Studies show that humankind has used cannabis plants as early as 2,500 years ago in western China. Considering that weed not only gets you high, but can also help ease aliments and stimulate creativity, it’s no wonder why this herb has been so popular throughout the years.
Today, the cannabis industry has some key music artists to thank for the success of their businesses. After all, singers are highly influential and can get their fans to like something like a flip of a switch.
So who are these top music artists that won’t stop mentioning marijuana? Keep reading on to find out!
Bob Marley
Bob Marley isn’t technically still around nowadays, but there’s just no way we’d leave him off of this list. He is one of the most iconic musicians who’s tied to weed. Dare we say he’s the most iconic one of all?
Whichever way you slice it, there’s no denying that this music artist has had a tremendous influence on weed culture. Today, if you ask people who’s the first musician they think of when you mention the word “marijuana”, we’ll bet it’s Bob Marley.
He was always pictured smoking a joint, which made sense, considering he was a practicing Rastafarian. In this religion, ganja (pot) is actually a holy sacrament!
That’s something many people don’t know, as well as the fact that Marley did not use marijuana recreationally. He viewed cannabis as a way to open a spiritual door and become the successful artist he’s now known for. He’s also remembered as a powerful activist and people view him as a Rastafarian prophet.
The Beatles
The Beatles are a British band that formed way back in 1960. The 1960s was known as the Psychedelic Era, so it shouldn’t come as a shock that this band indulged in cannabis. The laidback rock tunes they produced reflected the mellow feelings that weed give you, after all.
John Lennon claims that they used weed so much in the 1970s that they were “smoking marijuana for breakfast.” In fact, they were so high that practically no one could communicate with them!
While some members did turn to harder drugs (such as Lennon did with pills), their main deal was pot. And thanks to this herb, we now have wonderful psychedelic tracks to listen to while we get high ourselves!
Rihanna
Rihanna is a major singer and actress from Barbados who has come out with many hits, including “Umbrella,” “Diamonds,” and “We Found Love.” Despite only being 33 years old, she’s had a strong presence in the music industry ever since she hit the scene in 2003.
In addition to music, Rihanna is passionate about humanitarian causes, fashion, and being an entrepreneur.
On the business side of things, she’s a headstrong and driven woman. Not only has she started her own beauty agency, but she’s also the creative director of Puma.
Back in 2015, there were rumors that she was starting her own line of cannabis products called MaRihanna! Unfortunately, that turned out to be just that: rumors.
However, that didn’t mean that Rihanna wasn’t an artist who backed the use of pot. In fact, she’s often pictured wearing clothing that depicts the marijuana leaf. And even during Coachella in 2012, she rolled a blunt off her bodyguard’s head!
Cypress Hill
Here’s another huge name in the music artist-marijuana space. This American hip-hop group formed in California in 1988 and has sold multi-platinum albums all over the world. They’ve been so influential that they’re considered to be forerunners of 1990s hip hop music.
During their concerts, they’re always lighting up. And they have multiple weed songs, including:
- I Wanna Get High
- I Love You Mary Jane
- Hits from the Bong
- High Times
- Smoke Weed
As you can see, Cypress Hill certainly isn’t shy about declaring their love for pot! B Real of the group actually opened up a medical marijuana dispensary in California in 2015.
Wiz Khalifa
Wiz Khalifa is an American rapper and songwriter who has never hidden his passion for marijuana. He released his first album in 2006 and has been on an upward climb ever since. He is so into weed that his 2010 mixtape is called “Kush and Orange Juice.”
Wiz is such a lover of weed that there have even been rumors flying around that he’s Snoop Dogg’s nephew. However, we’re sad to tell you that this isn’t true at all.
In summer of 2020, he announced that he was starting a line of his own marijuana products. This is done as a partnership with RiverRock Cannabis in Colorado. Not only will he have his name across several products, but he’ll also get his own strain of pot called Khalifa Kush.
We’ll give you one guess as to when these products will be available (Hint: it’s a major date in April for stoners).
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who came crashing onto the popular music scene in 2001. As many of you will remember, Lady Gaga loved to stun her audiences with things like meat dresses and other terrific theatrics.
So it probably won’t shock most people to find out that she’s a cannabis user. After all, weed probably helped her think up these amazing outfits (and songs)!
In addition to wearing weed leaf-adorned clothing, this singer also used to indulge in an unhealthy amount of marijuana to help with both anxiety and chronic pain from a hip fracture she suffered in 2013. She claims to have smoked 15 joints or more per day at a point!
Realizing that she was using weed in an absurd quantity, Lady Gaga has since dialed it back. She can go for weeks without smoking and now, she only smokes a little at night for fun and not for managing her pain and anxiety. The singer also loves using pot to get creative.
Jay Z
Jay Z is a big-time American rapper and songwriter. He’s been in the music industry since 1988 and is married to another influential singer: Beyonce.
Not only is Jay Z a singer and songwriter, but he’s also a businessman. He started his own clothing brand called Rocawear in 1999 and also started up the sports bar chain 40/40 Club in 2003. Then, in 2015, he bought Aspiro and personally looked over Tidal, the media streaming service of Aspiro.
But most importantly, Jay Z is a proponent of cannabis. More specifically, he was open about supporting California’s Proposition 64 in 2016, which aimed to legalize recreational marijuana. Maybe thanks to this star, the proposition was passed!
Jaz Z has also mentioned weed in his songs. As early as 2001, he’s rapped a verse that gives thanks to pot for opening up his creativity, though he admits that he seldom uses it.
Bethany Cosentino
Bethany Cosentino is one half of the American rock duo Best Coast, which started in 2009. When you listen to their music, you can definitely tell that Bethany enjoys some ganja.
At one point, she was smoking all day, every day. Like with many other people, she took up smoking pot to help manage debilitating anxiety symptoms. But of course, that backfired on her when she smoked so much that it only worsened her anxiety.
Bethany also says that weed impacts her ability to play music, so she rarely plays while high. Instead, she’ll wait until after the shows to toke up.
However, the songwriter does enjoy smoking out when writing her songs. As with lots of other musicians on this list, she says it helps with her creativity and does a lot of her best work while high.
You’ll be glad to know that she’s since decreased her extreme marijuana usage and takes it easy nowadays.
Ghostface Killah
Ghostface Killah is from the Wu-Tang Clan, an insanely famous American hip hop group that started back in 1992. As an original member of the group, Ghostface has a long history.
Throughout the decade, it wasn’t a secret that many members of the Wu-Tang Clan used weed. But out of all them, Ghostface is the one to actually go and dabble in the industry.
In 2016, he created his own THC oil called Wu Goo. This product was specifically made to be smoked out of the Dynamite Stix vaporizer that he created with Killah Priest.
Wu Goo is 70% THC oil, which makes it a super strong product. For those of you who are interested in hearing more about THC, 3Chi explains more about Delta 8 THC, which not many people know about.
Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus is an American star who first started her career in 2001 as an actress on the Disney channel for the show Hannah Montana. But considering she’s the daughter of famous country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, she couldn’t stay away from music for too long.
She actually started out her singing career as Hannah Montana, with some huge hits on the US Billboards. She then struck out as Miley Cyrus and went on to create killer song after killer song. She may not even be 30 years old yet, but she’s certainly accomplished a lot in the last decade or so already!
Like most other young people, Miley experimented with drinking and weed. She’s on record saying that using cannabis is a much more pleasant experience for her than drinking is.
She believes that alcohol is much more dangerous than weed and stands by that statement. Fans will often spot her smoking joints, which probably isn’t very surprising.
Snoop Dogg
You didn’t think we’d leave Snoop Dogg off this list, did you? He’s probably the biggest music artist who’s a proponent of weed and many people would consider him the cannabis king. He claims to smoke 81 blunts a day, 7 days a week.
As far back as 1999, Snoop Dogg’s been professing his love of marijuana. This might be way far back for some of you, but on “Next Episode” by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg did some guest vocals for it and closed up the song with: “Hey hey hey, smoke weed every day.”
All throughout his career, this rapper’s been completely open about his usage of the devil’s lettuce and is even proud of it. He dedicated a song to it called “Young, Wild and Free” in 2011, which he sang with Wiz Khalifa, featuring Bruno Mars.
Not only does Snoop like to indulge in weed, but he also likes to be active in the cannabis industry as well. Quite impressively, he has his own line of weed called Leafs by Snoop. There are currently 8 products, including 1 that’s a high-CBD strain.
Not only that, but he also has his own vape pen (G Pen) and marijuana culture website called Merry Jane.
As you can see, Snoop Dogg is a huge voice for cannabis in the music industry and it’s clear that he won’t be stopping anytime soon!
Music Artists Love the Cannabis Industry
Considering that marijuana relaxes you and can bring about creativity, it’s no surprise why music artists are so into the cannabis industry.
After reading this list of influential artists who continuously give nods to ganja, it can be a good idea to give some of them a listen. If you enjoy partaking in weed yourself, then listening to some of their tracks can really it up a notch. And if not, surely you can still appreciate what these musicians have to offer!
Because some of these artists are also entrepreneurs, you might want to get out there and see what their products have to offer too. You never know—you might just find your next favorite strain or vape!
For more about THC products and the industry, please browse the rest of our blog now.