THC Unplugged: J Boog Reimagines Marlon Asher’s “Ganja Farmer”

Words by Skyla Stover-

A Samoan who was raised in Compton, the now Hawaii-based J Boog doesn’t have the typical reggae star pedigree. Over the last few years, though, he’s grown an increasingly large following, making his presence felt on some of the hottest reggae riddims—Kingston 13, Summer Scheme, Live in Love and Moving, to name a few—and collaborating with Jamaican artists like Peetah Morgan, Richie Spice and Tarrus Riley.

While love tends to be Boog’s favorite topic, he’s got a soft spot for weed tunes, too. He covered Marlon Asher’s “Ganja Farmer”—an all-around classic and No. 10 on our Toppa Top 10 list of Best Weed Tunes in 2011—on his first album Hear Me Roar in 2007 and, on a recent visit to Lodo’s Bar & Grill in Denver, he and his band revisited the song for that venue’s Internet video series, the MoBoogie Loft Sessions. The excellent acoustic version of “Ganja Farmer” (and specifically Boog and crew’s harmonizing) might have you looking at Asher’s classic in a whole new way. Watch it here: