'All the hit songs from Nigeria music industry comes from smoking weed'

“You know me now, normally I don't, (Drags in)

Pass me that , usually I won't, (Drags in)

Too much stress so tonight I gotta (Drags in)

Just give me the lighters.

Roll it, light it, puff it, pass it MI (Drags in)

Instant Classic.

One of the biggest songs of M.I’s career is the single ‘Blaze’. The song features his brother and ex-label mate, Jesse Jagz and Ice Prince. An extended version also has female rapper Blaise on it. The song, which is regarded as one of the best collaborations of Nigerian Hip-hop, was a celebration of weed (cannabis, marijuana) as a drug of inspiration, and how the effects of music can be likened to the ‘high’ gotten from music.

Another song which seek’s to also elevate weed is Ice Prince’s 2013 single,‘which featured Yung L, Olamide and Burna Boy, and was housed on his “Fire Of Zamani,” album. Burna who took the first verse, was very blatant with it.

“Give me light And a spliff I don't care, nothing can compare. I see when me light it up you see smoke inna the air, nothing can compare.”

Burna Boy would go on to release the reggae-themed suggestive hit song “Smoke some weed”, in which he called out to his lover “Me have some marijuana inna ma house that I would like to smoke with you…gyal..oh oh oh oh. How would you like to smoke some weed.”

It is a stark glorification of a plant which is both a relaxant, a leisure drug, a companion, and a creative enhancer, and a way of life for many musicians in Nigeria. From time immemorial, Nigerian musicians have had a solid relationship with the consumption. But it was Fela who romanticized the consumption of weed as a tool of inspiration.

It could be outlawed elsewhere, but smoking of weeds wasn’t in Fela’s republic – of course he preferred to call it “African grass” – and if you couldn’t charge cows and goats for grazing on grass, why should you charge Fela for feasting on nature’s grassy environment?

That was his contention, but the Nigerian government didn’t just buy into his grassy defence. Marijuana has been outlawed in Nigeria for many decades, and Fela wasn’t to be treated like a sacred cow. On many occasions, the minions of the law were after the Afrobeat king, and the lead-up to his arrest and arraignment in court was always melodramatic.

In the book by Carlos Moore (Fela: This Bitch Of  A Life), the late legend detailed his main reason for smoking weed, and why it was the pursuit of a heightened sexual pleasure that made him take up weed.

"That is my best friend because it is a gift of the creator to Africans. It is a spirit. Marijuana has five fingers of creation...it enhances all your five senses.” Fela said.

"...I can't fuck without grass, man. If you fuck with grass once you won't want to fuck without grass anymore. It would be a useless exercise,...That's why I started smoking grass o."

In a report released in December 2016, by the Adam Smith Institute, Nigeria ranks as the third in the list of countries that smoke the most cannabis, with 14.3% prevalence of use as percentage of population. We are just below the US, and Iceland ranks number 1. Zambia is the only other African country in the top 10.

Teenagers and young adults aged between 15 and 29 years are the highest abusers of marijuana, codeine, alcohol and other most commonly abused drugs and substances in Nigeria, according to latest poll results released by NOI Polls Limited.

Overall, 91 percent agreed that there is a high level of drugs and substance abuse in Nigeria. The finding supports every available data that Nigeria has the highest level of consumption of cannabis (marijuana) in Africa.

In the music industry, the drug and its derivatives and multiple strains are seen as creative necessities, which aid the discovery of inspiration.

A popular pop star, who spoke to Pulse on condition of anonymity, reveals that he and his friends cannot create music unless they are under the influence of weed. For the sake of this article, we will call him Chaka. Chaka was recording a single in a dingy studio in Lagos. In his right hand was a spliff, while his left caressed his smart phone.

“Bros, I cannot lie to you. I need to kush (smoke marijuana) to feel alright,” He said. “All of my friends here, if we don’t light up, we will not be able to find the inspiration to create a hit. We need to smoke high grade, to make high grade music.”

An OAP who also spoke with Pulse (anonymously of course), reveals that the weed culture of the Nigerian music industry is standard, and that it will never go away.

“These artistes can never drop smoking weed. They are victims of a culture which has encouraged them to embrace weed as a brain stimulant. Many believe that without smoking, they cannot plunge the depths of their creativity.” He said.

A study conducted in 2010 by Morgan, Rothwellwhich showed that marijuana’s primary property is its ability to increase the hyper-priming process. This process is what happens when your mind makes connections between two seemingly unrelated things, also known as the “Aha!” moment.

Consumers seem to be able to make these connections faster than non-smokers, adding more weight to the idea of the creative stoner. In addition, marijuana also ups the production of dopamine in the brain, which gives stoners the calm euphoric feeling they love so much. With this calm feeling comes the absence of the “inner filter”, or the small voice inside your head that critiques you while you’re painting, writing, or performing. Without your inner personal criticism, the creative process is allowed to flow more freely, producing more artistic results.

Public reception to news about artistes smoking weed is lax. Amongst the elder folks, it is frowned upon, but a growing population of millennials, who consume pop culture are liberal in their views, are open to the idea. After all, an increasing number of stars have photos circulating the internet, and results from the latest NOI Poll showed that the highest abusers of drugs and substance are teenagers and young adults aged between 15 and 29 years old. It is this demographic that make up the bulk of the population who are consumers of pop culture.

But weed continues to be criminalised. In November 2016, a Federal High Court in Lagos sentenced a 20-year-old newspaper vendor, Muyideen Olarenwaju, to one-year imprisonment for dealing on 1.9kg of marijuana. He was prosecuted by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The mere possession of a small quantity of weed will get you arrested by the Nigerian Police Force. Apart from the legal blockade, marijuana is still largely perceived, especially by older Nigerians as the devil’s leaf. Older people will tell you that weed makes you irresponsible and might leave you prone to mental illness.

There have been no concerted push to get the Federal Government to decriminalise possession and consumption, with very few voices going on record to call for it. But Afrobeat performer and son of Fela, has been outspoken on the idea.

Seun Kuti who is a famous marijuana user spoke for the legalization of 'weed' in an interview with The Nation newspaper.

“There are doctors and scientists who believe that marijuana should be legalised. There are also lawyers, judges, and politicians who believe that the war on drugs is a false war. That is actually a war on the poor people all over the world, because poor people and rich people use drugs to be sane. But you will find that here, people are in jail more for drug use" Seun Kuti told the newspaper.

Seun Kuti said the Federal Government has not done any research on marijuana and its uses.

“We as Africans had no reason to ban marijuana. It was done out of the U.S. lobby, forcing our governments to ban the drug. I don’t think that the Nigerian government has ever carried out any independent research on marijuana. One of the biggest markets in the world for marijuana in the world is Israel (which is a more religious country than Nigeria). But they understand the benefits… especially the economic benefits. So much wealth can be generated from it, but that is another issue entirely.”

In June 2016, Seun Kuti also wrote down his thoughts concerning the legalization of weed in some states in the United States of America.

"While the blind government of Africa are still harassing nature and holding back the economic potential of marijuana in Africa, this is what's happening in the United States of America" wrote Seun Kuti on his Instagram.

But legalised or not, the Nigerian music industry will always embrace the drug for all intents and purposes, according to Chaka.

“We cannot give it up,” he says, as he takes a drag from his spliff. “Without this weed, there is no music in Nigeria. All these hits you guys are dancing to from these stars, you think it comes from God?”