COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Grammy-nominated rapper Afroman, who calls Ohio home, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of his hit “Because I Got High.”
The artist, Joseph Foreman, posted a video on his social media account performing the irreverent tune in front of thousands of fans at the Rock The Country Music Festival in Greenback, Tennessee. The under-five-minute clip is simply titled “Because I got high, 25th year anniversary.”
“I’m going to sing a song I used to sing to your mothers and your fathers,” Foreman said in the intro to his single from 2000.
Dressed in a U.S. flag-print suit, the singer shared the commemoration of the song, holding a golden goblet in one hand and a microphone in the other as fans belted out the famous refrain.
While the post received several positive comments, more than one person brought up Foreman’s cult classic in the making, “Lemon Pound Cake.” One person suggested that “Because I Got High” needed to be redone to “incorporate ‘Lemon Pound Cake.’”
“Lemon Pound Cake” was a song Foreman wrote and posted online after Adams County sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant on his Winchester home in 2022. This event resulted in the deputies suing Foreman over music videos and songs posted online about the raid. “Lemon Pound Cake,” called out a deputy caught on camera taking a second look at a dessert on Foreman’s countertop. No charges were ever filed against Foreman, and the search turned up no evidence of alleged crimes.
Vice Magazine, which produced a documentary short on the backstory of “Because I Got High” in 2022, also took notice of its quarter-century milestone on social media, promoting the 20-minute film on its channels.
“When I wrote, ‘Because I Got High,’ I was ready to experiment with the power of simplicity,” Foreman states in the documentary. “I just happened to get high and realized that stuff wasn’t getting done.”
The video tells the story of Foreman’s formative years, traveling from Mississippi to California and back again, where he wrote and then produced the tune at T-Bones Records in Hattiesburg. Described as a cautionary tale of the pitfalls of smoking too much weed, the song rose in fame, reaching its pinnacle as the track for the end credits of the film “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.”
“We went No. 1 in 11 countries around the world,” said Dan McCarron, who worked for A&R, Universal Records. “It was the summer of 2001 that ‘Because I Got High’ really was all over the place, showing no signs of stopping and it was probably at its peak on Sept. 10. And the next morning, of course, was Sept. 11.”
McCarron explained that radio stations felt the lighthearted ditty was not “funny anymore” after the terrorist attack and were not inclined to play it on air.
“It cut the legs out from under it instantly,” McCarron said.
Foreman was eventually released from the label and had to start over again.
“Because of that song, I don’t never want to sing another angry song,” Foreman said. “Because every time I sing that song, I get happy again.”
Currently touring and working on his music at his Adams County home, which is custom-decorated in his specific style, Foreman reminisced about his breakout piece.
“It’s a magical song, when that beat drop, they get to looking around, all the beers, all the hands go up,” Foreman said. “People say, ‘You’re a one-hit wonder.’ Well, how many hits do you need?”
Forman, who ran for president in 2024, often posts online videos reflecting on current events, even stating his case for being considered the force behind legalizing recreational marijuana in Ohio.
This July, Foreman will officiate a wedding for the winners of a “dream cannabis wedding” giveaway at the Stargazer Cannabis Festival in Waverly. The lucky couple will get married on the festival grounds, decorated with a cannabis theme and an infused wedding cake.
“The cannabis industry is exploding, and it’s creating once-in-a-lifetime opportunities like this,” Chad Thompson, the event’s organizer, said. “Imagine telling your grandkids that Afroman married you at a cannabis festival — it doesn’t get better than that.”