Afroman

Released: April 20, 2004

Songwriter: Afroman

Producer: Afroman

[Afroman singing]
Memories, of the ghetto
Getting drunk, getting high, getting faded (ghetto memories)
Memories, of the ghetto
Getting paid, getting laid and incarcerated (ghetto memories)

[Afroman rapping]
I hop out my car and stroll brother
Afroman, young soul brother
Late night crack house deep off in the hood
We kick it outside cause the weather feel good
Stereo bumping in the living room
Classic soul music with the peaceful boom (boom)
Colt 45 got your boy on buzz
But I ain't going home, I'm post in cuz (post in cuz)
Take another swig, take another hit
Talk to my man about some real deep shit
Cluck heads walking up and down the block (ba-kaa!)
Pulling to the side and selling the rock
The block get slow about a quarter to four
Spotlight po-po gets searched once more
They searched me from the east, west, north and south
I relaxed cause I got the cocaine in my mouth
They take the handcuffs off and we get released
Hop in the Cadillac and tell my homeboys 'peace'
Nineteen ninety-two Fleetwood Grove
Daytons gold in chrome on my way back home (memories)

[Afroman singing]
Memories, of the ghetto
Getting drunk, getting high, getting faded (ghetto memories)
Memories, of the ghetto
Getting paid, getting laid and incarcerated (ghetto memories)

[Afroman rapping]
My system be good off in my Fleetwood
Beating in my Caddy like cops in Cincinnati
At the red light, I stop and stall
Look at the liquor store and see my name on the wall
Hookers on the corner trying to make a sale
Brothers in handcuffs going to jail
The light turn green and I starts to bail
Dosing off cause I' drunk, high, sleepy as hell
And as I ride, I just can't hide
My sense of pride, for where I reside
I' proud of the ghetto, proud to survive the ghetto
You know, stay alive in the ghetto
Drink Colt 45 in the ghetto
Struggle and strive to get out the ghetto
I' out the ghetto
But the ghetto is inside me
Ghetto memories

[Afroman singing]
Memories (baby), of the ghetto
Getting drunk, getting high, getting faded (ghetto memories)
Memories, of the ghetto
Getting paid, getting laid and incarcerated (ghetto memories)
Memories, of the ghetto
Getting drunk, getting high, getting faded (ghetto memories)
Memories, of the ghetto
Getting paid, getting laid and incarcerated (ghetto memories)

Joseph ‘Afroman’ Foreman began writing songs and handing them out to his friends on cassette while in the eighth grade. At 25 years old, he released his first album, 1999’s Sell Your Dope. Soon after, he moved from LA to Mississippi with the mission to ‘get away from competition and sell to actual people’, releasing his sophomore album Because I Got High in 2000 on T-Bones Records. Its title track, written hastily after a friend showed up and interrupted him on an ambitious day and insisted they instead get high, was the last song he had recorded for the album. Soon after, Afroman left the music business.

At the same time, the file-sharing software Napster – heavily used at the time to share and distribute music for free – was at its peak of popularity, and the album’s title track became popular with its users. Universal Records caught wind and signed Afroman to a six album deal and released it as a single on July 6, 2001.

“Because I Got High” immediately became one of the most-requested songs across the nation, growing even larger after syndicated morning radio show host Howard Stern began airing it regularly, helping to make it ‘the most requested song on the radio in the country’. Further boosting its popularity was its inclusion in the film (and soundtrack to) Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back and MTV’s eventual agreement to air a modified, less-controversial music video for the song. It peaked at #13 in the US, and topped the charts in ten countries overseas. Its album The Good Times reached #10 in the US.

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Afroholic: The Even Better Times (CD 1)

From the album

Afroholic: The Even Better Times (CD 1) (2004)

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