Jay-Z joins Caliva, California cannabis company, as chief brand strategist

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Jay-Z is the latest celebrity to get into the legal weed business.

Caliva, a San Jose, California-based cannabis company, announced Tuesday that the rapper and mogul has entered a long-term, multi-year partnership with the company as a chief brand strategist. According to the company, Carter will play a crucial role in outreach, strategy and creative direction for the brand.

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“Anything I do, I want to do correctly and at the highest level," Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter said in a statement. "With all the potential in the cannabis industry, Caliva’s expertise and ethos makes them the best partner for this endeavor. We want to create something amazing, have fun in the process, do good and bring people along the way."

CNN reported that Caliva President and CEO Dennis O'Malley said Carter's involvement in outreach will include job training, workforce development and advocacy to create opportunities in the legal cannabis business for those impacted by the war on drugs, which systematically and disproportionately affects black and Latino people.

That effort ties into Jay-Z's Reform Alliance, which established with Van Jones, Meek Mill, Michael Rubin, Robert Smith, Robert Kraft and others in January. The alliance aims to change the criminal justice system in America, particularly probation and parole policies.

O'Malley told CNN the partnership is "a sea of change in terms of the visibility to the industry."

"For Jay-Z to seek out Caliva as a partner is humbling and confirms our mission of being the most trusted name in cannabis," O'Malley said in a statement, according to Variety. "To find that we were in complete alignment around our values and ethos was just a home run. We believe this partnership is unparalleled in this or any business and we could not be more pleased to be working with him and have him as our Chief Brand Strategist. Look for some great things ahead!"

Cox Media Group