Training Day is a 2001 crime drama film directed by Antoine Fuqua, written by David Ayer, starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. The plot follows two LAPD narcotics detectives over a 24-hour period in the gang neighborhoods of South and East Los Angeles.

The film was a box office success and earned mostly positive critical appraisals. Washington's performance, a departure from his usual roles, was particularly praised and earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor at the 74th Academy Awards. His co-star Ethan Hawke was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as a rookie cop. This film was also the debut of R&B singer Grammy-winner Macy Gray as an actress.

The film follows a single day in the life of an LAPD cop, Jake Hoyt (Hawke), who is scheduled to be evaluated by Detective Alonzo Harris (Washington), a highly decorated LAPD narcotics officer who could advance Jake's career. In Alonzo's car, the pair of officers observe teenage Mara Salvatrucha members dealing drugs in a park. Instead of arresting the buyers, Alonzo confiscates the drugs and tells Jake to take a hit from the marijuana. Jake initially refuses, but Alonzo puts a gun to his head and says Jake's failure to use drugs could get him killed by a street dealer. Jake relents and smokes the marijuana, but shortly thereafter, Alonzo tells him the marijuana was laced with PCP. While driving, Jake notices a female high school student being sexually assaulted by two men in an alley. Jake jumps out to help her and subdues the attackers, but Alonzo refuses to report the incident. He tells the girl to leave, telling Jake that the girl's gang member (Sureño) cousin will seek the attackers out for revenge. Jake discovers the girl's wallet on the ground and takes it. Jake objects to Alonzo's use of vigilante "street justice," but Alonzo characterizes Jake as naïve.

Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Cuban-American/Latino hip hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide. It is one of the most well-known groups in West Coast rap and was critically acclaimed for their first two groundbreaking albums.

Senen Reyes (also known as Sen Dog) and Ulpiano Sergio Reyes (also known as Mellow Man Ace) are brothers who initially lived in South Gate, California. In 1971, their family had immigrated to the United States, settling in the Los Angeles neighborhood of South Gate. In 1988, the two brothers teamed up with Lawrence Muggerud (also known as DJ Muggs) and Louis Freese (also known as B-Real) to form a hip-hop group named DVX (Devastating Vocal Excellence). The band soon lost Mellow Man Ace to a solo career, and changed their name to Cypress Hill, after a street in South Gate.

After recording a demo in 1989, Cypress Hill signed a record deal with the major label, Columbia Records. Their self-titled first album was released in August 1991. The lead single was the double A-side "The Phuncky Feel One"/"How I Could Just Kill a Man" which received heavy airplay on urban and college radio. The other two singles released from the album were "Hand on the Pump" and "Latin Lingo", the latter of which combined English and Spanish lyrics. The success of these singles led to the album selling two million copies in the US alone. The group made their first appearance at Lollapalooza on the side stage in 1992.