The three main categories we explore are:
1. The 1960s. The Psychedelic Era.
2. Bob Marley. Reggae and Marijuana.
3. Hip Hop.
The use of drugs by musicians to create music and by listeners to enhance the experience has created a strong bond between the two that shows no sign of clearing anytime soon. As popular culture becomes increasingly lenient in its view of sex, drugs, and violence, it is possible (and probable) that drugs will become permanently engrained in musical culture.
The 1960s.
The "Psychedelic Era", as it came to be known, began when bands decided to use drugs to enhance their ability to make music that would outshine the music of the 1950s. The music associated with this era rang bright with drug references in lyrics, drug use at concerts, and drug use by the musicians themselves when writing and recording albums. This new musical revolution was a host to the drug culture and as it grew, the presence of mind-altering substance increased with it.
Musicians were often seen as living on the edge and having glamorous lifestyles, an assumption that led to the idolization of many prominent music makers. In the 1960s many of these musicians were having their personal lives publicized and it became apparent that drugs were a major part of the lifestyle. When society idolizes someone, they often tend to try and mimic the life of that particular person in an effort to help them fulfill their own fantasies, and this is especially true with young people. As youth began experimenting with drugs and drugs were being "promoted" by psychedelic bands to help their listeners enhance the experience, the counterculture movement felt they had the ability to change the world.
The start of the counterculture movement of the 60s, the hippie movement, took hold in Greenwich Village and San Francisco and soon spread across America. With music becoming more and more available and communication between different parts of the country expanding, the hippie movement spread like wildfire to all areas of the nation and quickly became popular culture. Hippie culture, previously regarded as a lowly lifestyle, became the social norm and with it came another social "norm": drugs.
The end of the 1960s was characterized by one final boom that set the precedent for the remaining decades until present: Woodstock, 1969. The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Sly and the Family Stone, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix are among the most notable Woodstock performers. The culmination of the most popular music, hippies, and drugs on one August weekend in 1969 completely shattered all previous notions of popular culture.
Bob Marley.
Widely considered the most influential Reggae musician, Bob Marley has become synonymous with marijuana use and peace activism. Born in 1945, Marley pioneered the spread of Reggae and Rastafarianism to the entire world. His public openness about smoking marijuana and the use of marijuana in his musical career has led to the adoption of reggae as sort of the (un)official music of marijuana culture. Advertisers selling a range of merchandise from clothing to music to drug paraphernalia commonly use the Marley name, Reggae terms, Rastafarian terms, and Jamaican references to help sell their products. It is almost as if Bob Marley has become a sort of hybrid idol/mascot for youth drug culture. Click here to listen to Marley's thoughts on marijuana.
Reggae music, and specifically Marley's music, is characterized by off-beats, or skanks, and has a very unique sound. Listen here. The lyrics of reggae songs usually deal with social criticism, drugs, or feel-good thoughts. A major theme of his music is peace, a sentiment shared by the hippies of the 1960s and 70s. This common theme has allowed for Marley to be assimilated with counterculture as it passed through the decades from the 1960s to the 1970s and the early 1980s.
Bob Marley's musical career ended tragically in 1981 when he died of cancer. He was 36 years old. His death allowed for the spirit of Marley to pass into the realm of previous musicians that had a significant impact on culture but also died at a young age. After his death, he became a posthumous idol for the drug culture and his words still echo on today as we face the same geopolitical challenges that he sang against in the 70s and 80s.
Because of his popularity in music and his peaceful message popular culture has accepted him as one of the most influential people of the 20th century. With this title comes the idolization that we discussed about the musicians of the 60s. Counterculture, however, embraced him for more than just his music and his message. His use of and references to marijuana appealed to the youth of the 70s and 80s and the connection between his drug use and peace spurred new thought about "the herb".
Unlike the hard drugs used by some musicians in previous and later generation, Marley is best known for his sole use of ganja. His followers seemed to mimic this and generally the "Marley culture" is solely centered around marijuana use, peaceful practices, and down to earth attitude. His effect on American culture has been just as influential 30 years after his death as it was when he was alive and making new music. The death of Bob Marley sealed his status as a musical legend and the permanence of his memory was essential in shaping the popular culture of the 1970s.
"Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction" Bob Marley
Hip Hop.
Hip hop music made it introduction into the music scene as early as the late 70s, but did not gain momentum until the 80s and has become increasingly popular in every decade since. Today, hip hop and rap music has taken over the mainstream and is major genre played on Top 40 radio shows. Artists such as Snoop Dogg, Devin The Dude, Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, Lil Wayne, and DMX all reference drugs in their music.
The most typical drug references in rap allude to marijuana rolled in "joints "or "blunts" and 40oz. malt liquor beverages. However, cocaine has surfaced as a common drug of choice for many hip hop artists. Today's youth are arguably the biggest audience of hip hop, as it has become one of the most prominent contributors to popular culture of this decade. The youth culture that listens to hip hop is constantly influenced by the drug references and, much like the culture of the 60s or the fans of Bob Marley, begin to mimic this behavior.
Hip Hop drug references find their way into songs less as an agent of social change, but more as a product of social boredom and social defiance. Increasingly, rap songs contain explicit lyrics relating drugs, violence, and sex reminiscent of rock music of the 1960s. Hip hop music, however, differs from music of the 60s in that society today generally seems to be becoming less modest and therefore, explicit lyrics are becoming more common every year.
Some would argue that as hip hop progresses and influences more and more people it will permanently alter our views of these taboo subjects and we will become even more lenient than we are now to drugs. This seems to ring true for the music that is played on the mainstream, but the roots of hip hop were formed out of oppression and the possibility of rap as an agent of social change has been proven by such artists as Atmosphere, Abstract Rude, Aesop Rock, Sage Francis, and Busdriver. All of the aforementioned artists reference drugs, but less as brash, explicit lyrics and more as a possible cure for the world's troubles.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, music and drug use have been intertwined since the mid-20th century. From the 60s where experimental drug use introduced the nation to the world of psychedelic experiences to the 70s where Bob Marley began campaigning for world peace through the use of marijuana to the present where hip hop has used drugs as both an explicit form of shock value and as an agent of social change, drugs have engrained themselves in popular culture. Everyone in the world has a musical preference and as drug use makes its way into many different genres, it will only become more commonplace for people to constantly be exposed to drug culture. This exposure can essentially have two possible outcomes. Either drugs will become cemented into our culture, or there will be a backlash and moral panic against the use and promotion of drugs.
Sources:
White, Timothy. Catch a fire. Owl Books, 1998. Print
"The Music of the 1960s." Thinkquest. Team 21342, 1998. Web. 6 May 2010. .
Stasio, Frank. "Drugs In Hip Hop." The State of Things. North Carolina Public Radio, 22 Jul 2009. Web. 6 May 2010. .
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