Two weeks ago, our sister site, The Fab Life, counted down the Top 25 Fictional Stoners in Cinematic History. Of course, it’s a lot easier to be famous for using an illegal substance if you’re not real. So we thought for 4/20 we’d honor (or at least acknowledge) some of today’s most vocal pro-marijuana musicians.
Wiz Khalifa
Khalifa’s big hit may be “Black and Yellow,” but he’s been pretty busy using much of the money, attention, and goodwill he gained from that song to rap about weed (though not, surprisingly, on his newest single “Roll Up”). His newest album is even called Rolling Papers. When even “The Lonely Stoner,” Kid Cudi, has given up marijuana, Wiz is holding fast, even writing a sidebar for Rolling Stone‘s Best of Rock 2011 issue, feting OG Kush as “Best Weed.”
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When he’s not tending to his San Diego avocado farm, Jason Mraz continuously projects positive messages to his fans. Guess that year-long sabbatical he enjoyed a while back not only generated some great songs, but some rediscovery, enlightenment, and self-improvement vibes as well. Mr A – Z seems to always be helping someone.
Already a contributor to MusiCares, the singer is now giving kids a chance to make a a joyous noise by donating a portion of his ticket sales from the upcoming “Gratitude Café Tour” to VH1’s Save The Music Foundation, which benefits public school music programs.
The tour, which features G. Love and Special Sauce as well as Plain White Ts and Eric Hutchinson, kicks off on Saturday, July 25th at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland and continues through the summer with dates across the country and in Canada.
Although the second leg of the “Gratitude Café Tour” has not yet been announced, tickets for the initial set of shows are on sale now at gratitudecafetour.com. Save The Music’s core mission is to restore instrumental music education programs, ensuring that every child has access to a complete education that includes the benefits of music instruction, and Mraz is no stranger to the cause — he has already raised over $23,000 through ticket sales from his own most recent gigs! Check his Web site to see if he’s coming to a concert spot near you. By just checking out a show, you could help kids, too. – Lacey Seidman
WATCH MUSIC VIDEOS BY JASON MRAZ
Remember in elementary school when you’d pass a sheet of paper around the room and have each of your friends add their own sentence? Inevitably it created a story that took on a life of its own. Well, Jason Mraz not only plays that same game with his buds, he actually writes songs that way too – except that the “paper” is email.
In at least one case, the results have been superb. In the above clip for “Lucky,” Mr A-Z recounts the story of conceiving the tune with fellow singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat. According to Jason, neither of them knew where the song lyrics would go, but apparently, that’s the whole point. Building only off of the theme “me talking to you,” they just let the creativity flow. Aren’t we all “lucky” they did such a great job?
The informal performance is part of our “20th Floor Live” series, where artists are invited to play a song or two while visiting our offices. – Lacey Seidman
Watch a playlist of the 20th Floor Live performances
Watch Jason Mraz show off his favorite videos, including Feist’s “1,2,3,4″
