Afroman Explains His New Song: 'Hunter Got High'

Rapper Afroman has told Newsweek of his hopes to perform the Hunter Biden parody of his song 'Because I Got High' at Trump rallies in the run-up to the election and thinks the track could reignite his career.

The songwriter, whose real name is Joseph Edgar Foreman, spoke exclusively to Newsweek after the video release of 'Hunter Got High' went viral. The parody takes aim at Hunter Biden's alleged drug use and allegations of influence peddling.

The artist told Newsweek: "I might really be back."

He added: "This one might take me to the stratosphere. I might be singing it at some Trump rallies."

The video features Afroman alongside a Biden lookalike as he sings the lyrics: "He was going to get his laptop fixed, but Hunter got high/He should have let Hillary (Clinton) bleach the whole hard drive, but Hunter got high."

The White House did not respond to Newsweek's request for comment.

Afroman said: "Some people are above the law while regular people have to obey it. When you lay the facts out about Hunter, it's just a little funny, so we wrote a parody song to have fun with life and politics."

At the time of publishing, the video of the song, released by Baste Records, had racked up over 800,000 views on YouTube and had reached number three on the iTunes video chart.

"This is officially the best and most important song of 2024," wrote @BehizyTweets on X, formerly Twitter.

Afroman said: "I've only seen one negative comment and a lot of laughing faces and thumbs up. But the backlash is out there, because the universe has to balance itself out."

The song's release comes as President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, is threatening to sue Fox News for defamation and the unlicensed use of his image, name and likeness.

So far, no one has told Afroman to cease or desist and he's unconcerned at the possibility.

"He may be bigger than my song, but if he does sue, as long as he doesn't take all the money, he can have some, because he inspired the song," said Afroman.

Afroman said the song is already trending faster than his 2022 song 'Will You Help Me Repair My Door,' which is about the Ohio deputies who raided his home in search of evidence related to drug trafficking and kidnapping.

The video to the song featured footage of the actual raid, which led to a lawsuit being filed by the officers involved. All charges were dropped and Afroman said he is countersuing.

"I see the same kind of energy in my new song as I did in that one, and that one got me on SNL," he said.

His reference to Saturday Night Live referred to a skit featuring cameos by cast members who portrayed Trump supporters, including Kenan Thompson as Don King, Mikey Day as Donald Trump Jr. and Devon Walker as Afroman.

While he said this is the most political song he's ever performed, he also said he won't stray from poking fun at both sides of the aisle.

"If I had some good lines, I'd use them. I'd give them to the Earth. I'd sing about anybody. I sang about the police who raided me," he said.

Afroman revealed he is also still running for president, having filed to do so 13 months ago. If he decides to bow out, he'll throw his support to Trump.

"I might refuse to concede. You never know, the election might get stolen, man. You gotta watch 'em all the time," he joked, noting that he doesn't think the last one was stolen. "I don't believe it was, but who knows. The minute you think you know something, you don't."

Chris Wallin, head of A&R and creative at Baste Records, said the label was founded a year ago in Nashville to focus on music with traditional values, thus he had his doubts about a collaboration with Afroman, whose lyrics can be very raunchy.

Wallin said he took the lead in writing out some lyrics for 'Hunter Got High' and Afroman was quickly on board.

"There's a lot of people doing politics first, we're about music that just happens to say things we believe in," Wallin told Newsweek. "We're not making any claims about Hunter, it's just meant to make people smile."

Asked if he had sympathy for Hunter's problems with drug abuse, a major theme of the song, Wallin said it's about people taking responsibility for their actions.

"I'm a country boy. I figure it's within my First Amendment right to go up to a 6-foot, 10-inch man and tell him his momma is ugly, but that doesn't un-whip my a**," he said. "There's accountability to be had, and that's what's missing with Hunter. We're shining a light on pure hypocrisy."

Official video contains graphic language and adult content.