Popular music & drug culture part 6: ‘Easy Skanking – Reggae & Cannabis

Of all the relationships between music and drugs that I have, or will discuss, reggae and cannabis is probably the most complex, as the roots of this union are buried deep within Jamaica’s cultural, political and spiritual history.

A country separated by political beliefs, Jamaica’s working class have been using ‘ganja’ since Indian workers brought it into the country in 1845, and in the Jamaican religion Rastafari it is referred to as the sacred herb. The Rastafari holy text is the Holy Piby, which is allegedly the closest relation to the first version of the Old Testament, (from which the Rastafari pulled the references to the beneficial herb in Genesis and Revelations). In order to fully understand reggae, we must know more about Rastafarianism, as the musicians were engrossed into its ways.

The Rastafari believed that because of their African ancestry, Africa was Zion, a promised land which they must return home to, in order to become whole and complete spiritually. Whilst they were living in the world of persecution and oppression, they were in Babylon. Their use of marijuana was not just hedonistic either; the drug was used for spiritual purposes, bringing the Rastas closer to god, and in the hallucinogenic field to induce ‘ganja-vision’ – an important part of the male rights of passage during adolescence. With their sacramental herb (and the country’s largest export) outlawed, the Rastas were always facing persecution, and this helped shape the protest music of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and similar artists.

Reggae became big worldwide, and the sentiment of the Rastafari carried with it; marijuana became fashionable again amongst youth culture. If we look at how both Rastafarianism and reggae has latched onto cannabis culture, we can see that smokers today still enjoy reggae; Bob Marley has become a cult figure inside this culture, and the colours of Jah cover many pieces of smoking paraphernalia. The universal appeal of reggae to the seasoned ‘pot-head’ could simply be down to the fact that it was made by those in a similar state of consciousness; there may be (to a certain extent) a universal way in which the music is perceived, through the drug forming a shared unconscious mind between the listeners. This would make much sense as the general feel of reggae is the epitome of ganja; made up of slow paced, chilled out but funky music, perfect to just sit and relax to.

Tags: cannabis, correlation, culture, drug, ganja, jah, music, pop, popular, rastafari, reggae, relationship, zeitgeist