Slightly Stoopid are turning up the volume and hitting the open road with “Backseat Drivin’,” featuring Wiz Khalifa and G. Love, this week’s ThePier.org Song of the Week on the Skratch N Sniff Alt Show.
Landing in this weekend’s nationally syndicated mix, “Backseat Drivin’” brings together three artists whose music has long been associated with warm weather, good company and the freedom of having nowhere in particular to be. The collaboration blends reggae, rock, funk, blues and hip-hop into a track that feels built for car speakers and summer nights.
That combination also makes “Backseat Drivin’” a natural fit for Skratch N Sniff, a show that has spent more than two decades ignoring traditional genre boundaries. The weekly Alt Mix places remixes, alternative favorites, hip-hop records and unexpected collaborations alongside one another, giving Slightly Stoopid’s latest experiment an ideal place to land.
Released July 17, the song pairs Slightly Stoopid’s laid-back musicianship with Wiz Khalifa’s relaxed flow and G. Love’s blues-rooted vocal style. Each artist brings a recognizable personality to the record without pulling it in a separate direction. Instead, the collaboration works because all three understand the value of letting a groove develop naturally.
For Slightly Stoopid, that ease has always been central to the band’s appeal. The San Diego veterans have built a career around moving freely between reggae, punk, rock, dub, funk and hip-hop without treating any of those influences like temporary detours. “Backseat Drivin’” continues that tradition while leaning directly into the carefree energy of summer.
The band describes the song as a celebration of piling into a friend’s car, turning the music up, heading toward the beach and allowing the night to unfold without a plan. It is less about reaching a destination than appreciating the people, music and unpredictable moments encountered along the way.
The collaboration with Wiz Khalifa has been developing indirectly for years. Slightly Stoopid and Khalifa first connected while appearing at Brazil’s Planeta Brasil Festival in 2018, beginning a relationship built around mutual admiration and shared interests. Slightly Stoopid have also frequently closed concerts with Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg’s “Young, Wild & Free,” making his appearance on “Backseat Drivin’” feel like a full-circle moment.
Wiz approaches the song with the same unhurried confidence that has defined some of his biggest records. Rather than overpowering the band’s arrangement, he settles into its rhythm and reinforces the windows-down feeling at the center of the track.
Frontman Miles Doughty recently told The Pier that Khalifa developed his verse while streaming on Twitch, allowing fans to see part of the collaboration take shape in real time. According to Doughty, Wiz responded immediately to the music, hook and energy of the record.
That reaction helped confirm that Slightly Stoopid had created exactly the kind of song they intended to make: something immediate, welcoming and easy to live inside.
G. Love’s involvement comes from an even longer relationship. He and Slightly Stoopid have remained friends and creative partners for more than two decades, developing the kind of musical chemistry that cannot be manufactured during a single studio session.
That history can be heard throughout “Backseat Drivin’.” G. Love does not sound like a guest added to fill a section of the song. His blues-infused delivery fits comfortably alongside Slightly Stoopid’s groove and Wiz Khalifa’s verse, adding another texture without interrupting the track’s momentum.
The song follows Slightly Stoopid and G. Love’s 2025 collaboration “Shine For You,” another example of the natural overlap between their musical worlds.
“Backseat Drivin’” also serves as the latest preview of Slightly Stoopid’s forthcoming 10th studio album. It follows “Step Into the Sun,” “The Upside Down” featuring B-Real and Chali 2na, and “Shine For You” featuring G. Love.
The new material signals a long-awaited creative chapter for the band. Although it has been years since Slightly Stoopid released a full-length studio album, the gap has not resulted from a lack of music.
Doughty recently explained to The Pier that having access to the band’s own studio has allowed Slightly Stoopid to continue recording without the deadlines associated with a traditional label structure. The freedom has produced a large amount of material, but it has also made deciding when the music is finished more complicated.
“We love making music,” Doughty said. “I think probably part of the problem is when you have your own studio, you’re always just making music and then you forget that you also have to release it.”
With “Backseat Drivin’,” that music is finally beginning to make its way out of the studio and into the world.
The single arrives during another busy touring season for Slightly Stoopid, whose reputation has been built as much on the road as it has through studio recordings. Decades of headline tours, festival appearances and independent releases have transformed the band from a San Diego underground favorite into one of the defining names in the broader Cali Reggae movement.
Still, “Backseat Drivin’” does not sound like a band concerned with protecting a legacy. It sounds like friends enjoying the process of making music together.
That spirit is what makes it this week’s ThePier.org Song of the Week. At its core, the track is about connection: between genres, between longtime collaborators and between the people sharing the ride.
Hear “Backseat Drivin’” featuring Wiz Khalifa and G. Love on the Skratch N Sniff Alt Show this weekend. Visit Snsmix.com/radio to find the station and airtime nearest you.
The complete show will be uploaded Monday at SoundCloud.com/SNSMix.
