“Young, Wild & Free” by Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa (ft. Bruno Mars)
If you enjoy hip-hop inspired, weed-fueled hijinks, then a movie like 2012’s Mac & Devin Go to High School might be right up your alley. “Young, Wild & Free” is the theme song to said film, which actually stars Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa, i.e. this track’s main vocalists. And these are two individuals who are also genuinely and unanimously recognized as the biggest weed aficionados in rap music. So even beforehand, we already have a good idea where this is going.
For instance the chorus is held down by another artist, Bruno Mars, who is known to favor intoxicants. And to people such as he and his co-vocalists, ‘getting drunk’ and ‘smoking weed’ are “just” ways they go about “having fun”.
In other words, these are not activities which they are ashamed of. Therefore they “don’t care who sees” them doing it. And being allowed to behave in such a manner, under their estimation, is equivalent to “living young… wild and free” – as nature intended.
“Young, Wild & Free” is about the freedom of expressing oneself freely
Indeed from the onset of the first verse, which is rendered by Wiz Khalifa, now this track isn’t reading like a pro-weed song per se. Rather we are able to gather that its main theme is freedom of self-expression.
That’s why the rapper at hand doesn’t quite understand why other people should be concerned with how he dresses or the fact that he loves blazin’ ganja. He also expresses later how he respectively deals with his male and female associates. But truth be told, more wordage is dedicated to Wiz’s love for smoking joints than anything else.
Snoop Dogg
Now by 2011, i.e. the year in which this song was dropped, Snoop Dogg was already 40 years old – not necessarily what most people would call young nowadays. And he acknowledges such in a way, by noting how he feels “like (he’s) 17 again”.
And whereas he doesn’t state the source of his youthful vigor, the implication is that it has to do with him constantly handling marijuana. Indeed Snoop not only presents himself as an avid smoker but also someone who is ‘flipping’, i.e. selling, in the skunk. And this is something which came true formally a few years later, when he officially entered the weed business.
Are you sure “Young, Wild & Free” isn’t pro-weed song?
There is then a third verse which the artists deliver in unison, like a back-and-forth between Wiz and Snoop. Now maybe we have to take back our earlier statement, for as the song progresses it clearly develops a more overt pro-marijuana tone. But again, it’s not like the vocalists are doing so as a message to politicians or advocating that others pick up the practice also. Rather the homeys are like they’re going to enjoy it regardless, as that’s what they do for leisure.
And combining these sentiments with those found in the bridge a bit later on, what they seem to be conclusively putting forth is that it is their ‘youth’ and ‘wildness’ which affords them the ‘freedom’ to behave so. Or put differently, their lifestyles – such as Wiz ‘owning a car but no job and children’ – actually afford them the leeway to chill and smoke all the time if they want to. And yes, chillin’ and smoking all the time is exactly what they want to do.
In Conclusion
So in the end, we’ll say that there’s some type of general philosophy contained within these lyrics which transcend the weed culture, asserting that youth combined with, shall we say a lack of responsibility gives one the liberty to have fun at will. But at the same time, that belief is put almost exclusively within the context of utilizing said freedom to perpetually smoke marijuana.
“Young, Wild & Free” Facts
Primary Artist(s): Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa
Featured Artist(s): Bruno Mars
Album/EP: “Mac & Devin Go to High School”
Was “Young, Wild & Free” a single release?
Yes. It was a single from the album, “Mac & Devin Go to High School”. October 11 of 2011 was the date on which “Young, Wild & Free” was released.
Writing
The song was written by:
- Snoop
- Bruno
- Khalifa
- L. Carlton
- J. Guerin
- P. Lawrence
- A. Levine
- C. Brown
- T. Bluechel
- T. Griffin
- K. Jackson
- N. Lee
- M. Newman
- M. Barrow
- M. Bennett
- J. Sample
- T. Scott
Production
It was produced by The Smeezingtons (a team of songwriters and producers which included Bruno)
What music genre is “Young, Wild & Free”?
It can be classified as a Pop-rap song.
Awards/Honors
In 2013, the song earned a “Best Rap Song” nomination at the Annual Grammy Awards. It was nominated alongside:
- “Daughters” (Nas)
- “Lotus Flower Bomb” (Wale featuring Miguel)
- “Mercy” (Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz)
- “The Motto” (Drake featuring Lil Wayne and Tyga)
- “Ni**as in Paris” (Jay-Z and Kanye West) – Winner
Other Accolades
“Young, Wild & Free” was praised by music critics for being outstanding from other songs with a piano hook and hip-hop drums. The song made it to top ten charts in many countries, which was an indication of how successful it was commercially. It was certified six times platinum by the RIAA.
Chart Performance
- US – 7
- UK – 12
- Switzerland – 6
- Poland – 3
- Norway – 6
- New Zealand – 2
- Netherlands – 7
- Italy – 5
- Israel – 3
- France – 6
- Canada – 10
- Australia – 4
- Australia – 4
Movie(s)
It featured in the 2012 movie “Mac & Devin Go to High School”, directed by Dylan Brown.
