His early works such as the GORGEOUS Xterminator produced debut, Harvest Time was devoid of any tunes on the subject if memory serves me well (and it might not), as was its unearthly strange followup from three years on, 2005’s Rising Sun. In fact, Chezi had probably been in the process of making a name for himself for the better part of a decade before he made a significant drop out in the herb yard. Since he did plant that seed, however, the proverbial flood gates have been opened and, he has been one of the most delightfully unavoidable proponents of marijuana in all of Reggae music.

Because of that and because why not the venerable Tad’s Records have put together a specifically loosely themed set and… it isn’t the first time. The brand new Marijuana Prayer actually follows 2010’s Herbalist from the same label. That should really tell us something about not only Chezidek’s music, in general, but the perception of those who actually make and put the music together: He now has TWO albums from the same source centered around marijuana.

Furthermore, if you take that aspect out of play, the man has just been making some EXCELLENT music and been doing so with Tad’s. Along with the aforementioned Herbalist was another album Chezidek did with Tad’s, back in 2020, by the name of Hello Africa which was absolutely fantastic and since then, there was also Never Stop for Irie Ites (also fantastic). Chezidek has been on a roll and I’m wondering if that run continues into 2026, with this new release.

Of course it does [DUH!]. Despite the way I built this review and the title and central theme around Marijuana Prayer, I don’t want to make it seem as if that’s all that’s going on here – it most certainly is not. This is a… Chezidek album. It’s full of the various ideologies that he typically covers in his music (many of which permeate Roots music, in general, just as much as ganja and if not, more) which is just fine by me. Also, there is a compilation effect here as you very well should be quite familiar with some of these songs.

The opener for Marijuana Prayer, Ganja Business, however, is new to my ears and eyes. Tackling a classic track whose name I don’t feel like looking up, Chezi uses a rather FRAIL chorus to deliver what I’m going to consider a VIBE. I don’t think there was a lot going into the planning station of Ganja Business and developed almost entirely organically. That’s not a critique at all. For what it is and, specifically, where it’s placed on the album — to kind of set the stage for what is to come — I have no problem with Ganja Business but better material is to come.

I’m even more confident in the freshness of Caah Believe as I’m almost certain it is the first single for Marijuana Prayer. This tune deals with the persecution and prosecution of this plant and the ridiculous way in which is occurs. If not for the presence of something truly special later on, Caah Believe would be my favourite song on this album. It is FANTASTIC. It’s one of the better written efforts Chezidek has turned in as of late and if you want to talk about making a point, that DEFINITELY goes down here and in such a HUGE way! CLEARLY Chezidek and Tad’s knew that they had something serious on their hands when they wrapped up Caah Believe and they were right; making it an obvious choice for a single for this album. Charged with tailing Caah Believe is the excellent title track which comes pretty close to equaling the levels set by the song just ahead of it.

Marijuana Prayer is a lot of FUN and you don’t typically use such a term to describe such a tune but that’s the one that first came to my mind and stayed there (clearly it’s still in there). This one features Chezidek doing exactly what you think he’s doing in lifting up the positives of ganja but it’s done in a variety of different ways. He sings and he does that wonderful chanting style that I wish he would employ more often and then the song is just afforded a minute (half a minute) to go on its own as the singer takes a step back for a wonderful stretch and a great touch in my opinion.

Previous single, the now… classic [?] Leave The Trees is also on board Marijuana Prayer, just as it was on the aforementioned Herbalist release. This song MIGHT have been the first indication of Chezidek’s prowess in this spectrum as the tune, produced by Our Promotion, was a significant and remains one of his most popular to date. Leave The Trees, as its title suggests, is more than just a song about ganja; it’s also a GREEN song. It stands up for the proper care of the environment, in general, and it definitely made an impact with the masses (and this does appear to be just a remastered version of the original, not a re-recording) (but I could be wrong).

Let’s Stay Together probably made its first rounds four or five years ago at this point and its appearance on this set comes as no surprise. I’ve never been crazy about this song (it’s almost… kinda country-ish and doesn’t have the greatest of direction) but, for whatever it’s worth, it does feature an impressive more typical vocal delivery from Chezidek. He just sings the song as straight-forward as you’re likely to get out of him and it is pleasant to listen to.

Similarly vibed but substantially stronger is the next track in, Got To Go Home. What separates the two, for me, is how well the latter is written. It’s a repatriation song but there’s something kind of SPICY about Got To Go Home. You listen to its tone and you get one thing from it but if you actually listen to what Chezidek is saying… you can tell that he’s a little pissed off! I call it a song about repatriation and it is but very loosely. Chezidek isn’t necessarily saying that we need pack up and go to Africa (although that is an option) but we just need to get the hell outta here. WHEREVER our destination may be, so be it, but the current way things are going is simply unacceptable. Got To Go Home is EASILY a highlight here and the same can be said for the song just behind it, One Life.

This one was interesting even before I’d heard it because Chezi has a much older tune by the same name which is downright glorious. It’s, seriously, probably one of the best fifty or songs that he’s ever done and this version appears to be same one (or very similar to it), just on a different riddim. This riddim is the Party Time which goes to make for a more quaint experience. I do still prefer the former but this tune is excellent and, again, another fine example of writing on Marijuana Prayer as the singer warns us all to just be a bit more careful in our day-to-day lives because we only get to do this once.

The second half of the album makes a VERY familiar turn during its second half but its also serves up three more unexpected lights as well. The first of these is also its very first tune altogether, Give Me Your Love. I know what you’re thinking and I was thinking the exact same thing: Yes. That title is absolutely abysmal. It’s terrible and it, seemingly, portends something… sappy as hell to come. However, while the song bearing that name most certainly isn’t amongst the finest that Marijuana Prayer has to offer, it also any the bottom of the barrel that you might’ve been expecting (…you were). It is a lukewarm love song.

For something reaching far higher, check Memba Good and the equally delightful closer, Stand Up. The former is just expressing the totality of a ton of acquired life-experience [“It’s a learning, learning journey and you’re never too old to learn”] and it’s fairly broad. Such songs don’t typically appeal to me as much as this one does, however; and I’d probably owe that to Memba Good just being incredibly well put together. Stand Up for its part, is even better. It is STERLING Roots Reggae atop a cut of a classic riddim (it’s the Invasion Riddim. Who knows what the original name of that thing is). The idea here is fairly simple: You know right from right — we all do — and you/we should be willing to put our foot down, take a risk and stand up for what we know is right. You can take this in a billion different ways (and I think that’s the intent) but the unifying thought here is damn strong and leads to an outstanding effort.

I mentioned the Hello Africa album and the remaining four offerings, in a kinda/sorta typa way belong to that album. The most identifiable is Inna Dem Eye and I alluded to this one previously. Inna Dem Eye is the best song on this album. It’s one of the finest songs he’s ever done but, had you looked through the tracklist, you already knew that.

The other three songs do not appear on the standard release of Hello Africa, instead they featured on its “Vinyl Cut”. Deliver Me, Fool & His Money and Money Move represented the difference between versions of Hello Africa. I thought their inclusion here was a very interesting one because OBVIOUSLY they’re here to thicken out things, which is fine but there’s also a bit of… ‘in case you missed it’ aspect going on as well. In any case surrounding the thought behind their collective presence, just as was the case for Hello Africa, their being here makes Marijuana Prayer a better album. It’s nearly twelve minutes of added outstanding music and that can only be a plus. Despite, if I recall correctly, Fool & His Money and Money Move being singles and more popular, the best of the trio remains Deliver Me by the slightest of margins. When that song hits a certain level and plateaus, what we get is nearly euphoric work (you can leave that song on for ages and just enjoy over and over again).

Overall, take a second and remove the centralizing ‘reason’ as to why we’re all here and just take a look at this one for what it is: Marijuana Prayer is a solid compilation of music from someone who has been on a roll for the last few years in my opinion. Chezidek is amongst the very few people making some of THE best Roots music currently and virtually any collection of his work is going to get my attention and impress and this is not the exception. Now, when you do add the specific element into things it definitely provides a bit of an extra attraction to things and while what happens isn’t a ‘ganja album’ necessarily, it is, as I said, quite good. A “quite good” album from Chezidek works for me, regardless of how deep this Marijuana Prayer may go.