‘Bing Bong’ sensation Nems showcases a new strain and tells a homemade bong story
Guess what the New York rapper called his signature stock of buds (it rhymes with singsong!)
Last year, native of Coney Island, New York, Nems took his organic catchphrase “bing bong” to the moon. It went from a viral joke he popularized on the Sidetalk NYC YouTube show to a TikTok trend that reached the White House and infiltrated America’s meme lexicon. Now, Gorilla Nems is using its national platform to launch its very own line of legal cannabis flower.
Riding the viral high of “Bing Bong” has propelled Nems from Coney Island’s self-proclaimed president to one of the country’s undisputed pandemic darlings. Last year, New York Knicks basketball fans adopted Bing Bong as a rallying cry at games and on social media. It didn’t take long for the team to officially adopt the phrase. Then, in November, Nems brilliantly blended his aggressive “Bing Bong” song into a friendlier Knicks anthem for the 2021-2022 season.
“I’ll put your life savings in damn Dutch,” boasts Nems on his original track “Bing Bong,” paying tribute to the impact Dutch Masters cigars have had on his town’s consumption habits over the years.
He no longer uses cannabis regularly, but Nems remains deeply entrenched on the streets of NYC. Plugged in enough to know that a Bing Bong themed line of cannabis products is a no-brainer as the Empire State’s legal cannabis market is about to launch.
We caught up with the reigning King of Coney Island to hear about his new products, talk about his first-ever bong hit and hear him explain why the man he affectionately calls Joe Byron is growing trees in the Double pack with cheese must legalize nationwide.
Nems smokes weed with a homemade bong for the first time
“First time I smoked weed, man, I was 11 years old. And this older kid from my neighborhood, I saw him walking the dog. He smoked weed, passed it on like, “(You) smoke?”. I thought: ‘Yes!’ I smoked, went home and passed out until my moms came home.
Then I just started smoking weed all the time. The first time (alone) I couldn’t roll. So I made a bong out of a two liter Pepsi bottle. Prick it a little, put the pen cap in it, put the aluminum foil on it, make some holes in it. Bing Bong!”
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“There were (then) three kinds of weeds. There was everything that guy had back then, there was chocolate (Thai) and there was some shit called The Mozz (pronounced Motts apple sauce, short for mozzarella). I’ve been to Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge (and) they said, ‘Yo, that’s the Mozz!’
You go to the weed spots in Bed-Stuy, East New York, they had the chocolate (Thai) and then they just had regular weed. Whatever the hell they were smoking back then (had) wild stems and seeds.”
You don’t even smell seeds in weed anymore. Actually I recently. My husband spun the blunt, I said, ‘You got a seed in that weed? What the hell are you smoking, brother?’ I haven’t smoked seeds in 15 years.”
As for some of the people he thought were cool at the time, Nems says, “Definitely Cypress Hill. There were others. I mean, Redman, Method Man – but actually Cypress Hill was like, “I want to get high, hh”. Like this was one of my first albums, you know what I mean? They always talked that weed shit. But that shit was fire.”
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“(Weed) ain’t a crime, man. I’ve spent at least five nights of my life in prison (for cannabis). It didn’t do anything, but got me a criminal record when I was young.
From the age of 16 to about 24, 25 I spent at least five nights of my life overnight (in jail) because of weed. I remember they arrested four of us for such a big clip [hold fingers within inches of each other] in the stray of a whip. When I was 16 bro, they gave me a criminal record at 16.
So you start your adult life with a criminal record, man. That was ridiculous. Anything to get them fired and everything. ‘Cause it’s just weed. Nobody cares about it (it). But they have to legalize it.”
“And then (should) we change the classification of low-income areas and slums (as drug zones) as if it weren’t going to white areas too. They said oh your dad is a CA let her go. But if it was in the hood, they arrest lunatics overnight to fill their quota.
So I feel like if they made it legal, there would be a lot more opportunities in life for people to make it better.”
If you go into the criminal system at 16, man, it forces you to become someone you don’t want to be. Or someone you may not even know (is) inside you. You could go in there and bang someone’s head in. Now you lock up for a whole different fee. You know what I mean? Because of weed.
Gorilla Nems
About a tolerance break from cannabis
“I’ve been writing raps since I was 15. I stopped smoking when I was 26. So I was high all the time.
There were certain (strains) that I would smoke that would make me better at freestyling and just make me calmer and more relaxed. And my bars would be better. So different occasions would require different things. But overall, when I compare the times I’ve smoked to the times I haven’t smoked, my bars are a lot better.
And I had to get more comfortable with myself in the beginning. Because I thought I just wouldn’t be creative if I didn’t smoke weed. But it turned out to be the complete opposite. Like I really just got more focused. And that’s me personally. For some it’s the other way around. But for me personally, I feel like my bars and grind and everything got better when I was sober. But I definitely smoked, man. Insanely many of my songs are under the influence.
Sign off, it’s Gorilla Nems, live from Coney Island. And you rock with Leafly. Roll that, light that, smoke that, fool! bong!”
If you want to try Nems’ bing bong weed early, come to his show at Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory on Sunday, February 20th and ask him for a pack yourself. Click here for tickets. You can also visit Nems’ FYL.NYC for merch and stay tuned to Leafly for the latest information on when and where to find Bing Bong packs in NYC.
Save the flyer and date below for access to his next NYC show.
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