The Best 420 Rap Songs to Smoke Weed To

The best 420 rap songs to smoke weed to are the ones built around the plant itself: Afroman's “Because I Got High,” Cypress Hill's “I Wanna Get High,” and a few Latin American anthems most US playlists miss. Rap and 420 culture have always gone hand in hand.

4/20 is more than a day to light up. Plenty of people use it to back medical and adult-use cannabis, and also to call out how little research, reliable information and support there still is, and, most importantly, how much stigma still needs to be torn down.

It's a good day to remember there's still a long road ahead before this ancient plant is legal everywhere, and before accurate, science-backed information about what cannabis can do for people is the norm.

So what does 420 sound like? There are countless tracks with killer beats, tight flows and lyrics about weed, covering everything from casual smoking to overdoing it to its medical side. Here's our list. Which track would you add?

“Because I Got High” by Afroman

“Because I Got High” is an ode to the lazy stoner that basically says, “if this record doesn't sell a single copy, I already know why: because I got high.” Ironically, the single sold more than a million copies in the US and went platinum in eight countries. Over a friendly, sticky melody, Afroman runs through everything that goes sideways, or stops mattering, once he's smoked a few.

“Smoke Weed All Day” by 2Pac

This track circulates under Tupac's name on mixtapes rather than on his official albums. The title says “smoke weed all day,” but it's really a love rap: a thug trying to win a girl over by telling her the best thing they could do is spend the day together getting high, among other things. Tupac is a 420 rap icon and paints the life of the American gangsta rapper like nobody else.

“Una vela” by Intoxicados (Argentina)

“Una vela” is an Argentine stoner anthem, built on Pity Álvarez's street poetry: riding around on a bike, dodging the cops, heading out to score and burning through as many joints as possible to kill a day around the neighborhood. Across more than one song, both Viejas Locas and Intoxicados slip in a 420 moment for kicking back in the sun.

“I Wanna Get High” by Cypress Hill

“I wanna get high, so high,” the LA crew repeats over and over through the whole track. Across more than 15 albums (counting originals and remixes) they've given us hundreds of weed songs, including “Roll It Up, Light It Up, Smoke It Up” and “Highlife.” If there's a 420 band, this is it.

“Hijo del Sol y la Luna” by Veneno Crew

“Marijuana is a plant that has been used since the dawn of humanity,” opens Veneno Crew, a group from the Canary Islands, in a spoken intro that quickly breaks into raw, straight-up Spanish rap. With 11 MCs and 2 DJs, they spit smoky, furious lyrics and fire off poisoned darts of 420 poetry.

“Bailar Contigo” by Monsieur Periné

Monsieur Periné is another excellent band, this time from Colombia. Formed in Bogotá and fronted by Catalina García, they mix jazz, pop and folk. Hands down one of the most epic Spanish-language tracks for a 4/20 session.

“Años Luz” by Nicki Nicole

Argentina's own Nicki Nicole is no exception. Nicole Cucco is one of the young artists leading the famous Argentine trap scene. “Wapo Traketero,” her first single, passed 15 million views on YouTube and hit almost eight million plays on Spotify. “Años Luz” is a track made for 4/20.

“Juégale, apuéstale” (Queen tribute) by Aterciopelados

Aterciopelados have won Latin Grammys and they're one of the best-known Latin American bands in the world. Latin music, and especially Andrea Echeverri's voice on this tribute, is a treat on this day, because 4:20 is time to smoke.

Why does music sound better when you're high?

According to Leafly, one of the biggest cannabis sites in the world, music tends to sound better when you're stoned for a few reasons:

• The focus and attention you get while high can make you pick up on parts of a song you probably skipped right over before

• You might feel like you're actually feeling the music: shifts in perception can tie into a mild synesthesia, a blending of the senses, so you literally feel the sound

• Memory compresses and the present stretches out, so every moment of the track hits harder.

So songs about weed, and 420 music in general, go beyond just listening. It's no secret that plenty of the most beloved albums ever made, across every genre, were recorded under the influence of industrial amounts of cannabis. That's why music and weed are so tightly linked.

One genre in particular has a deep bond with Mary Jane: hip hop. A lot of the best rap listening sessions happen with a good buzz going, and if you really pay attention to the lyrics, you'll probably catch weed references all over the place.

If we have to name some of those tracks, start with Dr. Dre's “The Chronic,” which pays tribute to the herb right in the album title. Snoop Dogg, meanwhile, rapped in “Gin and Juice” about rolling down the street smoking indo. Cypress Hill sang “Yo quiero fumar mota” and “Marijuano Locos.” “Pack the Pipe” by The Pharcyde, “Take Two and Pass” by Gang Starr, “Crumblin' Erb” by OutKast, “Mary Jane” by Scarface and “Doobie Ashtray” by Devin the Dude, to name just a few of the best known, all add their verse to the cannabis canon.

And finally, Method Man and Redman love weed so much they starred in How High, a movie where they smoke herb grown from their dead friend's ashes.

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