Wheeler Walker Jr. On His New Song ‘I Like Smoking Pot (A Lot)’
If you’re a fan of country music, you’re probably already familiar with Wheeler Walker Jr. The musician first came on the scene back in 2o16 with his debut album titled Redneck Shit. Since then, he’s released dozens of other songs, including “Fuck You, Bitch,” “Small Town Pussy Hunt,” and “Summers in Kentucky.”
Walker is gearing up to release a third studio called WWIII—a title which, he stressed to his thousands of Twitter and Instagram followers, is meant to pay tribute to his son, Wheeler Walker III.
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One of his new songs is called “I Like Smoking Pot (A Lot)”. A veteran cannabis consumer, Walker took the time to talk to High Times about his music, his love for the herb, and the open secret of a sexual act enjoyed by male country music fans.
Oh, and in case you’re not totally hip to the world of country music, Wheeler Walker Jr. is actually the alter-ego of comedian Ben Hoffman. As he always does in interviews, Hoffman remained completely in character as Walker for the duration of our phone call.
Wheeler Walker Jr. : I’ve always wanted to be in High Times. It’s such an honor doing this.
High Times: We’re so glad we connected! So, do you actually smoke weed, or was it just a bit for the song?
WWJ: (laughs) Yeah, I smoke weed. Being from Kentucky, I actually smoked weed even before I drank. [I’ve been smoking weed] off and on since I was fifteen or fourteen, I guess. A lot of weed is grown in Kentucky, so it’s all over the place.
When I was growing up, a lot of my friends were tobacco farmers, and that’s taken a turn. It kills me that they would be back on their feet in two seconds if they were allowed to grow weed. I would say out of every state, legal weed would benefit Kentucky the most. It would help the economy so much. They have bourbon, but [legal weed] would turn the economy around so fast, but there’s still a “Reefer Madness” mentality there.
I always wanted to do a pot song, but I had to wait to do it my way. Now that I have a wife and kid, it makes much more sense to smoke a joint than sit around drinking beer. It makes me feel better, you know?
Does your wife also smoke weed?
She does. Not a lot, but yeah, she does. My wife still laughs that I came home so fucking stoned after we shot the video [for “I Like Smoking Pot (A Lot)”].
Wheeler Walker Jr. with his wife, Christine Lee, and their son, Wheeler Walker III; courtesy of Wheeler Walker Jr.
Wait, so you were actually smoking weed in the video?
(Laughs) Yeah, I had to smoke a lot of weed in the video. The edibles were real, too. Everything was real; I wasn’t gonna fake that shit. Oh my god, I was so fucked up. But not in a scary way. It was different than the old days where I would drink and come home like an asshole.
I found the main difference: when I come home high [my wife] is laughing; when I come home drunk, she yells. (laughs)
There’s this line you sing: “some people like smoking bongs, some like sucking dongs, I like both, but that’s a different song”… Can we expect a coming out song soon? Or should we just not read into that particular lyric?
People keep asking me about that! It’s so funny. Every real redneck I know has gotten drunk and sucked a dick here and there. They pretend like they don’t, but when it comes up in a song, they all sing along. They know what it’s about.
Homosexuality has always been a big part of country music. I got another song called “I Sucked Another Dick Last Night” where I explain to my wife and son what went down. I think it’s the first family song about a dude sucking another dude’s dick.
I consider myself straight with a tendency to get fucked up. Does that make sense? I don’t know the term for that. ‘Bicurious’ someone told me, but I don’t know. I don’t like to label myself. I just like to piss off country fans (laughs).
What inspires you?
My family, mainly. And older country stars like Willie [Nelson]. The older stuff’s disappearing. So much of it is fake now. You can’t get stoned and listen to a bunch of electric and auto-tuned music. It’s too perfect. It’s made on computers. That’s what country music has turned into. All country music now is bad hip-hop with a twang. I just want to listen to a group of people in a room playing music together. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
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