Afroman catapulted to success following the 2001 release of his single "Because I Got High." The single was an instant hit but it also created a dilemma for the lyricist. Afroman recently penned a letter on the song's success and a new remix with pro-marijuana legalization lyrics.
Read his letter in its entirety after the jump.
Marijuana is portrayed in hip-hop today as an enhancer, aphrodisiac, street-hustling product, medicine and a stress reliever. It's used more for recreation and as a status symbol. After I recorded "Because I Got High," I got my [record] deal so fast that they pushed me in the limousine and had me at the video shoot before I had time to go shopping. I love my song but I feel that I kind of looked horrible. I believe the best outfit I had was the ice cream man thing.
I turn to marijuana when I'm really stressed out and then I consume more marijuana than usual. On an extra stressful day, I smoke a blunt in the morning, a blunt at noon, a blunt in the evening and a blunt at midnight. Then I'm no longer depressed and my days are less stressful. I feel that I need marijuana personally for anger and patience. I have gained some weight but I'm ready to play basketball and jog. My new page is to only vaporize when I'm angry, stressed out or need some patience.
When I first wrote "Because I Got High," I was just trying to write a hit song that would get me in the music industry; in order to get my family out of the hood. I was also trying to write a song that people would love and party to. Coming up as a child watching TV, I noticed that filmmakers never let the bad guy win because society feels that would send a bad message to the youth. Police harassed me just for being a black man. I wanted to write a pro-weed song but still feel the police will hassle me even more. They could exaggerate and say I'm disturbing the peace and inciting a riot. You know like the classic crooked cops on TV that hit your head light with their nightstick then tell you that your head is busted. Those types of cops do exist. I don't want to hassle with the police because I don't want them disturbing my concerts.
I had a bit of a dilemma but I felt that I've overcome it with my pro-weed message. It had to be subliminal while I made an anti-weed overtone to distract society from what was really going on. Life is about life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I was going to clean my room but I found a shortcut to my happiness so I pursued it and cleaning my room was no longer a priority because I was happy.
Long story short, I wrote the original song and it worked; and put me on the map in the music industry. It's a party anthem, a classic and I love it. However, I wanted to make another one with positive pro-marijuana legalization lyrics. I'm happy about this song and the video has almost 3 million hits in one week. I had time to go shopping. I look real smooth in the video. My rapper marijuana jewelry was on point.
A lot of people are telling me they like this version more than the original. Personally, I hate sequels because nine times out of 10, just like what Sade says, "It's never as good as the first time around." I'm not trying to break my original record; I just want to help the legalization of marijuana to hit new strides and with the help of NORML and Weedmaps, we made a cool video. The timing is right on the money.
As noted by Vibe, Afroman's new EP is slated to drop November 25 via his Hungry Hustler label.
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