The Game is leading the charge for artists taking over the cannabis industry
The Game announced himself to the hip-hop world with his 2005 debut album The Documentary. Executive produced by Dr. Dre and 50 Cent, The Documentary was an instant hip-hop classic, both recalling the early 90s g-funk era and eschewing in a new era of LA rap. The Documentary debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 and went certified double platinum.
Over the years, Game has moved with power and precision in the hip-hop industry, becoming one of the most respected and well-regarded emcees in the game. He’s recorded eight albums over his career, always keeping it a buck and delivering his flaming bars in that trademark LA-accented gravelly delivery.
After conquering the music industry, Game is now entering a new lane: cannabis.
Last year, The Game became the first celebrity to own a fully legal dispensary (The Reserve in Santa Ana, California), he has a line of pre-rolls called ‘GSticks’, and has ventured into weed lemonade. Now, he’s teaming up with luxury cannabis brand Shine to create ‘Pure Leaf,’ his own line of blunt wraps.
Kulture Hub had the pleasure of sitting down with Game and talking to the LA legend about his foray into the cannabis world and his future plans to take over the industry.
For Game, cannabis is a part of who he is. He told us he’s been smoking ever since he was a kid, so naturally he’d enter a lane that has had such a profound impact on his own life. He spoke about how the ‘cannabis industry’ is just a buzz term and that this shit is a way of life for him,
“You know what man, the cannabis industry is something that someone who’s just getting into cannabis would call it. I’ve been smoking weed since I was 10 years old bro. It wasn’t called the cannabis industry, it was just like cannabis-in-the-streets. You know what I’m sayin’?”
Growing up, Game first noticed weed through his dad. Game told us his dad was a gang banger at the peak of LA gang culture who “Ran with Tookie Williams and all those early back in the day when gang banging was serious, serious.” But despite his father’s mean streak, when he hit some weed, his whole attitude would change,
“Weed, marijuana, Mary Jane, whatever you wanna call it has been a part of my life for, shit, 27 years man. So I’ve been in since I seen my dad roll little doobies in the house and he would just smoke it. You know what I noticed, I noticed that any time he had a long day or somebody would piss him off, he would just roll him a joint, step outside, sit on the porch man and just blow it.”
Game described the change that weed would have on his pops.
“And then [he] just come back in the house just super mellow, super cool. Even as a kid that registered to me that this is something that could calm you down and ease the moment and he would come back in full of jokes. And I think that my father, for as much as he was around, was a better person. You know what I’m sayin’ and my dad was a fuckin’ monster. I’m talking 6’5″, fuckin’ 245 pounds, you know same build as me but super psycho.”
And as a kid seeing that transformation in his dad, Game knew this was some powerful shit,
“So for him to just be able to smoke a joint and chill, for it to be able to calm him, I just knew that it was something that I needed to try out. And for a 10-year-old, just even that thought process is crazy alone.”
Crazy indeed.
With weed playing such a vital role in Game’s life, it’s no surprise to see him entering the cannabis world with his trademark determination. He’s not going to fuck around when he puts his time, money, and passion into a new business venture. When Game has the vision, he’s going to see that shit to the very end.
He told us about the thought process behind his vision and gave his competitors in this space (namely Backwoods) some props,
“The vision behind Pure Leaf is what I want to do before I fuckin’ kill a company so to speak is to give it its props. I’m not gonna say that I’m not a fan of Backwoods or I haven’t been smoking Backwoods for as long as I can fuckin’ remember.”
But sometimes the company at the top needs some competition, that’s what Pure Leaf will do in the roll up game,
“It’s just that every now and then there is a Nike to an Adidas. There’s someone that’s gonna come that’s just as powerful, that’s gonna co-exist and maybe there will be a year where Backwoods will come in second in sales. And maybe there will be a year where Backwoods will be inching us in sales. What I’m basically saying is that Pure Leaf is coming, we’re coming strong.”
And what makes Pure Leaf stand out from the competition? Game explained,
“From my smoking experiences, we have a better leaf, we have more than one leaf, our leaves aren’t drying out, which Backwoods do sometimes. And it’s an easy roll for someone who’s just not an excellent weed roller.”
As we’ve seen, Game wants to fuck up every single aspect of the weed industry. He’s got the dispensary, the roll ups, the strains, but there’s a much larger vision in the works. Game is represented by Green Street, a cannabis agency, and together they are going to take over the entire game (no pun intended).
“As a company man just Green Street, Trees By Game in total is just a force to be reckoned with and anything cannabis will be visited and if we’re getting into it, we’re gonna crush it because that’s just what we do. So you can look for us to be in anything marijuana related.”
And what does that entail? Game told us,
“Anything from lighters to ash trays to CBD and funds where you can invest and I’m not talking $5, I’m talking about real players and people that really want to get into the cannabis industry and we’ll have those outlets. Everything is in the baby stages, sort of like the beginning processes but we’ll be there soon.”
The marijuana business is booming and Game described the current landscape of the industry as “Like the Gold Rush…This is the time where you really wanna involve yourself in the cannabis industry.”
Along with his multi-faceted plans for everything from grinders to investment funds to CBD, Game has just launched his Trees clothing line. The general aesthetic caters “For the people that wear shell-toe Adidas, Jordans, the people that still wear Chuck Taylors and Vans.” I will be copping.
As big as Game’s vision is and as much of a force as he is and will continue to be in the cannabis business, ultimately he has a deep understanding of and love for the product and that will naturally translate to results. We got to ask Game who would be in his dream cyphe, and the answer may surprise you. He told us,
“I’ve never smoked with Willie Nelson and that’s something that I wanna fuckin’ do, Tommy Chong for sure, I gotta have Snoop Dogg because that’s my brother man. I wanna smoke one time with my grandma before either one of us dies. She never smoked, I smoke all the time, but just smoking with your grandma is just some cool shit. And then I would have the first one of my children who wants to smoke when they are of age in my cypher. One of my sons man. They gotta be above 18 and I’m pretty sure once they get older, they’re gonna try weed one day. And when they do, me, Willie Nelson, fuckin’ Snoop, Tommy Chong, we’re gonna be there for him.”
Yo, uh, lemme get in on that cyphe?
Game has been on the cutting edge of the music world, almost singlehandedly bringing back LA hip-hop back in the early 2000s. Now he’s taking over the cannabis industry to an unprecedented extent. We’ll be watching all his moves.