What do you smoke? Erykah talks to Cookies & More about the That Badu strain.

(Video by Calvin Stovall / Music by Thelonious Martin & Darian Steward)

For International Women’s Day, Erykah Badu caught up with Leafly for a quick session to discuss the strains she smokes, how cannabis helps her performance, and what healthy munchies she likes to snack on when her high wears off.

Didn’t you know? Leafly landed the first look at Erykah Badu’s new strain collaborating with Cookies, aptly titled That Badu.

As That Badu stopped by Cookies and Lemonnade stores across California today (March 8), we got to chat with Ms. Badu about her relationship with cannabis—from her first exposure back then to using the plant to write Healing songs and others as a doula – our conversation could have gone on indefinitely.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, Erykah joined us for a quick session to discuss what strain she smokes, how cannabis helps her perform, and which kibbles she likes to snack on when her high wears off.

What do you smoke?

“Well right now C-7 is my favorite but you know that as That Badu. C-7 was just the working name we used, it’s a combination of cannabinoids in two different strains and they are Limoncello and Jet Fuel Gelato.”

Erykah Badu

We had women in mind. It was interesting for me to continue the conversation about women’s studies on cannabinoids… As a doula and advocate using plant medicine in my ritual work, my spiritual work, my art, my creativity, I also use it as a doula for my birth mothers. A doula is a person who helps babies get through. And I also serve as a doula for the daybed. That means people die who go somewhere else.

So [cannabis is] used in tinctures and lotions for labor and pain. The flower itself is crushed and eaten. Cannabis has been used in ritual and spiritual work for women for centuries. And I think it’s important that we start using some of that language, so that we start respecting this gift that we’ve been given, that we use in our culture, is self-medication. But the research was done specifically for women.

When did you fall in love with cannabis?

“I first fell in love with cannabis in college. My college roommates were from LA. And they always had the heat, always had the fire. And I fell in love by passive smoking in the room. I wasn’t a smoker back then, but this allowed me to enjoy the benefits of cannabinoids. And I, as a Pisces, felt, ‘This is the world I need to be in right here. I feel like myself.” And as I got older, I started to really respect the power and medicine of this herb, you know?”

Erykah Badu

What are your favorite munchies to nibble on?

“My favorite munchies: I like kale chips. The kale chips when baked with condiments like yeast flakes and lemon pepper and so on. I like it hearty and spicy. Other people like the sweet stuff, but I like the savory stuff. Snacks.”

Erykah Badu

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How Does Cannabis Help You With Performance?

“I’ve noticed it especially in my art, where my art is aligned with my spirituality. It’s the bed where all of these things can become one, be married – art, spirituality – cannabinoids are a way of doing that. And we take advantage of that. I tell my band either we’re all sober or we’re all high on this show, which one do you want to do? Because it really aligns us as artists and we become a living, breathing organism and that energy transfers to the audience. And it’s all spirit work. You know, we try not to abuse it. In my world, everything is ghost work.”

“The first two lines of ‘On and On’ are, ‘Oh my god, my god, I’m feeling high.'”

Erykah Badu

“It offers a safe space for an artist. You don’t feel guilty or self-conscious. And there’s a paranoia, but it’s the good kind of paranoia, it’s a natural instinct. It helps us align with our natural instincts. Especially me with my band when we are in constitutional states. We become a living, breathing organism because plant medicine is a real energy. You know, it’s a spirit that contains us all when we’re in the same euphoric state. So the benefits are different. It’s slower, but it’s strong.”

“When we come out we like to be aligned and united because we don’t have rehearsals. You know, we just go out and I name our songs. And we bring them together somehow. If everyone in the building is smoking, we know that beforehand. Because we smell it. So we know this is our smoke show.”

Erykah Badu

About the cooperation with Berner and Cookies

“Berner got in touch and wanted to work with me. And because I didn’t have enough data yet, I kind of hesitated until I had it. And I found my place. I like being useful in an arena. And Chris and I did a lot of research and figured out how to do that, you know how to be useful.”

Erykah Badu

“I f*** with Berner. First off, he’s a wacky MC and I love his music. I’m part of his cult following… I’m YouTubing the shit from Berner. But, um, it wasn’t that. It wasn’t like he was a b-boy because I’m a b-girl. It wasn’t. And then I tasted his weed and I saw his presentation in his labs and stuff, but it wasn’t. It was the fact that he was so open and kind to me.”

“As someone who was stepping into their field and obviously has been a very competitive field since the legalization phase started across the country. He gave with his words, his studies, his contacts, he was just a complete plug, you know, and that created that comfort for me. He’s my mentor, guiding me through the humble beginnings of my journey as a breeder, as a connoisseur, as an advocate, as an activist, you know? So that’s it. It was his kindness and his beauty as a person. Yes.”

Erykah Badu

About her new documentary “Pussy & Weed”

“My new documentary Pussy & Weed focuses on women’s studies in the cannabis world. I will be interviewing artists who are connoisseurs, breeders, breeders, artists, activists, journalists, researchers, mothers, spiritualists, shamans, women, shamans, sages and everyday mothers, Rastafarians, cannabis as it appears, religion, cannabis as it in our spiritual ritual work, cannabis as it appears in the workplace and at home and in society in general.

Erykah Badu

“I look forward to moving the dialogue forward and perhaps changing the narrative that was once taboo among women, and not just women. I will also be interviewing men to see how you feel about women growing cannabinoids and this arena.”

Erykah Badu