American rapper, Vic Mensa has ventured into the cannabis business with the launch of his ’93 Boyz,’ which is the first Black-owned cannabis company in Illinois.
The core of the company’s mission is to reinvest in the communities and individuals that have been historically and disproportionately affected by outdated laws and prejudices regarding cannabis consumption while elevating the underserved.
Among the community-based initiatives that the brand will be undertaking is Books Before Bars, a program dedicated to providing books to Illinois prison libraries, providing inmates with potentially transformative resources.
In an interview with Revolt, Vic Mensah revealed that he’s not new to the weed-selling business as it was his first hustle growing up.
“Cannabis was the first industry I was in as a preteen — selling weed was my first hustle before I ever made anything of rap. In many different ways and at different points of time in my life, I’ve been involved with cannabis. As the legislation in Illinois has changed, it has been a priority of mine to take part in this industry. Coming from a community that has been so impacted by the war on drugs, I felt it was necessary that we, as a whole, are represented in this cannabis industry,” he told Revolt.
Vic Mensah’s goal with “93 Boyz” is to be the first black-owned brand that operates in the whole of Chicago. The company is also committed to using a portion of the proceeds to do community-based initiatives like their Books Before Bars program.