Jay-Z joins weed business as chief brand strategist

Billionaire rapper and former drug dealer Jay-Z is joining the fast-growing cannabis industry, taking a role with California company Caliva as a chief brand strategist.

The award-winning rapper, according to Rolling Stone, entered into a partnership with the privately-owned cannabis company. He will focus on outreach and the creative direction of Caliva.

Jay-Z is also expected to increase job training for former prisoners as part of his ongoing outreach programme, Reform Alliance, and foster quality and fairness in the development of the legal marijuana industry.

Jay-Z’s new business venture complements the work he’s done in criminal justice reform.

Earlier this year, he and rapper Meek Mill helped launch Reform Alliance, with a goal of helping to get one million Americans out of jail and on probation or parole in the next five years.

In June, Forbes Magazine named him the first hip-hop artist to become a billionaire, thanks to investments in clothing, champagne, ride-hailing service Uber and his Roc Nation entertainment company.

He is the latest celebrity to get into the cannabis business, as its legalisation for recreational use has spread to 11 US states.

Rapper Snoop Dogg has his own brand, Leafs by Snoop, and actor Whoopi Goldberg launched a line of medical marijuana products in 2016 aimed at providing relief from menstrual cramps.