There is little doubt that culture – particularly pop culture – has had a major impact on the course of marijuana legalization and the success of the cannabis law reform community. Television/movies combined with celebrities speaking out about legalization have definitely pushed the narrative forward. And the Internet has been the fuel to the fire that is that push.
But it’s easy to forget that some in the music industry have been using their influence to move the needle on marijuana legalization and other social issues long before the World Wide Web was widely available. One of the major musical influences on the legalization community has been the legendary band Slightly Stoopid. For more than 20 years, SS has been putting out music with a message while touring the world and spreading the gospel of cannabis.
To be clear, for those who may not know the band all that well: they aren’t just a bunch of guys singing songs about weed. In fact, most of their songs have nothing to do with marijuana. But they have consistently used their platform as a very popular band – some of their songs number in the millions of views on Youtube – to bring attention to an issue they care about: the end of marijuana prohibition.
In some ways, their new album – Everyday Life, Everyday People (stream and preorder here) – can be looked at as a celebration of sorts for everything that has been accomplished on that front in the last several years.
“I think for us, at the point we are at in our lives – all of us have kids, and we’ve been touring for so long and seen so much – I think all of it reflects in the new record (Everyday Life, Everyday People) and relates to everyone,” Miles Doughty, lead singer of Slightly Stoopid, told The Marijuana Times.
The new album was also a chance for the band to jam with some of their heroes. “We have some insane guests, childhood heroes of ours, from Ali Campbell of UB40, Don Carlos, of course, Alborosie, Chali 2na from Jurassic 5, King Yellowman, G Love,” Miles told us. “It’s been a lot of fun for us, it’s like paying tribute to the people we grew up listening to. They paved the way for so many of the young bands today playing reggae music, and those guys are at the forefront of where it all started.”
I’ve listened to the entire album several times and I must say, if you are a fan of Slightly Stoopid or are just looking for some tunes to chill out with this summer, ELEP is a must get!
