Music mogul Jay-Z is getting back into the drug game. This time, he will do so legally.
The first hip-hop billionaire — who famously sold drugs as an adolescent in the projects in New York City before attaining music icon status — announced that he is joining forces with a cannabis company near San Francisco.
Beyoncé’s husband has inked a multi-year partnership to become the chief brand strategist for Caliva, a privately owned company in San Jose, California. In that capacity, Hov will work to set up job training for former inmates and improve the representation and participation of those previously incarcerated who are being kept out of the legal weed business, which Forbes calls a billion-dollar industry.
According to a statement from Jay-Z that was obtained by Rolling Stone, Hov’s role will include “advocacy, job training and overall employee and workforce development.”
Jay added: “Anything I do, I want to do correctly and at the highest level. With all the potential in the cannabis industry, Caliva’s expertise and ethos makes them the best partner for this endeavor.”
Dennis O’Malley, chief executive officer of Caliva, told CNN Business the company thinks “this is a sea change in terms of the visibility to the industry. We take this partnership with a lot of responsibility, a lot of humility, a lot of accountability moving forward.”
Jay is but the latest big name to join the mushrooming cannabis business. Arguably the nation’s most famous and proud weed head, Snoop Dogg, turned his lifelong recreational use into a profitable venture in 2015 with the release of his brand Leafs by Snoop. Academy Award-winning actress Whoopi Goldberg also is deep in the game with the release of her line of medical marijuana products to reduce cramps during a woman’s menstrual cycle.
