Kush — B-Real's side project with Deftones' Stephen Carpenter and former members of Fear Factory — have finished recording their debut album, but getting it out will hardly be, well, cushy.

"Everybody's on different record labels, so [we're] dealing with the politics of that," B-Real said at the recent ESPN Action Sports and Music Awards, where he hosted the "green carpet" pre-show. "We're trying to put it out this year or sometime early next year."

The Cypress Hill lyricist, Carpenter, bassist Christian Olde Wolbers and drummer Raymond Herrera have been collaborating for more than two years on Kush (see [article id="1444571"]"Deftones Members' Side Projects Blossoming"[/article]), which mixes elements of each member's fulltime gigs, or in the case of Olde Wolbers and Herrera, their former gig (see [article id="1452793"]"Fear Factory Shutting Down"[/article]).

"It has its moments where it's real nice, but then it's got its heavy moments," B-Real said. "It's a different project for me, you know. We dabble in it with Cypress, experimenting with the live band and stuff, but here I'm with seasoned veterans that have their own bands that have been out for a while. And we're just throwing it all together in the pot."

And since Cypress Hill and Kush aren't enough to keep him busy, B-Real is also producing albums for upcoming artists the Serial Rhyme Killers and Trace Midas. He'd even be willing to clear some time in his calendar if another band came calling for help. B-Real's name was initially tossed around as a possible replacement for Zack de la Rocha in Rage Against the Machine (see [article id="1442681"]"B-Real To Rage: How I Could Just Front Your Band"[/article]) before Chris Cornell came and went.

"If they call me, you know I'd be down. I'm always up to jam with friends and stuff like that. I'll always give it a shot. I like a challenge, you know. Rage Against the Machine, I'm down."

Meanwhile, Cypress Hill, who toured earlier this year with Linkin Park (see [article id="1452128"]"Linkin Park 'Rock A Rhyme Like This' At Cheese Country Gig"[/article]), are in talks to join a resurrected Smokin' Grooves tour this summer.