No Cocaine
Alborosie · Escape From Babylon
Ganja farmer
No Coca No Coca No Coke inna mi brain
No Coca An' No Heroin Can Go Inna Mi Vein
'Cause I love (marijuana)
Cah man a real (ganja farmer)
No Coca No Coca No Coke inna mi brain
No Coca An' No Heroin Can Go Inna Mi Vein
'Cause I love (marijuana)
Cah man a real (ganja farmer)
Well puppa go a England, go and check Rodigan
Puppa pass through all a di herb mi a nuh rub-a-rub skunk
Likkle afta puppa general go inna Brixton
Puppa look some tom tom dung inna Brixton
Puk up 'pon di gal puppa nom Brigitte, Shelly Ann
Shelly Ann tell her side that fi piss and galang
She love puppa pants and full a charm and passion
Puppa try fi long di baseline 'pon di version
One likkle crack head boiy, come check come crack head man slang
Him want fi sell puppa some coke and lexotan
Puppa licking Jah born and kicking outta England
Puppa general a Rasta so a straight ganja plant
No Coca No Coca No Coke inna mi brain
No Coca An' No Heroin Can Go Inna Mi Vein
'Cause I love (marijuana)
Cah man a real (ganja farmer)
No Coca No Coca No Coke inna mi brain
No Coca An' No Heroin Can Go Inna Mi Vein
'Cause I love (marijuana)
Cah man a real (ganja farmer)
Well puppa run go ital ragamuffin hartical
Puppa work with motherland, puppa nuh touch chemical
Puppa nuh move sideways, puppa cyaan go vertical
Puppa a step 'pon di flat puppa ??
Puppa neva take coke, puppa neva take pills
Puppa neva smoke plastic, sensi straight from di hills
Puppa no like Coca-Cola, mi no talk 'bout Angola
From St. Elizabeth to Pola a di best ganja 'bout yah
No Coca No Coca No Coke inna mi brain
No Coca An' No Heroin Can Go Inna Mi Vein
'Cause I love (marijuana)
Cah man a real (ganja farmer)
No Coca No Coca No Coke inna mi brain
No Coca An' No Heroin Can Go Inna Mi Vein
'Cause I love (marijuana)
Cah man a real (ganja farmer)
[...]
No deh 'pon coca corna shop, mi nah go inna coca bar
Mi na go par with T. Montana neither Pablo Escobar
Mi na go sniff on di rack, mi na go swallow di crack
Mi na no business with Colombians, but mi love Bogota
Mi na go mingle with no coke head
Mi na go outta with white snow
Mi nah go inna white house, 'memba puppa seh
So puppa no black, puppa no white, puppa no yellow, yellow
Puppa ruff, puppa tuff, puppa no mellow, mellow
No Coca No Coca No Coke inna mi brain
No Coca An' No Heroin Can Go Inna Mi Vein
'Cause I love (marijuana)
Cah man a real (ganja farmer)
No Coca No Coca No Coke inna mi brain
No Coca An' No Heroin Can Go Inna Mi Vein
'Cause I love (marijuana)
Cah man a real (ganja farmer)
Alborosie draws a hard line in ‘No Cocaine’
The central refrain of ‘No Cocaine’ is a declaration of refusal, but the song’s stance is more specific than a broad anti-drug slogan. Alborosie rejects cocaine and heroin while affirming ganja as part of his Rastafarian identity, a distinction that reflects the track’s own cultural and personal framing rather than a universal health argument. The verses use Jamaican patois, comic exaggeration and a travelogue-like encounter with a dealer to give the refusal a character: the narrator insists that chemical escape is not part of his path. The song’s blunt chorus makes that choice easy to remember, while the detailed verses bring humour and local colour into the message.
The track appears early on *Escape From Babylon*, Alborosie’s 2009 album for Greensleeves Records. The record blends roots reggae and dancehall with the Italian-born artist’s self-produced, vintage-minded sound. Its track list places ‘No Cocaine’ after ‘America’ and before ‘She Don’t Like You’, among songs that move between social commentary, spiritual language and personal themes. Alborosie’s career itself is an unusual transnational story: an Italian musician who moved to Jamaica and became closely associated with modern roots reggae, working within the island’s musical culture rather than merely borrowing a surface reggae rhythm.
Retrospective commentary on *Escape From Babylon* often points to its combination of contemporary production and classic reggae textures; reviews also note that the subject matter can revisit familiar conscious-reggae themes, with delivery and phrasing doing much of the distinguishing work. No reliable chart result or track-specific critical review for ‘No Cocaine’ is established in the sources used, so album-level reception should not be mistaken for a single’s performance. The track’s interest is in its particular mixture of defiance, humour and roots identity: a refusal voiced through an infectious reggae refrain, but anchored in the narrator’s own distinction between substances and spiritual practice.