Hip-hop artist Afroman reworks an old hit single for a new generation of cannabis users

or those millenials that were listening to the radio in
2001 and 2002, most will remember that Afroman’s cannabis anthem, “Because I
Got High,” was a nearly inescapable piece of the early 21st century pop
soundtrack. The song wove a humorous tale of a person who’s life fell to pieces
due to laziness, procrastination and mostly cannabis, and quickly rose to the
top of the charts and became the rallying cry for nearly an entire generation
of new herb users. Though the song launched Afroman’s now incredibly prolific
career and helped define his good time, laid-back brand of hip-hop music, the
tune also drew some negative criticism for feeding the cliché of cannabis users
being lazy, with some folks even going so far as to describe it as an
“anti-marijuana” song. Luckily for us, Afroman recently got to set the record
straight on the song by partnering with Weedmaps and NORML to re-release
“Because I Got High” with a whole new set of lyrics championing the positive
effects of cannabis. The new version, complete with a whole new humorous video,
helps bring a whole new level of meaning to a song that was previously just a
hilarious story, and helps draw new attention to the benefits of cannabis and
it’s legalization in this country. CULTURE
got the chance to catch up with Afroman and learn all about the ideas behind
the new version of “Because I Got High,” as well as hear all about his love for
cannabis. 

You decided to
re-record one of your biggest hits, “Because I Got High,” with all new lyrics
touting the positive effects of cannabis. Where did the idea to do this come
from?

Well, I wanted to help push for the legalization and decriminalization
of marijuana and take that tool away from a cop to be hateful and use it to
mess up somebody’s life.

So I got together with Weedmaps and NORML and tried to
coordinate something that could help out the entire movement. I wanted to
rewrite the song, because when I wrote it originally, I was just trying to get
into the music industry and write a funny song. However, this time around I was
just focusing on education for the legalization, and I didn’t mind being funny
if I could.

Did any of the new
lyrics come from personal experience, have you or any of your friends and
family had positive effects on your mental or physical health from medical
marijuana?

Yeah man, I had an auntie who was having problems with her
glaucoma and it really helped her out. Personally, for me, I know it’s been
great for me for patience and anger. I think that’s something humanity can
definitely benefit from, a little more patience and curbing the anger. I think
also, if the state legalized it and taxed it, they could do all types of
positive things with money from it.

Can you tell me a bit
about how the partnership with Weedmaps and NORML came about?

Well, it was kind of a joint effort where everything
happened to fall in place really quickly. You know, I’m Afroman—the guy with
the party that all of the smokers know. But they’re Weedmaps, they help you
find different dispensaries throughout the world; and NORML, they’re fighting
to legalize it. So, it was like, we’re all on the same page in different
hustles and when we got together on this it was perfect, it was magic.

You’ve been
advocating for cannabis for a long time, is it exciting to see legalization
efforts moving forward in so many states at the moment?

You know, a lot of people aren’t killers, they’re not criminals,
and when you decriminalize marijuana, most of them will just become regular
citizens. There are a lot of good things, both social and financial, that can
come from marijuana legalization.

www.afromanmuzzicc.com