Since the beginning, cannabis and music have had a very special relationship.
Scientists have denoted that listening stoned increases deep focus and alters perception. Yup, I agree with that. Plus, practically every concert I’ve ever gone to has wreaked of weed….so there must be something.
The style of music doesn’t seem to matter nor can one style of music hold a unique claim to the marriage made in heaven. The simple fact is that a wide swath of genres hold a deep cultural connection that’s had a profound impact on all cultures. Let’s take a look:
Jazz and Marijuana
Cannabis cigarettes were commonly sold at American jazz clubs in the 1920s They originated from the ports in the legendary jazz city of New Orleans and spreading to the metropolitan centers across the U.S. In fact, joints used to be called “Jazz cigarettes”.
The psychoanalytical along with the psychedelic effects of strong weed has always had a vivacious impact not just on the way jazz was heard, but also how it’s played. Slowed moments between notes better allowed stoned musicians to provide wild, improvisational flourishes to the music, often severely different than the way it was written. Thus bud, mostly brown at the time but thankfully now green, has always been crucial to the very idea of “jazzing” something up.
There is probably no greater jazz musician than Miles Davis whose fondness for weed was well known. In fact, his song ‘Bitches Brew’ from his 1969 classic album, was voted by Rolling Stone as one of the top 40 greatest stoner albums of all time.
Rock & Roll and Marijuana
The combination of psychedelics in the 1960’s heavily influenced rock and roll artists, which also played a huge role in normalizing cannabis use for the general public. 1966 might be the moment the dope dam broke.
Within the span of a few months, listeners not only heard Bob Dylan overtly mention weed, but also dove into all-enveloping records, like The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and The Beatles Revolver, made by and for pot smokers. Interestingly enough, even a seemingly innocent tune like “Got to Get You Into My Life” has since been explained by Paul McCartney as a love song to weed.
As the Baby Boom rockers aged, their continued embrace of cannabis got more casual, a predictor of our current post-stigma moment. The word “joint” was infamously garbled on MTV in the chorus of the late, great Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know How it Feels”, but the meaning got through all the same.
Reggae and Marijuana
Let’s face it – what genre is as intrinsically tied to cannabis as reggae. Born in the Jamaica of the late 1960s, the music style was deeply linked to the island’s Rastafarian religion, in which cannabis is considered a sacred sacrament. The music became a treasured cultural export of Jamaica in the 1970s, and cannabis and reggae became intrinsically linked in the outside world.
Who hasn’t had Bob Marley’s face with a cloud billowing from his mouth on their wall (or body) at some point. Marley’s band member Peter Tosh first mainstreamed the idea of cannabis legalization in no uncertain terms on his 1976 single, “Legalize It”, which cracked the bottom rungs of the Billboard 200 chart on release, and has become an lasting cult classic over the 40-year march to actual legalization.
Heavy Metal and Marijuana
Weed’s roots in metal go all the way back. Ozzy Osbourne’s legendary group, Black Sabbath, are often credited as the first heavy metal band. Weed use was the subtext for wide swaths of classic rock. The first song to start a loop of coughing from a joint rip gone bad, was Sabbath’s. 1971’s “Sweet Leaf”, is a pure ode to the glory of the spliff with the chorus “You introduced me to my mind.”
Hip Hop and Marijuana
As popular music has moved steadily from rock and roll to hip hop since the 1990s, pot representation in song has moved there too. Given that the genre rose to dominance in the era of the music video, it’s no surprise that rappers would become the dominant face of weed. according to a 2018 study, over half of all rap videos produced feature smoking or vaping.
Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic”, has sold 5.7 million copies since its 1993 release. That album also featured the debut performance of Snoop Dogg, perhaps pot’s most focal musical artist touting cannabis.
Country Music and Marijuana
Now this might blow you away, but the genre whose artists sing most often about smoking dope is none other than…. Country and Western. Yup. At least that’s according to Addictions.com, who calculated that 1.6 percent of all recorded country songs contained a weed reference, as compared to hip-hop’s 1.3 percent.
Square smash hit “Okie from Musgokee”, which infamously starts on the line “We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee”, got Merle Haggard invited all the way to Nixon’s White House. Pot lyrics in country have been rampant for decades, while other stars have been less publicly conflicted. Don’t even get me started on Willie Nelson.
And today, what famous artist doesn’t have their own strain to enjoy. Although clearly, not all are good. Come on into Stinky Leaf today and see which artists are worthy enough to be on our shelves. It’s a journey in time, mind and sound.