Four cannabis brands operated by Black entrepreneurs

BY ERIC MUNSON

With more states legalizing recreational marijuana, more and more dispensaries are popping up across the nation. Various enterprising African Americans are jumping on the bandwagon and opening up their own cannabis businesses and brands.

Viola

Viola was founded in 2011 by former NBA star Al Harrington. The company is named after Harrington’s grandmother who suffered from glaucoma and found relief through cannabis. This revelation showed Harrington how powerful cannabis can be.

Viola grows premium cannabis extracts, strains and products. The company operates in five states and parts of Canada. It sells a variety of products such as flowers, prerolls, edibles, vapes, concentrates and terpene. It also sells

Viola operates a 46,000 square foot facility in Detroit. Cultivars rotate over 40 strains each year, providing Michigan with a huge variety of products. Viola also operates an 80,000 square foot farm in Falls City, Oregon, including both greenhouse and sun-grown cannabis. The farm uses a sustainable farming system involving composting teas to maintain soil fertility and ecological health.

Cookies

Cookies was founded in 2010 by “grow expert” Jai Chang and rapper Gilbert Milam Jr, better known as Berner. The billion-dollar cannabis business is one of the most popular and sought-after brands in the United States.

Cookies offers a wide selection of cannabidiol (CBD), caps, flowers, Delta-8, hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Originally called “Girl Scout Cookies,” the brand produces a plethora of unique and innovative strains. Despite initial controversy (mainly over the name), Cookies really began to take off in 2018, when it opened its first retail location. In a span of just a few years, Cookies expanded to have 49 locations in 2022.

The brand also owns a clothing label, which has stores in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Berner frequently wears clothing from the line in his music videos. He also created and stars in a YouTube series called “Marijuana Mania,” that explores the culture of marijuana across the globe.

Monogram

Over the past 20 months, Monogram has worked to create a “proprietary family” of strains featuring unique flavor profiles.

The website’s homepage advertises six flavors, all called by numbers. No. 01 is sweet and herby before transitioning to a skunky flavor at the end. No. 03 has notes of grape, citrus and diesel. No. 08 has strong diesel and earthy flavors. No. 70 has notes of sweet citrus and fresh pine. No. 88 is sweet and spicy. No. 96 is fruity with the taste of sherbet.

The products come in a variety of forms including flowers, prerolls and handrolls.

The products come in light, medium and heavy sensory variants. Light is for those who want a slight high, heavy is for those who want a serious high. Medium is somewhere in between.

Rather than give percentages and statistics, the team at Monogram samples every strain to learn the exact flavor profiles and effects, allowing them to fully understand what goes into their products.

Black Cannabis Magazine

Steven “Haze” Palmer, also known as Hazey Taughtme, is the founder and editor-in-chief of Black Cannabis Magazine. He is also the CEO of Haze ENT, an entertainment company specializing in music and film.

The magazine, which was founded three years ago, aims to provide a clear understanding of the legalities of the cannabis industry. It also arms BIPOC people with vital information and lifestyle attractions to succeed in the cannabis industry.

The majority of the articles on Black Cannabis’ website focus on marijuana and the cannabis industry as a whole.

Palmer believes that the ever-growing recreational marijuana industry can provide wealth and economic opportunities for BIPOC individuals. As an entrepreneur, Palmer also has his own line of marijuana called Laze.

Grammy Award-winning songwriter, singer, producer, and spoken wordsmith, evrYwhr (pronounced everywhere) has a passion for traveling and exploring culture through music. Born and raised in Port Huron, Michigan, and now exploring Atlanta, Georgia, evrYwhr’s love and obsession for all things music and art began from birth. “Music has been a part of my life since I came out of the womb. I used to sit next to my dad on the sofa listening to old Stax, and Motown Records and was completely entranced by the music of artists like Curtis Mayfield, Michael Jackson, and New Edition.” On his IG, he posted an adorable baby picture of himself with his ear to the boombox captioning the photo, “He fell in love early, and still loves her #music.”

In 2010, he made a bold move to Los Angeles and wasted no time getting acclimated to the big city. His name, evrYwhr came during a studio session at Purple Reign Studio in Cali. “I was working with Julius Holliday in Inglewood, CA at Purple Reign Studios when he looked at me intently one day and said, ‘you look like an everywhere else!’ He may have meant it to be funny, but the everywhere part stuck with me. I dropped the ‘else’ and all the ‘e’s except the first letter and ended up with evrYwhr, capitalizing the Y. The unique spelling has a special meaning for me.”

In addition to creating his own music, the award winning songwriter has collaborated with and co-written songs for a number of artists including Leona Lewis, Mila J, Aaron Carter. He co-wrote two songs entitled “Confessions” and “Violence” for Lecrae’s Grammy-Award-winning album Gravity (2013), an opportunity extended by super producer Street Symphony. In 2021, he also co-wrote K-Pop boy band MCND’s international hit “Crush,” which has garnered over 25 million global streams.

His own empowering single, “Letter to the White House,” released on October 16, 2020, received critical acclaim and support from the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Harlem Chamber of Commerce, Harvard University, and iHeart Radio. The song served as an anthem for numerous voting campaigns surrounding the 2020 US Presidential Election. In 2021, evrYwhr released “Positive Vibes,” “Tie Dye,” and “Take Your Time,” music he says helped move him out of the isolation and depression he was feeling during the pandemic.

During the pandemic, evrYwhr came across a quote from Andy Warhol which changed his entire mindset about the creative process. “Don’t think about making art, just get it done,” quoted Warhol. “Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. Then, while they are deciding, make even more art!” He put Warhol’s mantra into action and described what came out of the process. “Learning to write, record, and release the songs without over analyzing resulted in an overflow of new inspirations and music concepts. After my daily meditations, I’d record the song to video, post it on my social media page by afternoon, and wait for my social community, Freedom Lovetribe Gang’s to react.” “Feeling free to create without critiquing myself stretched my sound. The music I’m creating now is an expansion of me, an expression from an honest place. As I began to live a fuller, more limitless life, I’ve discovered a newfound freedom that comes from creating without overthinking.”

He developed a sound called Psychedelic Afro-R&B, “an eclectic and global fusion of R&B, Afropop, afrobeats, reggae, and soul” that received rave reviews and drew even more new followers.

Still high off the success of his last singles, the musical visionary teamed up with Nigerian Afrobeats superstar,

Patoranking, for “Roll On Me” produced by Trakmatik, Swanky, Hvstle. The video directed by K of PriorGold Pictures was also filmed in Naija. “It was important that I recorded “Roll Out” with Patoranking in Nigeria, to immerse myself in the afrobeat rhythms and culture. While there, I fell in love with the music, food, and fashion.”

Further showcasing his passion for world cultures, evrYwhr also released four episodes of his new Transit Pictures produced show, Destination evrYwhr, an exploration of the world through music which premiered exclusively on KevOnStage Studios. The episodes showcase his travels to different places where he connects with the people and learns about their culture and music. His upcoming episode will feature footage captured during his trip to Nigeria.

As evrYwhr’s journey continues, his new single, “Roll On Me,” and his travel show “Destination evrYwhr” will take you literally everywhere! So, go and get your passport and be ready to roll! evrYwhr’s debut album, will release on Saint & Citizen Music summer 2023.

Until then follow him @evrYwhr

Follow evrYwhr here:

Instagram - @evrywhr

Twitter - @evrywhr

Tiktok - @loveevrywhr

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/c/evrywhr

FEATURE

Photographer: Sammy Ogueji for(@sammyoguejiofor)

Stylist: Amiraa Vee (@amiraavainqueur)

Grooming: Joel Carrazco