Afroman

Released: April 9, 2000

Songwriter: Afroman

Producer: Afroman

Bing! Bang! Pop! Pow!
Jesus what am I going to do now?
I think my engine's about to explode
I need to pull over to the side of the road

My car is smokin' and I'm losin' my vision
Hope I don't get to a traffic collision
Callin' on Jesus the Great Jehova
Qualified traffic trying to get over

I thought to myself "Oh my God!
That sounds like my engine rod!"
Man, I'm so stuck, got no luck
Got to walk ten miles just to call a tow truck

Spent three hours and the pump can't find me
Highway patrol pulling up behind me
"Is this your car?" "Yes sir." "Well prove it
By the way three hours to move it
If you're still here when I come back round
You'll be heading downtown to the edam."

Back on the bus, can I get a transfer?
Car broke down...(car broke down)
Just got a job, I just got hired
Way across town

My car got towed by prejudice cops
I know tomorrow morning I'll be at the bus stop
I told my girl the bad news at the bar
She said "Oh baby, you can use my car."

So I comin' to her house for the rest of the night
And I my get a little thing all right
She gave me the keys, the very next day
I pulled on my clothes and jumped the freeway

I turned on the radio, the bass was rockin'
All of a sudden man, I hear some knockin'
I though to myself "Oh my God!
That sounds like her engine rod!"

It must be curse, this is crazy bro
Cause I broke two cars two days in a row
A cop gave me a ride to the payphone
They call a tow truck, it get away home
My girl's going to curse and my girl's going to fuss
Nobody got car we go for the bus

Back on the bus, can I get a transfer?
Car broke down...(car broke down)
Just got a job, I just got hired
Way across town

Waiting at the bus stop me and my girl
Trying to move up in the material world
There's no sequel, I feel equal
To the dog fleas and the homeless people

I told Jesus I need an answer
Told the bus driver I need a transfer
Lookin' for a seat, I thought about money
I took a deep breath and then I smelled some thing funny

One man smelled like a alcoholic
Another smelled like a pot of old tonic
I stood in the back in a school shirt
Cause all them seats smell just like urine

Nobody on the bus makes good money
So why's this high school kid makin' fun of me?
I rung the bell, the bus passed my stop
Man I had to walk back about four or five blocks

Maybe my life would be this hard
If I started putting aside time for God
When I start trying, when I start praying
Bad thing start happening, you know what I'm sayin?'

Back on the bus, can I get a transfer?
Car broke down...(car broke down)
Just got a job, I just got hired
Way across town

Hope I don't panic when I talk to the mechanic...

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

Because I Got High

From the album

Because I Got High (2000)

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Because I Got High