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Sensi’s 4/20 Playlist

Tune in. Turn it up. Drop into our selection that celebrates the herb that goes handin-hand with great music.

TEXT DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN

As the voice of the Beat Generation, poet Ginsburg, once put it: “Marijuana is a useful catalyst for specifi c optical and aural aesthetic perceptions. I apprehended the structure of certain pieces of jazz and classical music in a new manner under the infl uence of marijuana, and these apprehensions have remained valid in years of normal consciousness.” With that in mind, we give you our annual 4/20 playlist, guaranteed to both up the vibe of the day and celebrate musicians who appreciate the plant.

Snoop Dog

Gin and Juice The modern poster child for cannabis as a recreational pleasure, a medicinal alternative, a symbol of counterculture, an F-you to racism, and an entrepreneurial goldmine, Snoop has never been apologetic about being himself and enjoying his smoke. His biggest song gives the fi nger to society unwilling to accept him and elevates partying to a social statement.

Essential Lyric: “Rollin’ down the street, smokin’ indo / Sippin’ on gin and juice, laid back”

The Beatles

Got to Get You Into My Life

The Fab Four is most associated with hallucinogenics—often credited with the cosmic shift of experimentation that gave us Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which changed pop music forever—but marijuana fi rst loosened them up. By all appearances a love song, this often overlooked gem from Revolver is, according to Paul McCartney, a paean to the the green leaf.

Essential Lyric: “I didn’t know what I would nd there / Another road where maybe I / Could see another kind of mind there”

Bob Dylan

Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 Sure everybody must get stoned but don’t fall for the obvious here. Yes, Dylan was talking about the favorite herb of the counterculture but the Nobel-prize winning poet was also calling on the Biblical sense of getting stoned: his haters tossing rocks at him. There’s also

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: TIM DUNCAN VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, ELI WATSON VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, DWIGHT MCCANN VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS biting criticism about the civil rights struggles of the day and the Vietnam War in this song.

Essential Lyric: “They’ll stone you and then say you are brave / They’ll stone you when you are set down in your grave”

Peter Tosh Legalize It

This is a mandatory track on this mix. The Bush Doctor was way ahead of his time both in seeing the spiritual and medicinal values of marijuana and in calling for an end to the racist power system that made it illegal.

Essential Lyric: “Doctors smoke it / Nurses smoke it / Judges smoke it / Even lawyer, too”

Black Sabbath

Sweet Leaf Marijuana and metal together symbolize a powerful rejection of societal norms and the original Prince of Darkness and crew made that evident in this banger that always seems to boost testosterone and call for the volume to go up to 11.

Essential Lyric: “You introduced me to my mind / And left me wanting you and your kind”

Sublime

Smoke Two Joints It would be a crime to leave this anthem off this playlist. Sublime, who recently launched their own cannabis brand, unapologetically loved the life of punk rockers and partying. While that left lead singer Bradley Nowell tragically dead from an overdose in 1996, the music that he left behind continues to inspire a willingness to reject norms and seek individualism in a world where it’s nearly impossible to escape consumerism and sameness.

Essential Lyric: “’I work good and I work ne, / But rst take care of head’”

Willie Nelson

Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die The frontman of the cannabis movement for decades, Willie actually released this tune on April 20, 2012 (the year when Colorado became the fi rst state to legalize recreational cannabis), to make his un-subtle point about where he stands. For extra emphasis, Snoop Dogg provides backup vocals.

Essential Lyric: “Roll me up and smoke me when I die / And if anyone don’t like it, just look ‘em in the eye”

Manu Chao

Clandestino Singing in English, Spanish, French, and Catalan, Manu Chao is household name in Europe and should be far better known here in the states. A proponent of global love and an unabashed cannabis advocate, he has been in semi-retirement for the past decade but his music still makes you want to get up and move.

Essential Lyric: “Mexicano, clandestino / Marihuana, ilegal”

Rihanna

Same Ol’ Mistakes The pop sensation is front-and-center when it comes to her love of cannabis—just scroll her Instagram feed. And her support of the plant goes a long way in breaking stereotypes about weed. This is not stoner music—it’s get up, move your booty, and feel good music. This cover of a Tame Impala tune unites hipsters and hip shakers.

Essential Lyric: “Not thinking in black and white / Thinking it’s worth the ght”

Childish Gambino

Redbone The multi-talented Donald Glover, producer of TV series Atlanta and musically known as Childish Gambino, has made it clear that Black people smoke weed to deal with the trauma and PTSD of simply being Black and living in this country. He also admits that cannabis helps him work. His rap clicks all the boxes when it comes to scaring your parents and pushes boundaries in exploiting the ugliness of racism in this country. And, damn, does this slow groove of a song sound good when you are in the mood.

Essential Lyric: “If you need it, you better believe in something”

Kacey Musgraves

Slow Burn Country singer and songwriter Musgraves proved she’s not afraid to shock anyone when she performed naked under a jacket on a recent episode of Saturday Night Live. She has also been forward about singing the praises of cannabis to audiences that might not be as open to it. Like most complex tunes, this song plays with the sensual and destructive double entendres of a slow burn.

Essential Lyric: “I’m alright with a slow burn / Takin’ my time, let the world turn” LISTEN UP Be sure to check out an expanded version of this playlist on the Sensi Spotify channel.