How Vic Mensa brought legal premium gas to Chicago’s pharmacies
Vic and his team took Leafly under the hood of his new legal cannabis company 93 Boyz, which happens to be the first licensed black-owned cannabis brand in Illinois.
Fire up your engines. The 93 Boyz launch Illinois’ first black-owned cannabis brand. In May, the company made its official debut with fire pre-rolls that come in tubes resembling foreign sports cars. Her flowers hit stores shortly thereafter and have since sold out in Chicago pharmacies.
Founded by Chicago musician, entrepreneur, and actor Vic Mensa, who hopes to one day play Prince in a biopic, and Preston Oshita, aka rapper Towkio, the brand features flavors like Super Donut and Hood Candies.
“As someone with a lifetime of anxiety and depression, it’s amazing to be able to help people who are struggling with these issues and others while working on something I love,” Mensa told reporters in June.
When the 93 crew took off this May, Leafly reached out to Vic and the Boyz to ask how they made it, what’s next, and where to find their products across Illinois.
what are you smoking right now
“I smoke Pixie (by 93 Boyz) which is indica dominant. It’s probably one of my favorite strains at the moment. But we have some new genetics on the way that are almost out of cultivation. So I look forward to unveiling these.”
Vic Mensa
A month after we spoke, these new genetics hit Chicago pharmacies at an affordable $50/8. You can now order flavors like Super Donut, Jet Fuel OG and The Lotto from Ascend pharmacies across Illinois using Leafly’s pharmacy locator.
Return part of each move
93 Boyz partners with SaveMoneySaveLife, a Chicago-based Indigenous and Black-led nonprofit to advocate for cannabis justice and prison reform. Vic and the Boyz also gave out free gas to Chicago residents that summer when prices were at their peak. The entire cannabis industry took notice of the brilliant publicity stunt, which further reinforced the brand’s goal of combining premium genetics with a core mission focused on giving back to the community.
“The war on drugs has had a devastating impact on my community, and yet our representation in the cannabis industry is less than 2%,” Mensa told Leafly. He and the 93 Boyz intend to change that by combining high quality, flavorful weed with socially conscious initiatives.
Weed funded my early music career
“Cannabis was my first occupation. before rap And it’s been an integral part of my life since I was 11 years old. I started serving when I was 14—I even tried when I was 12. But my weed was so bad nobody bought my shit. When I didn’t really have shit, I tried to sell blunt guts in the pocket. It didn’t really work. Shady shit. That’s what I did when I was 11.”
Vic Mensa
What was the highest thing you’ve ever been?
“Edible dinners. Infused dinners, they get me out of this shit It works every time. I did a TV show that was an Italian Dinner Infusion. I had a nice time. There’s a lot going on there: brewed wine, brewed bread. In the end I start to realize, ‘Oh shit, I’m high as fuck!’ So dinner ends and I’m talking to this guy who used to be a congressman. And I was like, ‘Let’s share information or whatever. And he’s like, ‘Cool, what’s your number?’ I was like, ‘Damn G, I just forgot my phone number!’”
Vic Mensa
Cannabis enhances creativity—up to a point
“I was in the car on the way back [from the dinner]. I heard Eddie Kendricks, this song called “My People” that J Dilla sampled. I was like, ‘Man, I have to go to the studio.’ When I got into the studio, it hit me like a rock fall. I was too high to function. When I got home, I was lying on the couch for three whole days. I was weak. In the past, my mother used to make infused paellas at home. So I’ve fought edibles my whole life.”
Vic Mensa
What’s your favorite non-infused high snack?
Vic told us he recently discovered that the best snack for cravings is fresh fruit. He also heard that when you eat mangoes or citrus fruits, it enhances your high by interacting with the terpenes.
“I also like orange juice with my mushrooms,” he revealed during the conversation.
Sativa or Indica?
(93 boy)
“I can’t smoke sativas. We have a sativa called Mai-Thai by 93 Boyz that I smoked last year for an “uplifting work atmosphere”. But in general my fear is too great. Sativas don’t really fit in. I’m just an indica person. It’ll get my heart beating (fast) singing John Legend’s ‘Green Light’.”
Vic Mensa
Sometimes I cheat on Mary Jane with mushrooms
“My relationship with cannabis has lasted almost two decades. But I’ve been in a relationship with the mushrooms for a solid decade. I microdosed and then took a “trip dose” here and there. But more recently, I’ve started to take the microdose regiment seriously. It’s like a small dose, a small capsule. A non-psychoactive dose. You can feel it easily – small sensations in your body. But it’s not like you’re high or drunk.”
Vic Mensa
Using Meditation to Increase Cannabis and Psilocybin
“I’ve been meditating since I was 16, and microdosing interacts very well with it. Sometimes I can go anywhere in my meditation. The Rastas smoke and meditate. I was just in Jamaica.”
Vic Mensa
Fighting for justice in the Illinois cannabis industry
“When the first minority-owned cannabis was introduced into dispensaries in Illinois, the entire Illinois process was so bogged down with corruption that it’s just frustrating. But also a blessing to be able to get the product in stores. We’ve been working on it for a couple of years. We were active and ready to hit the streets. But we’re only just entering the legal space. The ethos of the brand is that a significant portion of our revenue will go towards various creative solutions to our employees’ problems. Like a program that sends thousands of books to jails in Illinois and possibly California.”
“My life changed when I was able to help my friend Musa get out of a 25-year sentence 12 years early. And in that time I’ve started to develop close relationships with some of my (other) people who are incarcerated. And I found that the most impressive thing I did in many ways was send them books.”
No pot politics as usual
“I wouldn’t say I’m a political leader. I am politicized. I’m a person with values and priorities, and I care about freedom and justice, so I stand for those things in my music, in my businesses, in my personal relationships – and that’s why I do what I do. Not because I’m trying to be an activist. I am constantly educating myself. I’m more interested in the history of political movements, resistance movements, revolutionary movements than the new album or Lil So-and-so’s relationship.”
Vic Mensa
Chicagoans love 93 Boyz fuel
93 Boyz represents the bevy of personalities that make up Chicago’s weed scene. From its reputation as a bustling and beautiful metropolis that often tops lists of “America’s Most Beautiful Cities” to the burden of being labeled as an intrastate war zone often referred to as “Chi-raq,” Vic is ready to to maintain an evolved identity for his hometown with his new brand as a vehicle. (@93 Boyz / Instagram)
Shawn Grant and Tay Tousana
Shawn Grant is from Chicago. He freelances in the media industry, creating content in music, film, sports, marijuana and more.
Tay Tousana is a multi-hyphenated content creator based in Atlanta.
Check out Shawn Grant and Tay Tousana’s articles
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