Celebrate 4/20 Day 2021 With This Perfect Dancehall And Reggae Weed Playlist

As 4/20 rolls around yet again, DancehallMag is rolling out a lit 20 track playlist for the occasion featuring some Dancehall and Reggae music. Marijuana use has remained a staple in the space since inception, especially given reggae’s Rastafarian ethos and Dancehall’s party-centric vibe. Many artists, from Peter Tosh to Popcaan have had stellar success thanks to the mystical plant.

In honor of 4/20 here’s the perfect soundtrack, in no particular order, featuring 20 essentials from Jamaican artists, inclusive of some classics and modern hits.

Peter Tosh – Legalize It

One of the most militant musicians who ever lived, Tosh’s dedication to decriminalizing and destigmatizing ganja would define his entire career. The Stepping Razor’s breakout solo debut was banned in Jamaica when released in 1975, however it would go on to launch him to global fame while cementing the title as a pop culture catchphrase.

Popcaan – Weed Is My Best Friend

Popcaan’s cruisy, chilled-out ganja anthem on the 2011 Life Support riddim couldn’t be more plain or self explanatory. “If me nuh have ganja mi nuh happy,” he sang on the track, and now with his own cannabis facility in the works, we know the Unruly Boss wasn’t bluffing.

Sean Paul – We Be Burnin’

Dutty Paul gave a special shout out Mary Jane on his 2005 album The Trinity. The radio-friendly version is stylized as ‘Recognize It’, however the original track title reads ‘Legalize It’, and includes potent references to “trees” and “weed”, the “best ting fi di recreation”.

Kabaka Pyramid feat Damian Jr. Gong Marley – Kontraband

The inimitable pair detail the profiling for ‘illegal substances’ that high-ranking artists are often subject to on tour. They swap bars over the driving beat “demonstrating how Babylon wicked”, but as World A Reggae platform put it, “what the artists are smuggling is music for the masses.”

Sizzla Kalonji – Got It Right Here

Sizzla touches on the issues faced by Rastas whose ganja sacrament is at odds with the law — “Officer doh trouble him, Ah jus ah one draw”— before loudly promoting and professing his own love for the plant: “We got it right here/ We smokin marijuana like we jus don’t care.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTcb7PwysIE

I-Octane – Puff It

The hypnotic riddim on I-Octane’s Puff It still sounds modern though it’s been over a decade. Octane’s playful storytelling about his antics after his first draw — “every single day mi ah shark it down” — have made this one a stoner fave over the years.

Chronixx – Rastaman Wheel Out

This horn drenched tune details a Rasta’s encounter with law enforcement after his “red eyes” give him away. Chronixx handles the harassment  with finesse, and the overall message here is you can’t outwit, (or outrun) a determined Rasta man.

Chronixx – Cool As The Breeze/Friday

The Odd Ras pays homage to the high points of island life on this uptempo 2020 single. The only strains tolerated in his world are from Indica & Sativa: “Mi locs long like Jesus locs when mi steam the sativa up/ Girl, drop asleep, she steam the indica.”

Protoje – A Vibe feat. Wiz Khalifa

Teaming up with ‘Mr. Young, Wild and Free,’ Protoje shoots for the more blissful side of blazing up, far from paranoia or the world’s perplexities. “You ever feel so alone in a room full ah people?” he sings, nothing a hit of Sativa can’t fix.

Skillibeng – 50 Bag

It’s clear from the descriptions in Skillibeng’s 50 Bag that a serious stoner penned the lucid lines. Follow Mr. Universe to “a place where gravity nuh exist” for tips on rolling a spliff “longer dan brochure”, “broad like ih toll road” and “hotter than toe when it sprain.”

Kelissa – Colour Of Love

“A loving tribute to Marijuana & Rastafari remixing the classic Alton Ellis song “You Make Me So Very Happy”, is how reggae songbird Kelissa describes this rhythmic track. “Green is the colour of love, mek we ites up da one ya”, she sings with palpable joy.

Keznamdi – Grade

Keznamdi declares he’s a real Rasta man who “nah hide di spliff when di cops approach.” Backed by seasoned reggae/dancehall producer Don Corleon, the track features a nostalgic, dub-heavy rhythm that carries Keznamdi’s tale of high grade and menacing cops skyward.

Bella Blair – Gimmie A Light

Jamaican Vlogger turned songstress Bella Blair converts Beethoven’s Fur Elise into a fiery excursion. Produced by Grammy-winning producer Frankie Music, Bella gets sentimental about great herb, ‘grand ($1000) bags’ and good vibes. Gimmie A Light was also included on VP Records’ Strictly The Best Vol. 61.

Bob Marley – Kaya

“I feel so high I even touch the sky,” King of Reggae Bob Marley sings on the groovy title track of his 10th studio album. Kaya is a slang term for cannabis that Marley, perhap the world’s most recognized ganja proponent, helped popularize.

Stephen Marley feat Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley – The Traffic Jam

Listeners still love this thumping celebration of the Marley clan’s close ties and their generational ganja affinity. Stephen Marley spits sass — “Are you smokin’ marijuana?’ and I said, ‘yes I am’ — at a “demon” police officer interrupting his and his brothers’ copious clouds of smoke.

Popcaan – Smoked Out Freestyle (feat. Bakersteez)

This FIXTAPE feature is a soothing, mellow track with blunt bars that are anything but. It includes a sound bite of Poppy’s OVO labelmate Drake begging his devout Christian mom, Ms. Rhona for forgiveness as they get high and stay smoked out. How high? “Higher than Burj Khalifa building,” says Popcaan.

Damian Jr. Gong Marley  – Medication (Remix)

Dropping one week after 4/20, 2018, Damian Jr. Gong Marley tapped hip hop flows for his updated serenade to “the prettiest of flowers — Mary Jane”. Praising weed for all its pleasures and properties, it’s an ideal track for a smoke sesh or a solo vibe.

Jesse Royal feat Charly Black – Herbalist Party

Royal lights one up as he laments Babylon, governments, alcohol, the police — the real culprits ‘causing so much family so much pain’ . ‘Unity, reasoning and smoking’ would be the order of the day if life was one reggae filled herbalist party.

Vybz Kartel – Mr. Officer

Kartel’s contribution to 2009’s Triple Bounce Riddim is as critical as it is comical. Kartel blasts the officer as he recalls his days as a novice smoker, now grown up, sparked up and fed up as he chants, “Squaddy, mi nah stop bun my ganja, So come put on di handcuff dem.”

Aidonia – Joker Smoker

The 4th Genna brought together two of dancehall’s staples — ganja and badmind — on this haunting, high energy beat. “Mi light it up an feel like pon a flight mi go/ Head a spin like a wheel pon a bicycle/ Kush it sweet like icicle,” he spits on the track .