Lil’ Kim reveals when and where she finds her tantalizing array of aphrodisiac strains
Legendary artist, actress and fashion pioneer Lil’ Kim gave Leafly a special Valentine’s Day scoop via her designer line of Aphrodisiacs. The much-anticipated brand will be available to buyers in California as early as April, with plans to expand into markets including Michigan, New Jersey and Kim’s native New York shortly thereafter.
All of the brand’s products have been hand-selected and developed over a two-year period with Kim’s input to ensure they inspire the same raw passion and stimulation that fans have come to expect in their 25+ years of fame. “I am testing my product. I tested that and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s that gas,'” Kim said last year when the brand was announced.
As of April, the only place you can get your hands on Kim’s exclusive buds is at the newly opened Pineapple Express Hollywood dispensary in California. The dispensary is owned by Kim’s music slash marijuana vet 2 Chainz.
“It’s a new dispensary and it has all the Hollywood flair,” explains Kim’s aphrodisiac partner Carlos Dew of superbad inc. “We wanted to do something that reflects that she’s an icon, so Hollywood is the perfect place to start.”
Kim and her partners, Superbad Inc. and CampNova, first announced the Aphrodisiac brand in October 2021. Since then, the power trio have been hard at work on the compliance and delivery side of the company as they prepare for their official launch ahead of every stoner’s favorite holiday in April.
“The best is yet to come. Perfection cannot be rushed. My team and I are working day by day towards my release in April.”
– Lil Kim on her designer cannabis brand, Aphrodisiak
Kim was an early pioneer of designer thanks
In her lyrics, Kim has boasted, “My girls rock Chanel and smoke crazy marijuana,” and told the lovers, “Roll some weed… and close your eyes, then imagine your tongue between my thighs.”
These and other raw rhymes about Mary Jane opened up the luxurious and lusty elements of the plant to audiences back when pop culture was still sending out mixed messages about how, when, and where women should smoke weed.
By pairing weed with designer fashion long before there were billion dollar designer strains, Kim blazed a trail for all women to use simply by being a bad bee who smokes uncompromisingly. Now she’s positioning herself to reap the rewards of her decades of influence with an exotic line that perfectly matches her erotic rhymes.
“Damn it, I love you like the la, the ganja,” Kim’s late mentor and frequent collaborator The Notorious BIG rapped on their 1996 collaboration Drugs. On the 1996 track “Time To Shine,” Kim let listeners and potential suitors know that roses aren’t the only flowers that will win their affections. “Trees I like ’em fine, straight up marijuan,'” Kim rapped from the backseat of a luxury car, clad in designer fur and leather in the song’s music video.
Little did she know that her 420-friendly rhymes paved her way into a legal cannabis industry few could have imagined at the time.
The strong partnerships behind Aphrodisiak
Kim isn’t jumping into the complex cannabis field alone. She competes with a crew of partners who can match her influence with the fundamentals to make Aphrodisiak a Multi-State Operator (MSO).
Carlos Dews Superbad Inc. is the licensed brand ready to help Aphrodisiac leap from coast to coast and eventually worldwide. Dew is an aspiring cannabis mogul, orchestrating deals that give celebrities and influencers the platform and equity they deserve in a legal cannabis industry that can quickly forget its pioneers.
The third wing of the aphrodisiac machine is CampNova, a celebrity cannabis lifestyle platform that also offers delivery. Her reputation for facilitating fruitful partnerships with influencers like 2 Chainz and Tommy Chong is a sign that Kim’s cannabis ambitions will do well.
“She’s a trendsetter,” says Superbad’s Dew of Kim. “If you look back in history, everything she’s done, she’s first. Hip hop’s first bad girl, which is important.”
Aside from their brand awareness, Dew and Partners are also passionate about Kim’s proven track record of removing physical units (remember CDs?) from shelves. “It came from the days when fans actually bought albums,” says Dew.
The hope is that their name and reputation can persuade people to buy packs of legal weed for the same price they buy their music. Kim’s debut album is RIAA certified double platinum (over 2 million units sold) and she has released over 6 million albums worldwide.
“She’s going raw. And she’s going to be original, you know,” Dew boasts with the confidence of a prizefighter’s promoter. “She’ll do it nasty!”
And while Kim is all about having a good time, she also appreciates the platform that comes with being one of the first celebrities of color with her own line of adult cannabis flower. Because of this, she and her Aphrodisiac team are ultimately focused on “orchestrating generational wealth” with their partnership, both for themselves and for other people who look like them.
The Aphrodisiac team is well-placed to build such an empire when they can deliver strains, edibles, and other goodies that get our juices flowing just as much as Kim’s iconic looks and sounds.
Until we get our hands on these beautiful buds, we can only fantasize about what is to come. A bit like the days when Kim’s historic “hardcore” pose teased us from our bedroom walls and album folders.
If you’re as excited as we are to sample these once-forbidden flowers, hold up your lighter to greet The Queen Bee’s upcoming aphrodisiac debut.
Dan Reagan
Dan Reagan’s is a veteran journalist now based in Los Angeles. A Harlem native, he has been involved with culture and media for over a decade.
Check out Dan Reagan’s articles
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