Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong are proud of the state of stoner comedy.
PEOPLE asked the comedic duo, who pioneered the genre as Cheech & Chong in the 1970s, what current comedians carry the torch best while discussing the new documentary focusing on their career journey, Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie.
“Seth Rogen and his buddies that really carried on that tradition. That was good. I love seeing his new show, The Studio,” Cheech, 78, says.
“And the rappers, too,” Chong, 86, adds, noting how Eminem sampled their hit “Earache My Eye,” which went to No. 8 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 in 1974, on his 2017 song “Untouchable.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Courtesy of Ode Photo by Jim McCrary
Cheech Marin (left) and Tommy Chong.
“He covered our tune. You talk about being a compliment?” he says as the two break out into the lyrics and riff, respectively.
Cheech notes that a lot of the duo’s appeal has been how “different parts of the audience identified with us.”
“All the Black rappers, all the hillbillies, all the hippies, everybody. Musicians, especially, identified with us,” he says.
“I had a connection with Motown when I was younger, and that kind of set the bar for the culture, because they couldn’t put a tag on us,” says Chong, whose pre-comedy soul band Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers had a Top 30 hit with 1968’s “Does Your Mama Know About Me,” co-written by Chong. “We weren’t White guys. We weren’t Brown guys. What were we? We’re Cheech and Chong. And that’s what makes it so special, I think.”
Related: Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong Bicker About the Rift That Split Them Up in Their New Documentary: ‘That’s a Lie’
In many ways, Cheech & Chong always had a connection to music. Not only did Chong come from a musical background before transitioning to comedy, but as their stars rose, they found themselves performing comedy alongside some iconic musical acts.
Photo By Angeline Herron
Tommy Chong (left) and Cheech Marin in ‘Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie’
“When we first started, we played this club called the Climax Club, and on stage live every night you could see Ralph Mathis, who was Johnny Mathis’s look-alike brother, who sang all his songs,” Cheech recalls. “You could see this up-and-coming new hippie comedy team, Cheech & Chong, and this brand new band they were just putting together called Earth, Wind & Fire. And that was live every night at the Climax Club.”
“We just enjoyed our brownness,” Chong adds. “We always did. And it was great. We could do things that nobody else could do because we were Cheech & Chong, and we sort of set the bar and we went from there. And we got a lot of fans because of that.”
Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie is now playing in theaters.
Read the original article on People
