Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz
Mary Jane has been a constant muse in music. Over the years, marijuana has inspired a vast number of anthems for smokers worldwide, from hip-hop stars like Missy Elliott, Gangsta Boo, and Lil’ Kim, to reggae royalty like Damian and Rita Marley. In honor of these lit joints, 4/20, and our March cover exploring Black women and marijuana, Cassius compiled a 60-track playlist of our favorite weed songs of all time, plus a breakdown of stoner hits made by women. Roll up.
Rita Marley: “One Draw” (1981)
The opening line from Rita Marley’s “One Draw” off 1981’s Who Feels It Knows It helped make this a classic weed anthem for the ages. “I wanna get high,” she sings with a hypnotic air. “So high.” The line made such an impact, in fact, it was later sampled on Cypress Hill’s stoner classic “I Wanna Get High.” The influence is strong.
Lil’ Kim feat. The Notorious B.I.G.: “Drugs” (1996)
Lil’ Kim was intoxicating on “Drugs” off her landmark 1996 debut album Hard Core. While The Notorious B.I.G. rapped about “the ganja” and “Sensimilla” on the track, The Queen Bee offered a smoking fashionista’s mission statement: “My girls rock Chanel and smoke mad marijuana.”
Da Brat feat. Krayzie Bone: “Let’s All Get High” (1996)
Over a sample of Zapp’s “Be Alright” (which 2Pac famously used on 1993’s “Keep Ya Head Up”), Da Brat rhymed about her love for marijuana on the Krayzie Bone-assisted “Let’s All Get High” from 1996’s Anuthatantrum. “Put your hands in the air and let’s all get high,” she raps. “Pass it around, lay back with Da Brat, and let’s all get down.”
Missy Elliott: “Pass Da Blunt” (1997)
Backed by Timbaland, Missy Elliott delivered this stoner favorite off 1997’s Supa Dupa Fly. The hook samples Musical Youth’s catchy “Pass the Dutchie” off 1982’s The Youth of Today and years later, Misdemeanor would craft another banger with a similar message on 2003’s “Pass That Dutch,” but this memorable cut came first.
Gangsta Boo: “High Off That Weed” (1998)
Gangsta Boo made it clear that she was “High Off That Weed” and flying through “the friendly skies” with a “million blunts on [her] mind” with this cut off 1998’s Enquiring Minds. By the track’s end, the Memphis rap queen added this exclamation: “Smoked up all the blunts and now I’m high, I’m on cloud nine!”
Solange feat. Lil Wayne: “Champagnechroniknightcap” (2008)
Solange and Lil Wayne dropped a laid back joint about late night smoking with “Champagnechroniknightcap” off 2008’s Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams. “Let’s have a champagne chronic nightcap,” she sings on the track. “Light the dro.” Weezy is on the same page: “We can get high,” he suggests. “I hope we get stuck.”
Nitty Scott: “Feng Shui” (2014)
Nitty Scott got her “Feng Shui” on with this lifted anthem off her introspective 2014 album, The Art of Chill. “We rollin’ while we smokin’,” she raps over a boom-bap instrumental. “He said, ‘This shit gon’ have you coastin’ / I started laughin’, is you jokin’ / Boy, I be tokin’, you ain’t never see me chokin’.” Lesson learned: Don’t underestimate Nitty.
Rihanna: “James Joint” (2016)
Rihanna wasted no time here. “I’d rather be smoking weed whenever we breathe,” she sings in the opening seconds of this brief ANTI cut, which is titled after Bad Gal’s co-writer James Fauntleroy. Apparently, there was truth to these lyrics. “There’s a lot of weed smoking in my studio sessions with Rihanna,” Fauntleroy told Genius in 2016. “We’re both champion level smokers.”
Ari Lennox: “Backwood” (2016)
Ari Lennox brought her “Backwood” to life on this joint off 2016’s PHO. The Dreamville/Interscope songstress poured soulful vocals over DJ Grumble’s instrumental, which samples Heaven & Earth’s 1979 classic “Whole Lot Of Love.” “Me and my backwood,” she sings on the track, using personification to make her point. “We be vibin’ so good / I roll he like sushi, such a beautiful tease / He gone when I count to three.”
Jhené Aiko feat. Swae Lee: “Sativa” (2017)
Jhené Aiko and Swae Lee share their love for “Sativa” on this mellow song off last year’s Trip. After declaring that she’s stuck on indica and that she’s “been smokin’ on this weed,” Aiko makes her preference clear: “Only drug a bitch is on is the tree.”
60 Weed Anthems for 4/20:
