Few things on this earth go together better than music and marijuana. Music has always been an essential part of the cannabis experience. For nearly a hundred years musicians have been writing songs about weed and using its inspiration to create new genres of music. It could easily be argued that jazz, rock, hip hop, and reggae music would not exist without pot. You can find love songs to ganja in all of these genres of music but the most common place to find weed songs is in reggae and hip hop music.

Reggae came out of the weed laced slums of Jamaica in the 1960's and soon became a worldwide phenomenon. Reggae musicians never hide their love of weed and many consider it an integral part of their Rastafarian religion. Despite the laid back feel of the music, the content of reggae lyrics has always been political and rebellious. When Peter Tosh left Bob Marley and the Wailers he recorded one of the best weed songs of all time, Legalize It. With an amazing guitar hook and a herb conscious message, Legalize It established Peter Tosh as a solo artist. Bob Marley also recorded his fair share of ganja songs. Some of his best include Natural Mystic, Soul Shakedown Party, and Mellow Mood. Some of the best contemporary stoner songs come from the reggae band Easy Dub All Stars.  These Jamaican musicians create dubbed out reggae versions of some of rock's best albums.  They have currently released reggae cover albums of classic records by Pink Floyd, the Beatles, and Radiohead. With dub compositions and effects this band is definitely making these records with the weed user in mind. The laid back tempo and rebellious message of reggae make it the perfect venue for marijuana music.

Another common place to find songs about marijuana is Hip Hop. This music also sprung out of inner city pot culture and it has always taken a political and philosophical stance on weed. There are hip hop groups that have based their entire act around marijuana. Cypress Hill is by far the most popular stoner group of recent history and they have recorded several weed themed hit songs. Some of their best pot songs are Illusions, Hits From the Bong, and I Wanna Get High. Not only are the lyrics about weed, but the music and beats provide a dark psychedelic ambiance that is perfect for the stoned listener. One of the pioneers of weed influenced hip hop is Dr. Dre. He released his first solo record The Chronic in 1992 and it instantly became a classic. This album sparked a new trend in hip hop culture and gave the genre a more rebellious edge. Classic weed tracks on The Chronic include Let Me Ride, Nuthin But a G Thang, and the Roach. This album offers classic weed songs and introduces a soon to be weed legend named Snoop Dogg. Hip Hop is a great place to find marijuana music that has attitude and an upbeat tempo for the high energy weed user.

One of the earliest recorded weed songs is Reefer Man by the jazz musician Cab Calloway. This song was recorded in 1932 and praised the local reefer salesmen. A few years later pot would be completely outlawed in the United States. Since that time musicians have continued to write songs about the inspiration they get from this plant and the injustice of it's criminality. Accompanied by music that just happens to be incredible to listen to while high.