Released: June 3, 2000

Songwriter: Afroman

Producer: Afroman

Ahhhh shit! Shit! Shit!
Now, I'm walking down the street with some chicken and a forty
I'm yelling at these hoochies and I'm looking for a party
Drink it fast, make it last, 'til you know it ain't no mo'
Run outta dough, slap the ho
Get the dough and go back to that liquor sto'

[Hook - repeat 4X]
Afroman likes tall cans

Now I'm a afroholic, call me Afroman
Love to sag my khakis with a tall can
My homies pop the forty of some St. Ides
Now that mother (uh!) staggering from side to side
Now, we the loudest homeboys in my neighborhood
We look real bad but we feel so good
My thirst is quenched but my craving won't extinguish
I need some forty ounce mother (uh!) Old English
Put the top in my mouth, put the bottom to the ceiling
Drink it down down until I get that crazy feeling
Now just walking down the street with some chicken and a forty
I'm yelling at these hoochies and I'm looking for a party
Drink it fast, make it last, 'til you know it ain't no mo'
Run outta dough, slap the ho
Get the do' and go back to that liquor sto'

[Hook]
See these girls be acting all bad and rude
Always got a bad attitude
See I just wanna dance, why can't you get the picture
You act like a brother wanna move in with you
I gots no fame, I gots no wealth
So I wind up dancing by my goddamn self
But I paid my money, just like you
And baby I'mma do what I came to do
You see I can't wait around 'til I get rich
Just to make yo' gold digging attitude switch
So I'm walking down the street with some chicken and a forty
I'm yelling at these hoochies and I'm looking for a party
Drink it fast, make it last, 'til you know it ain't no mo'
Run outta dough, slap the ho
Get the do' and go back to that liquor sto'

[Hook]
I stepped into this party full of Mexicans
I didn't realize I was the only black man
One hand on my bottle, the other on my peter
I barked like a dog and started freaking senoritas
I think she was embarrassed with the eight ball in my cup
She kept on stepping back so I kept on stepping up
This vato strolled up, put his gun to my head
I knew if I moved I was officially dead
That had to be his woman, I know it doggonit
That ain't the first time that I got confronted
Got my quete, "What up, ese? Get the fuck outta here!"
I said, "I'm gone mother fucker, now give me my beer."
Cause I'm just walking down the street with some chicken and a forty
I'm yelling at these hoochies and I'm looking for a party
Drink it fast, make it last, 'til you know it ain't no mo'
Run outta dough, slap the ho
Get the do' and go back to that liquor sto'

[Chrous]
HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO
HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO
Walkin down the street with some chicken and a forty
Yellin at these hoochies and I'm lookin for a party
Drink it fast, make it last, 'til you know it ain't no mo'
Outta dough, slap the ho
Get the do' and go back to that liquor sto'

[Hook]
Well I'm a afroholic, call me Afroman
Love to sag my khakis with a tall can
My homie pop the forty of some St. I's
Now that knucklehead staggering from side to side
We the loudest homeboys in my neighborhood
We look real bad but we feel so good
My thirst is quenched but my craving won't extinguish
I need some forty ounce mother fucking Old English
Put the top in my mouth put the bottom to the ceiling
Drink it diggy diggy down 'til I get that crazy feeling
I'm just walking down the street with some chicken and a forty
I'm yelling at these hoochies and I'm looking for a party
Drink it fast, make it last, 'til you know it ain't no mo'
Outta dough, here we go back to that liquor sto'

[Hook]
Now these women be actin all bad and rude
Always gotta bad attitude
You see I just wanna dance, why can't you get the picture
Act like a brother wanna move in with cha
I gots no fame, I gots no wealth
So I whined up dancing by my God damn self
But I pay my money, just like you
And baby I'mma do what I came to do
You see I can't wait around 'til I get rich
Just to make yo gold digging attitude switch
So I'm walking down the street with some chicken and a forty
I'm yelling at these hoochies and I'm lookin for a party
Drink it fast, make it last, 'til you know it ain't no mo'
Outta dough, here we go back to that liquor sto'

[Hook - speeds up at end]

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.