Afroman

Released: April 20, 2004

Songwriter: Afroman

Producer: Afroman

When I was young we wanted to get out the ghetto
But after we moved out of the ghetto
It was hard to get things we needed

I took a picture in the hood
Standing by the door
White T shirt and black khakis
Sagging kind of low
I see the corner that I worked
With my homies in the back
LAPD searching us
Looking for some crack

I don't need to be the king of the world
All I need is some activator
For my Jehri curl

CHORUS:
Compton isn't too far away
Neither is South Central LA
No matter what the cops try and say

We move from South Central
To the desert of the real high
Palmdale-Lancaster
Blue suburban sky
When I come home late at night
The sheriff harasses me
He puts me in the choke hold
So bad I can barely breath

I'm the hungry hustler Afroman
I'm going parking lot platinum in my Astrovan

CHORUS:
Compton isn't too far away
Neither is South Central LA
No matter what the cops try and say
I'm selling yay

I see police lights
On palmdale boulevard
Back-up units pulling in
I'm thinking oh my god
I got nowhere else to go
My hands are in the air
I don't know what to do
But you can't have my weed and my brew

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.

more tracks from the album

Afroholic: The Even Better Times (CD 2)

From the album

Afroholic: The Even Better Times (CD 2) (2004)

Afroman popular songs

Compton Isn’t Too Far AwayAfroman

Afroman

Afroholic: The Even Better Times (CD 2)