MATT SHOTWELL MATT SHOTWELL

– with a printer, scanner and power converter in the back. It was a move that came on the heels of his father and sister both undergoing treatment for cancer, when he stepped up to become their medical Cannabis supplier.

Before that? He was a Merchant Marine Officer and Cargo Ship Navigator, which was his career after graduating from the Vallejo-based California Maritime Academy.

That’s correct. The man in the pimped-out Metro is an expert in global shipping routes and logistics, and has military training in conducting open-ocean water rescue operations as a rescue swimmer.

“It’s arguably in the top three hardest trainings you could do in the military,” Shotwell said. “Navy Seals being number one, pilots being number two, then search and rescue swimmers, number three. That’s why this shit is easy for me on a weekday. These (weak asses) are tired and want to quit. I’m like, have you ever almost drowned? Get back in the fucking grow room.”

THE

Midz God Emerges

After years of growing his business in cultivation and distribution, Shotwell had an epiphany.

“I was meditating one morning, talking to Jesus,” he said. “I just smoked some DMT, and I got a download from Jesus, from the universe, from Source. And my entire marketing campaign clicked in my mind. I knew clear as day every single thing that I was gonna do, instantly.”

See, when Shotwell was younger he and his brother used to freestyle rap, and goofed on the idea that he was Slim Shotty, in a send up of Eminem’s character Slim Shady. Flash forward to Shotwell’s DMT trip, and Eminem and Machinegun Kelly were in the press for a beef that resulted in the release of fire diss tracks: Eminem with “Rap God” and MGK with “Rap Devil.”

“So the instant download was like, I’m gonna impersonate Eminem, I’m gonna impersonate MGK, and I’m gonna rewrite both of their songs like Weird Al Yankovic would do,” he said. “But I’m gonna make them battle each other in my own manufactured weed war rapper beef, where I talk shit about myself to myself.”

He recorded a parody of Eminem’s Machinegun Kelly diss track, “Rap God,” called “Midz God” –and it got picked up by Worldstar. A midz monster was born.

Next, he set aside the beef for a moment and took aim at Riff Raff – the Florida-based rapper who bears a striking, allegedly not-coincidental resemblance to James Franco’s character in “Spring Breakers.”

“I got in full character, bought all this merch online and then I reached out to his management on his email and I said, ‘I want to do a music video with Riff Raff,’” he said. Riff Raff’s management told Shotwell that the rapper doesn’t love the idea of being impersonated.

“I was like, ‘Well, I’m gonna do it with or without you guys, so you can get in my sandbox and play if you want to – I’m just gonna do it either way. It’s already done,’” he said. “So then Riff counters with an even more genius idea. He saw my midz genius, and he proposed, ‘What if we make a brand-new song, a song about your brand and I produce it on my label, and I rap it and you get to be featured in it?’ And I was like, ‘Whoa, now we’re talking next level.’”

The pair dropped a track and a video for “Smokin’ on MiDZOTiCS,” and released it on Riff’s JodyHighRoller YouTube channel. To date, the video has nearly a quarter million views. Then Riff took Shotwell on a state-wide California tour from Humboldt to Hollywood, booking daytime dispensary meet-and-greets to promote Boysenberry Bobcat, Riff’s own strain he produced with Shotwell under the label Riffzotics, and the two performed together at sold-out shows at night.

“My name was on the fucking bus,” Shotwell said. “They wrapped the whole bus and my name’s on the back of the bus, ‘Shotty,’ right there. Done.”

Midzmarketing Master

Though his outward persona seems absolutely bonkers, every move Shotwell makes is meticulously planned to serve the marketing of his brand. He’s about to launch an entire line of products with Riff Raff, who will be coming to NorCal for a show to promote the drop in May (date and venue was still TBD at the date of printing).

He also just dropped his second video in the rap beef project, a parody of the MGK diss track “Rap Devil,” called “Midz Devil.” For the shoot, Shotwell underwent a complete transformation – bleaching his hair and cutting his trademark mullet, and covering his torso and arms with temporary tattoos he had custom-made specifically for the shoot more than a year ago (See behind the scenes pictures and footage on IG @californialeafmag).

The shot-for-shot video remake shows the rehearsed rap flow and the pure pro approach Shotwell and his team take to his projects. No official word on what he has up his sleeve next, but he did hint that his next “midzpersonation” would be Jack Harlow. As we tear past the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, he comments that he wants to race his collection of Geo Metros there for a video shoot someday.

One thing’s for certain, whatever the self-proclaimed Weed Al Dank-O-Midz decides to do next, it’s going to be entertaining … and midz as fuck. MIDZOTICS.COM