Soulja Boy may not be the first rapper to break into the cannabis industry, but he is the latest Hip-Hop artist to cash in on the business. According to a press release, Soulja Boy is launching his own cannabis brand called Soulja Exotics™ with a line of medicinal-quality marijuana in partnership with Grizzly Peak™. The rapper’s brand of marijuana will be distributed exclusively in legal cannabis dispensaries throughout California. For many rappers, the cannabis industry has become a new avenue of revenue that’s getting them more involved in the business. While people like Jay-Z, Wiz Khalifa and others making moves on behalf of Hip-Hop and Black and brown people, Soulja Boy is forging his own path to better connect with fellow smokers. “For years, I’ve been looking for a premium cannabis company to bring my product to market,” Soulja Boy said in a statement. “Grizzly Peak grows their medicinal quality cannabis indoors in coco fiber giving it a smooth inhale and exhale. I have so...

For many Black-owned and family-owned businesses, their missions are often rooted in stories of community, unity and perseverance through life’s obstacles. In the case of Flight — the newest and only state licensed cannabis dispensary in San Francisco’s Park Merced — cousins Eric Grayson, Keena Middleton, and Charles Toney II all teamed up to launch a business that could set an example for their community and honor their family all at once. “It means a lot because we’re from here, but it means a lot more because it took so much effort to even get to this point,” Middleton tells AfroTech. “[Flight] is not your regular business by any means, you can open up a million [other] things before you open up one of these [dispensaries]. It has a lot to do with being Black as well, but to be able to do it with family members means the world.” The dispensary’s name itself is a tribute to Grayson’s mother, Clara Grayson, who passed away from cancer after the family pooled money together to fly...