Redman and Steve Bloom at the CWCBExpo in New York on June 3. (CelebStoner photo)
I interviewed hip-hop star and National Cannabis Party (NCP) co-founder Redman at the CWCBExpo at New York’s Javits Convention Center on June 3. It was a big day at the canna-conference. My on-stage interview was followed by Mayor Eric Adams, who exhorted attendees to “light up.”
Redman made news as well when I asked him why – unlike Willie Nelson, Method Man, Jay-Z, B-Real, Wiz Khalifa and others – he doesn’t have his own cannabis brand.
Redman grimaced as he answered. “My boy Meth deserves his own brand. Wiz Khalifa deserves his own brand. Jay-Z has never promoted smoking cannabis on anything. I don’t know what the fuck he’s doing with a brand. I tell it to their face. I’m very transparent. All these stars that think they can just jump in the cannabis industry and make a little money, they don’t even have the right linguistics. They say, ‘Yeah, I’m about to sell some drugs.’ I’m like, ‘Give me a…’ I let ’em know. None of them don’t know shit about the cannabis industry, But they want to get in the game because they think it’s a stepping stone to some more money. I’m like, Fuck that!
“Me? I done turn down mega, mega money from endorsing cannabis products. None of y’all never seen a Redman vape pen, a Redman strain, Redman anything becasuse for some reason God was telling me everytime anyone offered me a business deal as far as the cannabis industry, he said, ‘No.” I was like: Are you sure ’cause I could use this money? He’s like: ‘No, I’m saving you for a bigger picture.’ This was like seven years ago. Yes, I could’ve been a millionaire just endorsing other brands and having my own strain. But God said, ‘No.’ When God tells you something you don’t have to understand it, you just have to be obedient. And I was obedient.
Redman: “Jay-Z has never promoted smoking cannabis on anything. I don’t know what the fuck he’s doing with a brand.”
“Plus, just to be very clear, all these artists who got their name on a brand, their white labeling it. I don’t want to white label it. I want to actually be with the grower, be on the farm, grow it, taste it, say, ‘No, that’s not it,’ and then go back in again. Whether it takes three-four years to get my strain, that’s how I wanna do it. I wanna do it organically. I wanna grow with that plant, I wanna be entwined with the plant, all that good shit. I don’t want to put my name on a white-label brand and say it’s my brand. It’s not me. I was really saving myself for the bigger picture, which was NCP and actually doing a strain the right way. I’m about helping people. I believe it’s a medicine… I want to have a brand that supports health and is not just recreational.”
To Read The Rest Of This Article By Steve Bloom on Celeb Stoner
Published: June 08, 2022
Founder & Interim Editor of L.A. Cannabis News
