Afroman

Released: April 3, 2000

Songwriter: Jimmy Cliff Afroman

Producer: Afroman Loppy Octopus

[Intro: Afroman & Cuz]
Damn, how long it's gonna take you to roll the joint cuz?
I just got the bag
You over there actin like, you playin' the piano or something cuz
I just got the bag homie, know what I'm sayin?
Chill the fuck out homie
Here, let me hit this homeboy (Hehe)

La da da da da
Shoop Shoop Shoobie doo wa
Yeah, it looks lovely
Hey where the light loc?
Right here cuz
Give it here man stop bullshittin'

I love you baby
I love you honey
Yes I dooo
Do it to me girl uh
Yeah Yeah, *chicken clucking*
Yeah Yeah, *chicken clucking*
Fo Sho'
Yeah

It's been a long long time I've been smokin'
Smokin' marijuana
(La da da da da)
It takes out of my mental ghetto and places me in the Bahamas
It's been a long long time I've been smokin'
Smokin' marijuana
(La da da da da)
It takes out of my mental ghetto and places me in the Bahamas
It puts my mind at ease
Indulgin myself in the calm breeze
And my problems will flow away beyond the palm trees

[Hook]
But I gotta keep smokin' and a smokin' and a smokin' on
I keep chokin' and a chokin' and a chokin' on
I keep sellin' and a sellin' and inhalin'
My tumbleweed

I like to go to Palmdale (Yeah)
Sit by the fountain (Sit by the fountain)
I light up a fat one gazin at the snow-capped mountains
(Come again now uh) I like to go to Palmdale
Sit by the fountain (Sit by the fountain)
I light up a fat one gazin at the snow-capped mountains
Baby please don't nag
Go and get me the zig-zag
And my problems will float away
Like a plastic baiiiag

[Hook]
But I gotta keep smokin' and a smokin' and a smokin' on
I keep chokin' and a chokin' and a chokin' on
I keep sellin' and a sellin' and inhalin'
My tumbleweed

I need to get a job
And that's not funny
(La da da da da)
'Cause me be smoking too much ganja
(yeah)
And be runnin out of money
I gotta lie to the man
(let me get an application)
Tell him that I've never been arrested
(sir you have never been to jail)
I gottta go to the clinic baby
I gotta get drug tested
(oh no)
I got no food for my stomach
Got no gas for my coup de ville
I gotta walk to the supermarket for some goldenseal
'Cause everyday

[Hook]
But I gotta keep smokin' and a smokin' and a smokin' on
I keep chokin' and a chokin' and a chokin' on
I keep sellin' and a sellin' and inhalin'
My tumbleweed

Ohhh, Ohhh Yeahhhh
Uh
I said the black man smokin
(black man smokin)
If he's a soul bro
(Hey man what's happening)
I said the mexican smokin
(mexican smokin)
If he's a cholo
(where you from esse)
I said the creole smokin
(creole smokin)
Down in Mississippi
(Fuck creoles)
I said the white man smokin
(white man smokin)
If he's a hippie
(where's the bud man)
It puts my mind at ease
Indulgin myself in the calm breeze
And my problems will flow away beyond the palm trees

[Hook]
But I gotta keep smokin' and a smokin' and a smokin' on
I keep chokin' and a chokin' and a chokin' on
I keep sellin' and a sellin' and inhalin'
My tumbleweed

Right about now
(ohhh)
I'm fixin to dedicate this to everybody
(oohhhh yeahh)
That went to Palmdale high school with me
Check this shit out cuz

(BeatBoxing and singing)

I said Joey Jo has an afro
Sing something with soul chillin ice cold
Jerry with the high top fade
Left Palmdale but he still gettin paid
Hey man take me back to the bridge we up outta here man

It puts my mind at ease
Indulgin myself in the calm breeze
And my problems will flow away beyond the palm trees
Whatcha gotta do

[Hook]
But I gotta keep smokin' and a smokin' and a smokin' on
I keep chokin' and a chokin' and a chokin' on
I keep sellin' and a sellin' and inhalin'
My tumbleweed

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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