rock trio Cypress Hill sell millions of CDs over the past 15 years.

Solo, however, B Real is a newbie with name recognition and a first mix-tape on a rap scene increasingly phat with new, out-of-the-box best-selling MCs.

B Real will contribute a set culled from that recently released mix-tape, "Gunslinger, Vol. 1," to a Saturday night show at Kapono's headlined by fellow West Coast rap veteran Warren G ("Regulate"). Sen Dog — B-Real's longtime Cypress Hill cohort — is also on the bill, with real-life brother Mellow Man Ace ("Mentirosa") performing as The Reyes Brothers.

We gave B Real five questions about "Gunslinger," Cypress Hill and his longtime love affair with Mary Jane.

Q. Describe the "Gunslinger" set a little for the folks who aren't familiar with it. You even got Eminem to work on a track.

A. Basically, I do tracks from my mix-tape that features cats like Mellow Man Ace, Son Doobie. ... It's basically me and people that I made the mix-tape with coming up and doing some of those songs. At the end, I top it off with a couple of Cypress classics just for good measure. ... (Eminem is) on a track called "American Psycho III." It's basically his song that we'd done (in which) originally I was just on the chorus. I did a verse for them later for a remix. Then they granted me permission to use it for my mix-tape. ... We've been on the road together in Europe for the "Anger Management" tour.

Q. It's hard to believe that "Gunslinger" is the first official mix-tape you've ever put out.

A. Yeah. I figured, I'm working on a solo album right now and also trying to put stuff together for the next Cypress record. So I just wanted to put something out (that) kept us on the street and created a different kind of hype because we never did mix-tapes or cameos that much.

Q. Were you influenced by anything you were listening to while putting it together?

A. Not really. (But) I do listen to all the new cats coming out these days and how they're putting it down. That just put a fire under my (expletive) to get out there and start writing more and getting on these new type of beats these guys are producing these days. ... Not so much new stuff on the metal front, but there's so much hip-hop out there that it's kind of hard to pinpoint one. (Laughs) But I listen to Jay-Z a lot. Jadakiss is good ... Eminem. ... There's Fear Factory, Deftones, System (of a Down), Slipknot.

Q. What's the current status of Cypress Hill?

A. Right now we're on idle. Everybody's got their projects that they're working on right now. It's still there. We're just trying to knock all this other stuff out before we get back to it because with Cypress we don't want to have any distractions and what not. ... It's there. It's strong. It should be. We've always been able to see eye-to-eye when it came to doing the music and doing the shows.

Q. Cypress Hill have also always been outspoken supporters for the legalization of marijuana. Lyrically, it's still a favorite subject in both your solo and group work. What still inspires you about the plant enough to write about it and pay more than lip service to legalizing it?

A. It's because we believe in it. If I stopped smoking yesterday or today or tomorrow, I'd still believe in it and do what's necessary for the movement to keep it moving forward. ... We're constantly at it. When we can contribute, we're there.