Rapper Vic Mensa Launches Illinois’ First Black-Owned Cannabis Brand

93 Boyz is Chicago’s first Black-owned cannabis brand and the first to pair top-shelf genetics with a core mission focused on giving back to the community, as said on their website. The brand was founded by Chicago-born musician and activist Vic Mensa. He has a vision is of lifting up the neighborhoods around him while lifting their spirits figuratively and literally. In collaboration with Aerīz, a leading aeroponic cannabis cultivator, 93 Boys now provides sustainable and environment-friendly products like PreRolls and Flower they eloquently call “Gas.” Their line of “Premium Octane Gas” includes flower sold in eighths, pre-rolls, and strain-specific vape cartridges.

However, the core vision of the 93 Boyz mission is reinvesting in the communities and individuals that have been historically and disproportionately affected by outdated laws, prejudices, and assumptions regarding cannabis consumption.

Through a partnership with SaveMoneySaveLife, a Chicago-based, Native- and Black-led nonprofit advocating for sustainable change, Mensa’s brand sponsors initiatives aimed at prison reform and equity in the cannabis space. It includes the Books Before Bars program, which provides books to underserved Illinois prison libraries and give inmates access to transformative resources. 

“Selling weed was my first hustle. It taught me work ethic, entrepreneurship, and funded all of my first music projects,” explained Mensa in a statement.“As someone with a lifelong experience of anxiety and depression, it’s amazing to be able to help people facing those and other issues while working with something I love. The war on drugs has had a devastating impact on my community, and yet our representation in the cannabis industry is less than 2%. 93 Boyz is changing that narrative while combining high quality, tastemaker weed with socially conscious initiatives.”

Who is Vic Mensa?

Victor Kwesi Mensah best known as Vic Mensa was formally a member of the group Kids These Days, which broke up in May 2013, after which he released his debut solo mixtape Innanetape. He is currently signed to Roc Nation.

His debut album with Roc Nation, “The Autobiography” (2017), featured guest spots by Weezer, the-Dream, Chief Keef, and Pharrell Williams. The well-received album debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200 discussing love and loss, while also tackling Mensa’s struggles with addiction and depression.

Raised on the South Side of Chicago, Vic Mensa earned ample underground cred before breaking through to mainstream audiences as a founder of the SAVEMONEY collective, a member of the hip-hop group Kids These Days. He made his solo debut in 2013 on Chance the Rapper‘s high-profile mixtape Acid Rap and has since forged a path for himself, with his critically acclaimed “INNANETAPE” (2013) and “There’s Alot Going On” (2016). “The Autobiography” was his first full-length project. A succession of EPs, collaborations, and singles followed over the next few years, and included the 2019 joint effort with 93PUNX and 2022’s “Vino Valentino.”