Greg Lukianoff and Adam Goldstein
When you think of free speech heroes, Joseph E. Foreman might not be the first name that comes to mind. But in an Ohio courtroom last week, Foreman, better known as Afroman, demonstrated in often hilarious fashion why America’s commitment to freedom of speech is the dread of tyrants big and small.
Local sheriff’s deputies raided his rural Ohio home in 2022 with a warrant for drug trafficking and kidnapping. Officers smashed in the front door and searched the house with guns drawn. Afroman wasn’t home, but his wife and young children — then 10 and 12 — were. He would later rap: “Did you have to traumatize my kids?” Cops who conducted the search said his songs mocking the raid traumatized them, which is what landed Afroman in court.
If you’re not familiar with his work, Afroman’s music doesn’t suggest he’s a drug kingpin or human trafficker. In fact, he’s best known for his 2000 song “Because I Got High” — which consisted of a list of things he didn’t do, because he got high.