Wiz Khalifa Plans Halloween Cannabis Expansion

Wiz Khalifa lined up a Halloween launch for Khalifa Kush in New York, with 36 dispensaries in the company’s plans and years of requests behind the move.

DJ Saul, the brand’s CEO, told amNewYork Metro that New York had drawn more requests than any other market. He said Wiz visited the state at least a couple of times each year.

“New York has been asking for KK for years and years now,” Saul said.

The October 31 debut will include seven New York City locations. The opening lineup pairs the KK and Violet Sky strains with flower and pre-rolls.

Khalifa Kush placed the other 29 planned locations in upstate New York and Long Island.

Saul described a business built around the cannabis Wiz himself smokes. He told amNewYork that the brand started 15 years ago with a strain developed around the rapper’s tastes, then grew from medical cannabis into recreational sales.

Saul said Wiz’s role went beyond lending his name to a cannabis company. He tied the brand’s identity to the rapper using its product himself, a distinction he emphasized while discussing celebrity business deals.

Skyworld will grow and distribute Khalifa Kush’s New York products. On its website, the company describes itself as Indigenous-owned and identifies SJR Horticulture, LLC as its operator. It lists licenses for cultivation, processing and distribution. Its site also links to lab results and identifies indoor cultivation as part of its business.

The expansion follows a decade of deals that put Wiz’s name into the regulated cannabis business. In February 2016, AllHipHop reported his agreement with Colorado’s RiverRock Cannabis, described then as his first collaboration in that industry. That arrangement covered the development and production of strains he curated, infused products and concentrates.

RiverRock planned its launch for April 20 that year, including Khalifa Kush flower and concentrates. Wiz also renewed his separate agreement with RAW Rolling Papers around that time, adding products to an accessories partnership. The Colorado agreement dealt with cannabis production while the RAW deal covered items used with it, giving his business more than one route into the market.

New York would become Khalifa Kush’s 14th U.S. market, the company said in its announcement.