NEW YORK – JULY 8: Rakim performs at DJ Cassidy’s 28th Birthday Celebration at The New York Public … [+]
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“Cannabis has gone mainstream… Maybe now I feel more comfortable taking an advocate position in the industry [because of this]but it has always been a part of my lifestyle, even if I kept it more private than some artists,” declares legendary Hip-Hop lyricist Rakim during an exclusive interview while petitioning for federal legalization.
“[Our] The government must be very careful when restricting an individual’s right to choose, especially when that individual is part of a majority,” he argues.
The artist recently partnered with Black Market Group (BMG), a Northern California-based women-founded cannabis cultivation brand, to launch Higher Frequency Flowers, a brand of man-curated weed.
“Higher Frequency Flower was developed to support artists and deep thinkers as they explore and expand the universal connections that form the foundation of their creative process. We are selecting each of our strains and introducing new techniques and technologies that will lead the way to the next level of cannabis cultivation”, explains the rapper.
But before we delve into Rakim’s new brand, let’s take a look at its history and relationship with weed.
the unseen nature
Ganja has been an important part of Rakim’s creative process for a long time. The plant has often helped him to connect with “invisible nature”.
When writing, the rapper first has to clear his mind using what he likes to call the “four white walls” system: “I eliminate the distractions of everyday life, I lock myself in, figuratively speaking, but sometimes [also] literally, on a completely clean whiteboard, in an empty room, and then we try to connect with the frequencies that surround us.”
The artist elaborates: “Everything has a tone… the human body, the planet below us and the stratosphere above. If I can disconnect from the immediate and then connect with the universal infinity, the unconscious collective, that is where I am. [being] more creative. Cannabis helps me set the mental stage for traveling there. Wherever I am, I smoke something and then I get into my mind.”
Unsurprisingly, cannabis is also an important part of Rakim’s culture, his world. And it has been for decades.
“Hip-hop has always embraced, and in a way glorified, cannabis use, but not unlike other musical genres and musicians, from The Beatles to Bob Marley. I believe that all artists pursue the expansion of creative thought and cannabis can enhance that,” he says. “Obviously the quality of the product has evolved, but I think it is the relationship of society and the acceptance of cannabis that has changed much more than the relationship of the artist or the individual.”
Plus, weed represents a great alternative to alcohol, he argues. “For me, alcohol lowers your inhibitions and gives you energy at first, but it also lowers those cognitive abilities and starts to have strong physical effects. I don’t mind a drink to celebrate, but I couldn’t get on stage or sit down to write decent lyrics with alcohol coursing through my system.”
Universal Consciousness
Cannabis is one of the elements that guides Rakim’s creative process as he “tries to find that place in the Universal Consciousness” that is his writing playground. Mary Jane helps him “distract” when he goes to the studio or onstage, and helps him “distract” when he seeks to relax.
In fact, mood modulation through cannabis has been a game changer, he says. “There’s a tension to uplift, one to behold, one to put a little shine on whatever direction you’re headed at the moment. It’s just a part of my daily life whatever that day brings.”
And this is what you are trying to achieve with BMG and Higher Frequency. “What farmers are doing now with genetics and what we are planning for breeding technology means you can choose your product to suit your mood.”
‘A different kind of energy. Staff. Unique. Setting trend’
The cannabis industry is not something Rakim has rushed into. More or less the opposite. Over the past decade, many people have approached him about launching a brand, simply to “put my name and face on some packaging.”
highest frequency
Courtesy
However, the rapper was looking for something more relevant, more transcendental, more shocking. “I’m in this for the long haul and I’m not stealing from anyone,” he says, and laughs. “We keep quality at its highest, but also affordability and fair margins from seed to sale because I don’t just want my name on a quick dollar and I need my supply chain to be my family. I might buy the first one because it’s Rakim, but I want them to buy the second one and everyone else because it’s the best option on the shelf and I want to keep it that way keeping my Higher Frequency family happy together.”
Therefore, Rakim first focused on science. He wondered, “Is there a way to manipulate the bud during cultivation to achieve that higher frequency of consciousness?”
And so, he decided to experiment by introducing “the sense of sound into the growth process.”
“There’s crossbreeding, light balancing, and a lot of things that they physically and chemically introduce into the plants, but if we experiment with frequency, with tone, maybe that’s the next frontier. My grandmother used to sing to her plants and she had the best garden on the block,” she recalls. Is it that big of a stretch?
beyond the buzz
Conceived and curated by Rakim himself, Higher Frequency Flowers is currently sold at Josephine and Billie’s Social Equity Dispensary, a women-founded cannabis speakeasy conveniently (and not coincidentally) located at 1535 W Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd in Los Angeles California. His goal with this brand is to reach aware growers and curious consumers through a socially informed and frequency influenced cannabis brand.
“First, there is the legacy. BMG partners with generational farms, the people [who] they have dedicated themselves long before the corporate dollars started rolling in and they had to work underground to protect and hone the craft. It’s something I identify with on a personal level,” explains Rakim when asked about his decision to partner with BMG and Josephine and Billie’s.
“It must also be recognized that both companies are founded by women and I am honored to contribute in a small way to elevate their platform because there is also gender bias in this industry,” he continues. But for Rakim, the key element here is the people. “When you walk into Josephine and Billie’s, you can feel the presence of Whitney and Ebony.”
The musician talks about Josephine and Billie’s co-founder, reality TV executive turned cannabis industry CEO, Whitney Beatty and Ebony Andersen. “Each product [is] self-curated, each design crafted. It’s just a different kind of energy. Staff. Unique. Setting trend. So I think I’m a perfect fit there.”
Turning to politics, Rakim briefly touches on one last topic that is near and dear to his heart: the racially motivated drug war, its effect on Black and Latino communities, and what can be done to move it forward.
“There is no step or regulation that will repair the damage that this poorly conceived and poorly executed national policy has done for generations. And it won’t even begin to undermine systemic racism,” he says. “But there are moves being made.”
In his opinion, making sure that the concept of social equity is more than a “buzz phrase” but rather “a guiding principle”.
“And it’s also good business. The experts in the industry – the growers, the distributors, the one-to-one retailers – are not just out of business school, they are literally in the fields and have been for decades,” she concludes.
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