Jay-Z’s New Joint Venture With Caliva Brings More Green

CBx Vibe:Clouds” K. Camp Feat. Wiz Khalifa

By Lyric Prince

  • Jay-Z to become Chief Brand Strategist for cannabis brand Caliva
  • U.S. cannabis industry expected to reach $40B in sales by 2024

Rapper and philanthropist Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter has forged a partnership with California cannabis brand Caliva by taking on its Chief Brand Strategist role. This comes after a $75M dollar funding round in April 2019. Carter will presumably work closely with Caliva’s CMO to compete with other industry brands that are moving to increase profitability and national appeal in an industry expected to reach $40 billion in sales by 2024.

Why This Matters: This partnership is a big win for both Jay-Z and Caliva because in regulated markets, U.S. cannabis sales surged by 20% in 2018 and are on track to jump by another 36% this year, according to Arcview Market Research. Caliva has consistently produced around 11,000 pounds of cannabis per year since their inception. While there is no official valuation on the privately-held company, the market rate for cannabis is $1,349.00 per pound, making Caliva’s yearly cannabis output alone to be worth an estimated 14.8 million dollars per year.

Caliva has consistently produced around 11,000 pounds of cannabis per year since their inception

Jay-Z, who in June was officially named by Forbes to be rap’s first official billionaire, also aims to more dynamically align Caliva’s branding with the company values of “absolute integrity” and “truth seeking” by advocating for recently incarcerated individuals to reintegrate into mainstream society. Currently, there are over 2.4 million incarcerated in federal and state prisons nationwide, with Black inmates of both sexes averaging 30% of that total number.  

Caliva has an ongoing partnership with Clear My Record, a non-profit organization which focuses on assisting people in select Californian municipalities with expunging criminal records, ameliorating the worst effects of the racially driven War on Drugs in America.

Situational Awareness: It appears that cannabis will be the new family business since Mathew Knowles, the father and former manager of Jay-Z’s wife and business partner Beyonce Knowles-Carter, has signed on as Chief Marketing Officer for cannabis real estate company Bangi. Knowles will help entrepreneurs find retail and farming locations through his extensive network of businesses.

CBx Vibe:Clouds” K. Camp Feat. Wiz Khalifa

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