Released: April 20, 2004

Songwriter: Afroman

Producer: Afroman

(I be) hittin' switches to a hip-hop beat
Bass drum raisin' me out the seat
Since I feel good, I might as well greet
All the homeboys hangin' in the street
(I'm just)hittin' switches to a hip-hop beat
Bass drum raisin' me out the seat
Since I feel good, I might as well greet
All the homeboys hangin' in the street (yeah eah, yeah eah eah eah)
(yeah eah, yeah eah eah eah)
You still afroman?(ye)
Calm and humble
8 away kick make the woofas rumble
Bust my rhyme, right on time
My underground disc gonna cost you a dime
That ain't high (man thats cheep)
Prices in the rec store real real steep (17 dollas)
Spit your stats, the disc was wack
Plus you can't get your money back
Don't get mad (don't get mad), get glad (get glad)
The underground disc from the trunk of my cab (wasup)
Don't knock it, until you try
Listen to it first, if you like it buy it
Roll through the hood laugh at your friends
At the record store spendin' all they ends (?ends?)
On the wack rap music lookin' at you dumb
Tryna figure out where you got the jam from
(while you)hittin' switches to a hip-hop beat (hip-hop beat)
Bass drum raisin' me out the seat (au ye) [boom boom]
Since I feel good, I might as well greet (greet)
All the homeboys hangin' in the street (wasup)
Hittin' switches to a hip-hop beat (zup-zup)
Bass drum raisin' me out the seat (raisin' you out the seat) [boom boom]
Since I feel good, you might as well greet (baacack)
All the homeboys hangin' in the street (yeah eah, uh don't stop the rock)
(yeah, eah eah eah, get on down)[baccaak]
(yeah eah, uh, camon, camon)
(yeah eah eah eah)
(say what)all the homeyboys, hear you hummin'
Now they tryna figure out, what you bougght
Homey you never heard this before
This record is not sold in stores
Corporate america, they can't spot it
But all the homeboys and the hustlers got it (oh yeah)
I used to get treated just like a saint (just like a saint)
Cuz' i can get the music that the record stores can't (we can order it)
Argue with my homeys, and i can proove
Who wrote the lyrics, and played the groove
Everybody hang in my backyard
Cuz' every beet i gang, be bangin' hard
Just like a smoker, test your sound
I can analyze a track, see if its wack
Musical pharmacist, thats for real
Come by and get your perscription feel
(while you) hit switches to a hip-hop beet (au ye)
Bass drum raisin' you out the seat (raisin' you out the seat)
Since you feelin' good, you might as well greet (baacack)
All the homeboys hangin' in the street (get on down)
(while you) hittin' switches to a hip-hop beet (au ye)[zup zup]
Bass drum raisin' you out the seat (boom boom)
Since you feelin' good, you might as well greet (oh)
All the homeboys hangin' in the street (yeah eah)
(while you) hittin' switches to a hip-hop beet (la di da da)
Bass drum raisin' you out the seat (yeah eah)
Since you feelin' good, you might as well greet (yeah eah eah eah)
All the homeboys hangin' in the street (yeah eah)
(uh, say what, yeah eah eah eah)
(la da da, da da da)
(yeah, eah, di di di, yeah eah eah eah)
[scibidiwat]
Drolics' in the back, of my old school lac'(lac')
My front man black checkin' out my new track (whatd he do)
I stopped smokin' weed and drinkin' alcohol
So i could bounce down the street like a basketbal (basketbal)
It's a rough course, of course of course (of course of course)
But I ride this course like a beautiful horse
I say ride with pride, cuz' I rides well (rides well)
Crank some through the hood, like the clides did (clides did)
Bup my head all the time, but I balance my cup
When i make my cadilac gidiup
My name is joseph foreman, I'm a rapper bout' trey (?trey?)
And all my songs are custom made
When i was drinkin' and smokin' weed
I rapped about, yes indeed (yes indeed)
Now that ima christian my thinkin' is new
I think I need new music, to listen to
(while I)hittin' switches to a hip-hop beet (zup-zup)
Bass drum raisin' you out the seat (boom boom)
Since you feelin' good, you might as well greet (baacack)
All the homeboys hangin' in the street (waasup)
Hittin' switches to a hip-hop beet (zu zup)
Bass drum raisin' you out the seat (boom boom)
Since you feelin' good, you might as well greet (baacack)
All the homeboys hangin' in the street (yeah eah)
Uh, you don't stop the rock
Whatcha doin' man, give it all you got (baacack)
(yeah eah, say what, you don't stop the rock)
(yeah eah eah eah baaca baaca baacack)
(I'm just, uh) hittin' switches to a hip-hop beet (au ye)
Bass drum raisin' you out the seat (raisin' me out the seat)
Since you feelin' good, you might as well greet (ye)
All the homeboys hangin' in the street (how ya doin?)
Hittin' switches to a hip-hop beet (how ya doin?)
Bass drum raisin' you out the seat (well alright)
Since you feelin' good, you might as well greet (bump it hahaha)
All the homeboys hangin' in the street (baacack, ye)
Au ye, make me feel alright, you know what I'm sayin'
(you gonna' sing a little somethin')
A la ta da da da da, (a la ta da da da da)
A la ta da da da da, da da, da da da da
(hey thats kinda funky)
Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah (did I mess up? my bad)
A la ta da da da da, (a la ta da da da da)
[ye]a la ta da da da da, da da, da da da da
I used to be in course class
(what you doin in there man?)
(you know), i was tryna stay eligible (basic maths)
I was tryna stay eligible for sports
I took like four course classes
(still barely got like a 2.0)

Afroman

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.