We Be Burnin'

Album: The Trinity (2005)
Charted: 2 6
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "We Be Burnin'" is about smoking marijuana. High Times magazine named it Best Pot Song of 2005.
  • "We Be Burnin'" is a party song, but there is a message embedded in the lyrics: marijuana should be legal. As Sean Paul sings:

    Legalize it, time to recognize it

    Sean Paul is Jamaican, and surprisingly, marijuana was still illegal there when the song was released in 2005. It wasn't decriminalized until 2015.
  • Sean Paul's songs tend to be about girls, parties and pot. Often they deal with all three, which is the case here.

    Early on, his songs took on heavier themes like inequality and prejudice. "I'd be singing about that stuff, but later on producers would be like: 'Bro, this doesn't seem like you,'" he told The Guardian. "They wanted me to sing more about girls and partying, which I was into, too, but part of me got stifled by the party guy, who attracted the ladies and made more money. I was trying to establish myself, so pretty soon I thought: 'I like this party guy.'"
  • This wasn't the first Sean Paul song that's focused on reefer: His 2002 hit "Gimme The Light" covers the same topic.
  • The beat is based on an instrumental track (a "riddim") called "Stepz" that Sean Paul's producers for this track released under the name Renaissance Productions.
  • This was the lead single from Sean Paul's 2005 album The Trinity. His dancehall sound was huge at the time; in 2003 he had US #1 hits with "Get Busy" and with a feature on Beyoncé's "Baby Boy." "We Be Burnin'" kept the fire going, and another single from that album, "Temperature," gave him another chart-topper.
  • There are no bongs, blunts or funny cigarettes in the music video, which instead is filled with beautiful women and big trucks. It was shot in Southern California deserts and directed by Jessy Terrero, who also did Sean Paul's "Never Gonna Be the Same" video. By keeping marijuana imagery out of the visual, it gave it a better chance of earning airplay, especially on MTV, which was fine with girls and trucks but frowned on drugs.

Comments: 3

  • Hotelmotel from Hoppingbetweensidesofbc, BcRosie wrote: "this song blows, why is it on this site to begin with?"
    SHut up! Some people go here to read about these songs!
  • Rosie from Winnipeg, Mb, Canadathis song blows, why is it on this site to begin with?
  • Stephen from Claymont, Dewhy would u listen to this high pitched freak
see more comments

Editor's Picks

dUg Pinnick of King's X

dUg Pinnick of King's XSongwriter Interviews

dUg dIgs into his King's X metal classics and his many side projects, including the one with Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam.

"Stairway To Heaven" Lawsuit: A Timeline

"Stairway To Heaven" Lawsuit: A TimelineSong Writing

Untangling the events that led to the "Stairway To Heaven" lawsuit.

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple PilotsSongwriter Interviews

Stone Temple Pilots bass player Robert DeLeo names the songs that have most connected with fans and tells the stories behind tracks from their Tiny Music album.

Richard Marx

Richard MarxSongwriter Interviews

Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.

Dar Williams

Dar WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.

Christopher Cross

Christopher CrossSongwriter Interviews

The man who created Yacht Rock with "Sailing" wrote one of his biggest hits while on acid.