rogie wrote all of the songs on "dead men don't smoke marijuana". according to "west africa" magazine, rogie explained that the songwriting "was done in his head. the songs formed there in the dark, like crystals." rogie explained: "i hear a catchy expression and i pass it on to my sub-conscious and say: 'i want a song out of this.' i believe everything useful comes from there, the subconscious mind. it is the creative power. it creates the songs, passes it back to me and says: 'hey you, take it out. go use it!'" the songs are melodically simple and sung by rogie in a soothing baritone vocal style, often in the krio language. the songs also feature call-and-response vocals, a characteristic traditional to african music.