In recent blogs we have examined media representation of cannabis and cannabis consumers with a focus on film and TV. Today in an episode we are calling Sing A Song For Stoners we are talking about marijuana in music. So before you order weed online Calgary to Toronto and all points in between, turn up the volume and check out youtube or itunes for some great weed tunes. Of course when it comes to music and marijuana most peoples minds turn to reggae, the music of the Carribbean. Of course, the legendary Bob Marley is the holy grail when it comes to musicians known for not only smoking marijuana, but for singing about it. Bob Marley’s smiling face , the bright colors of Jamaica’s flag superimposed on top of it with the giant joint in his mouth is an ubiquitous image on college campuses for good reason.

Peter Tosh, an original member of Bob Marley’s band, The Wailers, also made his mark with some of the best known cannabis music of all time including the classic, “Legalize It!” a much loved song including the lyrics, “Legalize it, and I will advertise it….” Well in Canada these days those words sound a little ironic. After all – the government did legalize it! But you still aren’t allowed to advertise it, due to hard to understand regulations. Afroman’s Because I Got High is another crowd favourite, a silly funny take on the stoner life! Hits From The Bong by Cypress Hill is another big favourite among those who love the plant. Here in Canada, rapper Classified has done a couple of weed themed songs, and those who remember the 420s and the GMMs – Global Marijuana March- will remember Classified tunes blaring from the flatbed truck leading the parade. Just a month before legalization in fall 2018, Classified released a follow up video to his original Canadian cannabis classic.

Legal Marijuana, featured a video recorded in Toronto in August of 2018 that featured a group of a couple of hundred extras who had volunteered to spend the day filming their appearance in the music video – including not just fans of the recording artist but influential members of the Canadian cannabis community who spent the day singing lyrics on the hill and insisting on smoking their own joints of real cannabis instead of the fake ones producers were trying to hand out.