Baked into hip hop culture is the notion of hustling for success. Whatever tools you have available to you in your situation, you should exploit them for all their worth. This is why more and more rappers invest in products outside rap itself, using their name and brand to develop larger business ventures previously closed to them.
Within recent years, one of the biggest industries rappers have flooded toward is cannabis. You know the big names, but you’d be surprised just how successful multiple rappers are when it comes to selling weed as legal business. Here are the 13 rappers currently thriving in the industry.
Snoop Dogg
You know how involved Snoop Dogg is in marijuana culture. He is one of the driving forces in demystifying the drug and introducing it into the mainstream. His brand is called Leafs by Snoop and has been a major success thus far. Let’s medicate, elevate and put it in the air,” as Snoop writes on the brand’s website.
Wiz Khalifa
Another rapper already well-known for his ties to the cannabis industry, we don’t need to go into too much detail. Wiz has his own strain called Khalifa Kush and his own brand of rolling papers. He also launched is own educational marijuana mobile game this year named Wiz Khalifa’s Weed Farm.
B-Real
Though not as high-profile as Snoop or Wiz, Cypress Hill’s B-Real has close ties with the cannabis industry. He has developed highly-regarded strains and created Phunky Feel Tips, which are glass tips you can place on the end of joints or blunts to smoke easier. He recently opened his own dispensary called Dr. Greenthumb, where you’ll find many cannabis products from fellow rappers on this list.
He also hosts a popular web series called The Smokebox, which features cannabis conversations with everyone from Michelle Rodriguez to Doug Benson and ScHoolboy Q.
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Freddie Gibbs
Like others, Freddie Gibbs decided to release a weed strain of his own called “Freddie Kane OG.” Gibbs has been adamant about helping the development of the strain into something he would want to smoke. A press release describes it as “‘euphoric, tranquilizing and analgesic’ and is a groundbreaking collaboration that highlights the natural synergy between the worlds of cannabis and music.”
Berner
More recognized for his weed game than his rap name, Berner has quietly built one of the largest cannabis brands in the country. It all started with the infamous Girl Scout Cookies weed strain. Berner turned fellow rappers like Wiz Khalifa, Rick Ross, Curren$y, Alchemist, and more onto the strain and its popularity blew up.
Capitalizing on that success, Berner built the lifestyle brand Cookies now known around the world. Berner claims the clothing line alone did more than $8 million in sales last year. It also has brick-and-mortar locations around the country where you can purchase streetwear, paraphernalia, and scent-free bags to transport your product. Not close to one of the store locations? Don’t worry. It’s also sold in stores like Zumiez.
In addition, he launched a line of hemp-infused vitamin waters called Hemp2o. He is also involved in Weed Maps, a directory system, and hosts his own marijuana documentary series on YouTube. Don’t get it twisted, Berner is a bona fide cannabis industry mogul.
Redman & Method Man
Unlike others on this list, Redman and Method Man aren’t involved with any cannabis product itself. Instead they’re about helping you find weed through technology. Last year the legendary rap duo invested in an app called Blaze Now. Pinpointing your location, the app will help you locate nearby dispensaries, delivery services, vape shops, and doctors. Of course the app is only useful in areas where marijuana is legalized.
Riff Raff
Riff Raff is a joke rapper but a rapper nonetheless. His way of establishing his weed strain Jody Highroller sounds like the most Riff Raff thing ever. Allow LA Weekly to explain:
Turns out that Riff did not actually toil in the fields of Humboldt, or even procure a lab coat and a bunch of LED lamps to concoct it. As with everything to do with Riff Raff, the real story is a lot simpler: After perusing the shop’s 50 some-odd types of product a few weeks ago, he simply picked a dank purple indica to rechristen Jody Highroller. The whole thing took less than 15 minutes.
The Game
The LA rapper has the title of being the first celebrity to own his own dispensary, The Reserve. He also launched Trees by Game, which is one part investment fund and one part lifestyle brand. If you’re not looking to smoke, The Game also has cannabis-infused lemonade drinks called G Drinks. The Game is hoping to lead the charge of pot pioneers in California following its legalization and says he’s in a friendly competition with Snoop to become the industry’s first billionaire.
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Cam’ron
It would make sense that Mr. Purple Haze himself would launch his own weed strain. Partnering with the same company as Freddie Gibbs, Cam’ron has done research in developing his own strain. No official word on its release yet.
Kurupt
Regarded as one of the strongest marijuana strains on the planet, Kurupt helped launch the powerful weed strain Moon Rocks. Also known as cannabis caviar or CP30, Moon Rocks are buds dipped in hash oil and then coated in kief. As the product’s website claims, Moon Rocks can contain up to 64% THC.
The Moon Rocks team also launched Moonwalk, which is a syrup edible you can add to your favorite drink like Sprite if you’d prefer not smoking.
Paul Wall
Seeing the success Berner had in California with the Cookies brand, Paul Wall decided to launch his own Texas version. Everything links back to a strain Wall’s involved with called OG Satellite. From there he launched his own apparel line called Satellite Supply Co., a Santa Cruz Shredder grinder, a Trippy Stix herbal vaporizer, and a collaboration with Gold Leaf.
Master P
When Master P announced his arrival in the legal weed business, his Master P’s Trees line intended to shift the culture around marijuana. As his press release stated, Master P’s Trees is a “complete lifestyle including all the Master P OG flower strains and edibles, and now, it’s also focused on turning green into liquid gold by revolutionizing the vape trend.”
His “liquid gold” flavors include Sweet Tea, Chocolate Beignet, Peach Cobbler, Red Velvet. As usual with Master P, those flavors are about as Southern as you can get in the vaping world.
