California cannabis company Caliva announced this week that billionaire rapper and business mogul Jay-Z has joined its team as chief brand strategist.
According to the announcement, the rapper will be tasked with making creative decisions, outreach efforts and strategy for the brand. He will also focus on improving social justice issues involved in weed legalization, such as increasing the “economic participation of citizens returning from incarceration through advocacy, job training, and overall employee and workforce development.”
Commenting on the multi-year partnership, Jay-Z said in a statement: “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 make them the best partners for this endeavor. We want to create something amazing, have fun in the process, do good and bring people along the way.”
Jay-Z joins the likes of Snoop Dogg, 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa, Whoopi Goldberg, Willie Nelson, and Martha Stewart as part of a growing list of celebrities who have jumped into the cannabis business in recent years.
Based in San Jose, Caliva currently grows, manufactures and sells a variety of branded products including cannabis flower, pre-rolled joints, vaporizers, edibles and topical lotions sold online via delivery and in more than 250 dispensaries across that state of California.