Debate: Should Jake Listen to the new Kottonmouth Kings Album?

By Glenn and Jake



When I attended high school back in the late 90s and very early 00s it was not fully unacceptable to listen to Insane Clown Posse yet, especially considering the most popular band at the time was Limp Bizkit. I was an ICP fan, a juggalo if you will. I even went to an ICP concert when I was a senior. I have never been so covered in Faygo in all of my life, before or since. When listening to ICP, other groups of similar quality are sure to follow, and one such group is the self proclaimed "psychedelic hip hop punk rock" act from Orange County, CA, the Kottonmouth Kings. Unlike ICP, whose songs are about the Dark Carnival, Faygo and making love to overweight women, the Kottonmouth Kings rap almost exclusively about smoking marijuana. Also one guy dresses like Mexican luchador Super Calo. The question this debate will attempt to answer is whether I should listen to the new Kottonmouth Kings album or continue to not listen to them at all.


Glenn (Pro): Listen to them. What could it hurt? You enjoy the drug marijuana and you enjoy music. The Kottonmouth Kings are a group that combines both of those things into something that is better than the sum of its parts. I remember going over to your house in high school and you listening to Kottonmouth Kings while you read wrestling magazines. It was a happier time for both of us and I think by listening to the Kings now, you could return to that. Their latest album was called Hidden Stash 420. If you were to drive to Wal-Mart right now, purchase this CD and return home to listen to it on a boom box I think the rest of your day would be fantastic. Plus you could get high on the way back from the store.

Jake (Con): My musical taste has grown since high school and print media is dying. Kottonmouth Kings may still be putting out albums and selling arenas out all over the country, but they are for a more juvenile audience. Also, I never once smoked pot in high school or at any time while listening to Kottonmouth Kings. Perhaps they are the gateway band to marijuana use, but I'd much rather listen to Flaming Lips or Pocahaunted (the modern day ICP and Kottonmouth Kings, respectively) when stoned. Now that I have faster internet and there are a million blogs where you can sample the latest albums by practically any band I don't feel I should limit myself to West Coast white hip hop about smoking bud. I know Glenn disagrees with me and he still does listen to the music he did in high school. I don't want to listen to Blind Melon and I don't want to listen to the 'Kings.

Glenn (Pro): I do not support listening to all music from high school. There is a reason I sold Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins for three or four dollars a few years ago. However, the Kings - like marijuana or ska itself - are timeless. You just told me that you don't like Wilco's new album, which is fine. But if you don't like that why shouldn't you at least give the new Kottonmouth Kings album Hidden Stash 420 a try? Based on the title of it, some of the songs are probably about pot smoking and all of them are filled with smooth hip hop beats as only California can produce. If you are still willing to do other things you enjoyed in high school - like watching wrestling and fighting with your step dad - I don't see why you can't listen to the Kings as well. Their songs are about smoking pot - and getting high. Who could be against that?

Jake (Con): It is true, I did not like the new Wilco album. I also did not like the new Built to Spill. So what makes you even think that I would like Hidden Stash 4:20? If we were arguing that I should listen to the new ICP album Bang! Pow! Boom! then perhaps I'd just buckle in and give it a spin (or a load, I guess). I was a pretty big fan of ICP back in high school. I liked their sense of humor. Unlike the Kottonmouth Kings I get a sense of nostalgia from them. As you pointed out in the opening statement of your last point: you do not support listening to all music from high school. While you might listen to Blind Melon and Green Day enough to make me uncomfortable, you stray away from other stuff. I'm not exactly sure what you're straying away from after looking at your last.fm top artists. You have even listen to Dave Mathew's Band 28 times. Regardless of your lack of follow through on your statement about not listening to all of the music you listened to in high school, the point still stands.

Glenn (Pro): Let's not turn this into another Jake rant against Blind Melon. Blind Melon have never hurt anyone except themselves when the lead singer killed himself. He might have died of a drug overdose instead, but that's a moot point because I don't even listen to Blind Melon these days except for on shuffle. Jake should shuffle down to a store he feels more comfortable with - such as Circuit City - and purchase the new Kottonmouth Kings CD. Every song is about smoking pot. If the album is 72 minutes and we assume each song is roughly four minutes, which is also the time it takes to smoke a joint, that means there are almost twenty songs about smoking pot on this album. I guess I always thought the Kottonmouth Kings were the greatest band because they celebrate drug culture, which I love. It and Inuit culture are my two favorite subcultures. I just hope Jake can re-embrace his love of the Kings before it's too late.

Jake (Con): Your argument barely even makes sense now. Just because an album has 72 minutes worth of songs and skits about smoking pot does not make it worth listening to. In fact, I think for most people that would make it unlistenable. Furthermore, Circuit City doesn't even exist any more and I even wrote an article about it! Also, it takes longer than 4 minutes to smoke a joint. It takes longer than that to smoke a cigarette.