"I've been wanting to do a lot of music like this," says Cypress Hills' DJ Muggs of the dark, downtempo trip-hop sound that permeates his forthcoming solo debut, Dust, to be released March 11th.

For the album, which Muggs says "reflects where I'm at in my head this year," he enlisted an eclectic array of guest vocalists, including former Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli, former House of Pain pal Everlast and an almost unrecognizable Josh Todd of Buckcherry.

"Normally, he don't like doing stuff like this," Muggs says of Todd. "And he just loved it." In fact, Todd felt comfortable enough in the trip-hop world to record a total of "six or seven" songs with Muggs. Though only two -- "Rock" and "Faded" -- made the cut this time, Muggs says the other tracks may still see the light of day. "Josh and I have talked about doing more collaborating, about doing some other stuff. He definitely brought out different stuff in my music I don't get a chance to run across everyday."

Muggs also gained insight from reuniting with Everlast, who contributed "Blip." "It's funny, because we actually haven't recorded since the second House of Pain album," he says. "Just to look how far we came ten years later, from 'Jump Around' to this. I can see the growth of him as an artist, as a songwriter. He gave me a track, came in, and in an hour the song was done."

Muggs says he admired Dulli's former band, the Afghan Whigs. The two met through a member of Muggs' management company, and already they've established a rapport. "Greg was just through here the other day," Muggs says of the Burbank, California studio Cypress Hill record in. "We hung out, we talked, and I threw down a couple of scratches for his next Twilight Singers project."

While each of the male vocalists makes their presence felt, the centerpiece of the album is an unknown singer by the name of Amy Trujillo. Muggs met Trujillo through Epitaph president Andy Caulkin. He and Trujillo used to play in a band together, and after Muggs described what he was looking for, Caulkin suggested Trujillo. "We went in and did a few songs," Muggs says, "and I liked what she was doing, so I said, 'Well, she's going to be a main anchor of the project.'"

Muggs plans to take Dust out on the road next year. "It will be a big production, with video screens and more," he says. As for recreating the album live with the vocalists, he says, "We'll see what happens. I'm sure some of the vocalists will be able to make some of the big cities."

Even though he's an industry veteran, the freedom finally putting out an album under his own name brought Muggs a new kind of thrill. "I just feel like when I was a brand new artist," he says. "I made this record dead-ass for me."

STEVE BALTIN
(December 18, 2002)