I’d say the last thing the world needs is another homage to weed in song form. But what I’m reminded of here is that we can never get enough Casual, a founding member of the Hieroglyphics crew, which is headed for a three-city spin through Arizona in January (via Universatile Music).

Less celebrated than his Hiero cohort Del the Funky Homosapien, Casual nonetheless has been a force since his 1994 debut Fear Itself. (Side note: Fear Itself was one of Hiero’s early releases on Jive before the label dropped the group, which then went on to form its own successful label, Hiero Imperium. As recently reported, Jive won’t last nearly as long.)

For “Spliff,” Casual teams with L.A.-based electronic musician Deru for the A-side of a new 7-inch Mini-Mini-Me (Gift of Gab guests on “Bad Bad Man” for the flip). This is Deru’s first collaboration with rappers, and he couldn’t have picked a better duo, with Casual easily navigating the bleeps and bloops a more non-traditional hip-hop beat.