Burna Boy ventures into $130 billion cannabis industry with own brand in U.S., reports say

Nigerian celebrated Afrobeats artist Burna Boy has ventured into the cannabis industry with his own brand, according to Black Cannabis Magazine. He launched the cannabis brand BrkFst in South Beach, Miami in partnership with Jokes Up/ Ice Kream on October 7, the magazine said.

The magazine further noted that the name for the cannabis brand appears to have been inspired by the lyrics of “Last Last” where he sings; “Na everybody go chop breakfast,” a Nigerian slang which means everyone will definitely experience pain or heartbreak.

In the song, he goes on to sing “I need Igbo and shayo,” which means he is coping with the end of a relationship and is healing his emotional wounds with weed (Igbo) and alcohol (shayo).

In a recent interview, he revealed that Toni Braxton collected a huge paycheck that was equal to 60% of the royalties from the song.

The launch of the cannabis brand, which coincided with Miami Carnival, reportedly started with a pop-up and a brunch at a Miami Diner. The creation of BrkFst comes nearly a year after he called the ban on marijuana in Nigeria “dumb,” adding that people are shy about discussing it.

“It’s not a zero-tolerance. It’s like everybody does it, but nobody wants to be the one that is seen with it. It’s just kind of hypocritical out there. Everybody smokes weed,” he told Home Grown radio.

“It’s like some dumb shit, bro. You know those old adverts when they talk about it frying your brains. They try to make it seem like if you smoke it, you will go mad. “Right now, everybody is relaxed, everybody does it, and everybody knows that. It’s just a topic no one wants to talk about. No one wants to talk about it; everybody is cool. Everybody’s free. Everybody’s smoking. Nobody wants to make it a thing.”

The cannabis industry in the United States is estimated to pomp up to $130 billion on an annual basis into the U.S. economy by 2024, according to Marijuana Business Factbook.

Marijuana Business Factbook further estimates legal cannabis sales increased from $38 billion-$46 billion in 2019 to $106 billion-$130 billion by 2024 – a 181% increase. And according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the $130 billion figure is similar to the 2019 gross domestic product of Nebraska’s $129 billion.

Burna Boy joins a tall list of global black voices and artists to launch their own cannabis. Amongst them include Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Whoopi Goldberg and Martha Stewart.