Hip Hop’s relationship with cannabis goes back to the early 90s, with acts such as Cypress Hill, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and more popularizing the plant throughout their music. Today, rappers are continuing the legacy and getting every piece of the pie in cannabis with all the different brand partnerships and products on the market.
One of Hip Hop’s favorite cannabis users, Redman, is looking to jump into the industry, but in a different way from his peers. While everyone else launches their cannabis line and such, Redman will be teaching people all about the plant in a fitting role for the “How High” rapper. On Wednesday (April 20), Redman announced via HipHopDX that he is teaming up with celebrity interview show The Dab Roast as their executive producer and director of programming for season two.
The Dab Roast was a concept created by Scott McKinley, who thought it was a good idea to have celebrities take a dab hit while answering 10 rapid-fire questions in an interview format. This version of the show had released 8 episodes and was full of comedy as it was hard for people to focus on questions while completely blazed off a dab hit. Redman was supposed to appear on the show until he gave McKinley an idea.
“We did an episode with Doc, and then he watched the whole episode with us at our release party,” McKinley tells HipHopDX in an exclusive interview. “He asked not to release it, because it was just a long format and a little bit boring. He said that we need to put purpose behind what we’re doing and with him having the National Cannabis Party and coming to me asking if I need help, I absolutely decided to take the backseat and let the legend step in.”
AD LOADING...
Redman brings whole new energy to The Dab Roast with his organization, the National Cannabis Party (NCP). According to Doc, the NCP prides itself in educating people on the plant, and there’s no better time to teach than the current cannabis “Gold Rush” that’s dominating society and pop culture.
“What I see going on is everyone is having a real lack of education about this business side of cannabis,” says Redman. “We all love the plant and love smoking it, but now we are dealing with politics and business. I see a lack of education, lack of cannabis linguistics, and a lack of opportunities in a lot of places.”
He adds, “I see a lot of places that’s been affected by the war on drugs that need to be handled in equity empowerment and better expungement clinics. It’s a lot that needs to be done to really enjoy the plant for everyone like we intend to.”
The cannabis industry is growing at an alarming rate, especially with more states legalizing the plant for recreational use. With legalization comes the major companies looking to buy into the industry, and we already see the effects of that with all the dispensaries and money-making ideas that are coming out of the woodwork regarding cannabis.
AD LOADING...
Are these companies teaching the masses or just looking for a profit? Doc and McKinley think it’s the latter, especially with the way these companies are flying under the radar, trying to prevent mom-and-pop shops from exploding and making money on an industry they have serious knowledge on.
“We’re adding in all the education and the segments about different brands, different people that we need to show, not just paying us to show them off,” McKinley adds. “We need to show the real cannabis industry, not just the people making money. We have to make sure as a community that big pharma can’t come in and take all our jobs because Walmart and Walgreens do not need to be selling weed. We need to stop that from happening.”
Major companies such as ABinBEV, Pepsi North America and Philip Morris are waiting behind the scenes to pull the trigger and sell cannabis products. No one is trying to rain on their parade, but what are these companies doing to educate the masses besides selling a pack of pre-rolled joints?
“We have big pharma and other companies waiting in the wing when cannabis goes federal,” says Redman. “And when I tell you, they are waiting in the wing, they are waiting. We got the CEOs of Coca-Cola that no longer work for Coca-Cola, but they have a facility that I heard is one of the highest quality facilities of growing cannabis in the United States, maybe even the world.”
AD LOADING...
He continues, “Their facility is so high tech, and their words were, ‘We want to be the Coca-Cola of cannabis one day.’ So, yes, we have big farmers that are waiting in the wing. And when they come, the big farmers, that means we are out. That means the small mom-and-pop stores, they’re going to be done for. And we have to protect them.”
Method Man & Redman To Headline Annual '420 On The Rocks' Show At Historic Colorado Amphitheatre
The new iteration of The Dab Roast won’t be just teaching people about all there is to know about cannabis. Red and McKinley are still planning on keeping parts of the original in the new series with guests still taking dab hits (five less than the original 10) and answering questions. The show will now have more than just people getting high and struggling with questions.
“If we’re going to have a platform that we’re going to be showing entertainment, showing a fun side of cannabis, we have a responsibility as grown adults and people who care and people who love people,” says Red. “I’m in the business of helping people. Scott is in the business of helping people. A lot of people don’t say that and a lot more are selfish about what they know, what they learn, and don’t want to share their info. Me and guys like Scott, I don’t mind sharing the info. We want you to learn. We want you to be educated. Hey, if you know more than me, maybe I can learn from you.”
AD LOADING...
Stay tuned for more of our conversation with Redman and Scott McKinley coming soon.
