Enter the Desert Blaze Tacos & Tequila Music Festival, the first of its kind in the Valley.
On April 15, rapper B-Real from Cypress Hill is headlining the music festival with DJ Quik, MC Eiht, Suga Free, Mr. Capone-E, Kurupt, and Spice 1. Many other DJs and artists also will take the stage, and there will be a Selena live tribute performance and lookalike contest to celebrate the late singer's birthday and legacy. In addition, the event will include a cannabis park and the Arizona Cannabis Awards Music Festival.
All of this takes place at the Phoenix Events Complex near the I-10 and Loop 101 interchange. The music festival is open to all ages, but you must be at least 21 years old to enter the alcohol and cannabis areas.
For the Arizona Cannabis Awards Music Festival, expect hundreds of cultivators, canna businesses, and dispensaries to set up and offer free samples to the attendees. For smokers who might get the munchies, the organizers will have a taco-making contest and a rolling buffet of food trucks on site.
Connected to Cannabis
B-Real has been advocating for the legalization of cannabis since 1993 when Cypress Hill dropped the Black Sunday album that included the weed-infused classic "Insane in the Brain." Expect the rapper — who has family in the Valley — to show out on stage.In an interview at his Dr. Greenthumb's dispensary in San Diego last year, B-Real talked with Phoenix New Times about his connections to metro Phoenix.
"And we know that in terms of Cypress Hill and our fanbase has always had a strong presence there, so we feel connected. I feel people would be excited to bring our Dr. Greenthumb's experience there," he said.
In 1998 — 12 years before Arizona legalized medical marijuana — Cypress Hill dropped the "Dr. Greenthumb" single. The song is based on B-Real's alter-ego, Dr. Greenthumb. A "green thumb" is slang for a weed cultivator.
"I felt people were excited, and I was excited for them because, you know, this was stuff we were talking about since the early '90s, from our music, the activism, and all that stuff, we knew what was possible, and now you are seeing what's possible," B-Real said.
Then in 2020, Arizona voters approved recreational cannabis consumption. "Seeing a state like Arizona that was once zero tolerance, and getting pulled over [with] a roach in the ashtray, you're going away for some time. So to see them make a change like that — it's amazing," he said.
Kurupt, one half of the rap duo Tha Dogg Pound, will also take the main stage at the Tacos & Tequila Music Fest. He told New Times last year that he recounted smoking in the Valley while touring with the rest of his fellow Death Row Records artists in the 1990s.
"We felt like criminals [because] it was illegal," Kurupt said. "We still did it; we didn't give a fuck. But, you know what I'm saying — that was a part of the excitement, too. So we know now that it is legal. What a great thing, right?"
Kurupt will perform the 1993 "Ain't No Fun" joint by Snoop Dogg, on which he was featured. In 1995, Kurupt and Daz Dillinger, known together as Tha Dogg Pound, released their Dogg Food album, which he said was created under the cannabis influence.
"Hells yeah, we were high as fuck enjoying ourselves having a ball [and] smoking nothing but the bomb," Kurupt said.
Like Kurupt, DJ Quik is part of the G-funk rap era and has ties with the cannabis movement. He's known for his "Jus Lyke Compton," "Dollaz + Sense," "Tonite," and "Born and Raised in Compton" tracks.
Rounding out the music festival's all-star bill are West Coast rappers MC Eiht, Suga Free, Mr. Capone-E, and Spice 1.
The Desert Blaze Tacos & Tequila Music Festival takes place Saturday, April 15, from noon to 11 p.m., at the Phoenix Events Complex, 2209 North 99th Avenue. Tickets start at $50. Visit desertblazeaz.com.
