According to TMZ, legendary blues singer Syl Johnson filed a lawsuit against the hip-hop band claiming the music from his 1969 record "Is It Because I'm Black" were used without permission on Hill's "Lock Down (Interlude)." Despite Hill's track being over 15 years-old and not using the actual lyrics from the song, Johnson has decided to sue the group plus a number of record and publishing companies for the brief soundbite.

Cypress Hill, who were recently honored at VH1's 5th annual Hip-Hop Honors event, were not available for comment as of press time.

Johnson, who is the father of R&B singer Syleena Johnson, has a history of suing other musicians for allegedly using unauthorized samples of his music. Back in January, TMZ broke the news that he sued a long list of artists including Michael Jackson, Will Smith, Tupac Shakur and KRS-One claiming they stole his 1967 single "Different Strokes" without attributing him or paying for the sample.