What do you get when you combine one of Canada’s biggest cultural icons and one of the country’s flagship international cannabis companies? You get a new weed company, called More Life Growth Company. On Thursday, Canadian cannabis goliath Canopy Growth Corp. and Aubrey Drake Graham, better known of course as Drake, signed agreements to launch a licensed cannabis production company in Toronto, Ontario—Drake’s home town.
Besides his career in music, Drake’s entrepreneurial projects have made their mark in numerous industries, from fashion and film to brand development and content creation. And with the help of Canopy Growth, he’s about to make a name for himself in the cannabis game. But the hip-hop icon’s latest move is at least a little ironic, since the association between Drake and weed in most people’s minds is that, well, he hardly smokes it and is kind of embarrassingly bad at it when he does.
Drake Clearly Doesn’t Smoke Weed, But He’s Starting a Weed Brand
It’s probably hard to be a rap artist who’s not that into weed. But it’s probably harder to pretend to be something you’re not. Speculation around Drake’s weed smoking habits began to emerge after an on-stage performance with Lil Wayne, a man with impeccable cannabis credentials.
In a video of the Wayne and Drake performance, Weezy passes Drake a joint which he appears to take a hit off of, at least at first glance. But a second look makes it obvious: Drake doesn’t inhale at all. Does Drake suck at smoking weed? Does he even smoke weed at all? How could something like this happen? People starting asking questions, then they started to put together the whole picture.
VICE even ran an exposé, assembling a persuasive case that Drake just doesn’t smoke weed. There’s his goofy way of hitting a blunt on stage, his comments in interviews, the reactions of his fans whenever he so much as touches weed, hints in his lyrics. And it definitely looks awkward whenever Drake tries to puff. Apparently Drake even hired a “vaping coach” to teach him the coolest moves.
But none of that appears to be dissuading Canopy Growth from partnering up with Drake to launch a new cannabis company in Toronto. According to a press release announcing the launch of More Life Growth Company, Canopy is excited about Drake’s vision as a culture leader and entrepreneur, not his first-hand experience with weed—or lack thereof.
Drake and Canopy Growth Launch More Life Growth Company in Toronto
For Drake, the founder of More Life Growth Company, the feeling is mutual. “The opportunity to partner with a world-class company like Canopy Growth on a global scale is really exciting,” Drake said. Like a lot of new cannabis brands, Drake is adopting the health and wellness approach, centering his new weed company around “wellness, discovery and overall personal growth.” That’s a fitting angle, since Drake’s new cannabis company might be his best chance yet to discover what cannabis is like and why people enjoy it.
The partnership with Canopy Growth also gives Drake the chance to leapfrog rivals in Toronto’s hyper-competitive private cannabis industry. Toronto limits the number of licenses it awards to cannabis companies, and the rollout of retail shops has been so slow that some have complained it violates their human rights. But with Canopy Growth juicing the whole project, Drake’s More Life Growth Company will have a serious advantage on the market.
More Life Growth Company used to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canopy Growth. But the deal with Drake hands off a controlling share, 60 percent, to Drake. Canopy Growth will retain the remaining 40 percent stake in the company.