Wifisfuneral is a musician from the Bronx who is currently based in Los Angeles, California. He fits in this pocket of new wave Rap/R&B hybrids where lo-fi melodies and vocal ranges push the boundaries of what those genres really even mean. Or better, exposing that, at this point, they don’t really mean anything.

“I feel like I’m so versatile. At that point, do I say I’m a rapper? I’m an artist, I just make music, ’cause I feel like it’s a broader understanding if I say I make music. Theoretically, I’m using my flow and voice as an instrument,” he told us.

The name was inspired by Wifis’ reclusive nature and his Seshollowaterboyz fanhood. “I always played the underground character as far as my demeanor and how I would present myself. I was a huge fan of Seshollowaterboyz and that whole movement, so I was like Wifisfuneral would be funny. After that, it started to take on different meanings.”

After years of mixtapes and EPs, Wifisfuneral recently dropped his debut album PAIN? And it’s fucking fire. From start to finish, it rides out. To Wifis, it’s his best and most complete project ever. “It’s a big ass melting pot, you never know exactly what you’re going to hear. I feel like this is the first time I made a project that, from start to finish, makes fucking sense. Putting out an album is different than proving that you can rap.”

It’s true, PAIN? Is full of all kinds of music. Melodic R&B joints that turn on LED lights, video game soundtrack possibilities, songs that make you want to tut, shoulder-bouncers, toe-tappers, and everything in between. Most of the songs have a pretty dark feel to them that make PAIN? the perfect late night album when you’re getting deeply existential. Just press play and let it ride.

In addition to music, Wifisfuneral (I’m just now realizing I should’ve asked about the Wifi OG strain) is a huge stoner. Like big, real big. On his smoking habits, he said, “I smoke everyday. I probably smoke like an ounce a day.” As he said this, you could hear his manager bust out laughing off-camera adding, “No cap. He’s so serious right now.” On his reasons for smoking, he continued, “It was never like, ‘I’m going to go smoke weed today.’ It kind of just presented itself. It came to me. And ever since then, I would just be way more calm, I could focus a lot more. Mind you, I be a little bit sluggish and a little bit lazier, but I can be productive at the same time. I can smoke a whole ounce and make five songs.”

With Wifisfuneral being such a cannabis enthusiast, after talking music, we had to talk about some of his favorite things to smoke. Here are the five cannabis products he can’t live without.

Flower

Wifisfuneral is a huge flower boi. When we first checked in, he was smoking a fat ass joint of Frosted Flakes. “I’m old school. I be fucking with concentrates and shit like that, but I’m flower all the way,” he told us.

Find strains

“Dessert” strains

Wifisfuneral likes to smoke, and I quote, “that dessert-type shit.” Black Cherry Gelato and Gushers instantly popped out when asked which strains he’s come across that specifically stood the test of time.

Black Cherry Gelato is an indica-dominant cross of Black Cherry Funk and Acai. It’s got a cherry funk smell to it and tends to be a pretty heavy high.

Gushers is a Cookie Fam cross between Triangle Kush and Gelato #41. It’s got a sweet and fruity taste that reminds people of the classic kid’s snack. It’s also called White Gushers or Fruit Gushers.

Some of his other favorites are White Runtz, Turtle Pie, Cereal Milk, Runtz OG, and Obama Runtz. Basically, Wifisfuneral smokes Cookies.

Find Black Cherry strains

Find Gushers strains

Vape pens

Though Wifis isn’t big on concentrates, he still likes puffing on a vape pen here and there. He was puffing on a vape cartridge during our Zoom call and said it had him “fucking ripped.” He told us, “They creep on you, I’m like damn. It gets uncomfortable, but then it gets comfortable.” 

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Raw papers

A common theme amongst rappers lately is the transition from blunts to joints. Wiz was the godfather of it, of course. Wifis is in the same boat, taking his health into consideration. He told us, “right now I’m transitioning from Backwoods to joints. When I used to smoke Backwoods, I’d go through two or three packs a day, and that shit fucked up my throat really bad. I had an interview with B Real (of Cypress Hill) and he was like “Yo, you know your throat’s going to be fucked up? I was like nah, I’ll be alright. Three years later my shit’s clapped. I was like, damn.”

RAW is his favorite brand of rolling papers.

Find RAW rolling papers

Grinders

You can’t smoke an Adrian Peterson per day and not have a grinder on deck. (Adrian Peterson’s number has been 28 for the majority of his career). In the end, Wifisfuneral is a pretty classic smoker when it comes to his smoking habits. “Flower; roll-up; grinder; lighter, and that’s really it. As long as I got all of that, I’m straight.”

Find grinders

Featured graphic by David Lozada/Weedmaps

The post 5 weed products musician Wifisfuneral can't live without appeared first on Weedmaps News.

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The post How To Approach A Friend Who Refuses To Wear A Mask appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

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This Tuesday, Pakistan’s Minister of Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry tweeted that the country has approved its first-ever license for the industrial and medical use of hemp. The minister called it a “landmark decision” that will allow Pakistan to compete in the billion-dollar global CBD market. 

Pakistan’s new hemp laws closely mirror the regulations established in the US last year. The country now classifies hemp as cannabis plants containing 0.3 percent or less THC content by dry weight. Cannabis plants containing more than 0.3 percent THC are still classified as marijuana, and will remain illegal. Government officials have made it clear that the new law does not allow citizens to grow, sell, or smoke weed.

The Ministry of Science and Technology specifically requested that Pakistan legalize industrial hemp cultivation, arguing that it would present a major financial opportunity for the country. Over the course of this year, several government ministries met to debate the proposal, and eventually chose to accept it. 

Now that the approval has been granted, the country will begin importing a specific variety of hemp seeds and begin planting. The science ministry has already identified areas in the Potohar region of northern Punjab that would be ideal for growing hemp. Once the plants are mature, the raw flower can be used to develop new medications, and the thick stems can be used to produce clothing, rope, and other products. Hemp seeds can also be used to produce raw CBD oil.

“Worldwide, this fibre is replacing cotton,” said Chaudhry at a press conference, the Hindustan Times reports. “Clothes, bags, and other textile products are being made using this plant’s fibre. This is a $25 billion market and Pakistan can take a big share in this market. This is under government control, so further research can be done and adequate safeguards through ministry of narcotics can be placed.”

The minister explained that it will take about three years to get hemp production underway, giving businesses ample time to begin growing, processing, and researching hemp. The country will also allow industrial and medical hemp imports and exports, and hopes to market its domestic products overseas. Once the market is mature, Chaudhry expects that it will be able to generate $1 billion in revenue each year.

Chaudhry explained that the “CBD compound plays an important role in therapeutic medicine… After 2016, a breakthrough research was unveiled which prompted China to set up a cannabis research department and is now cultivating hemp on 40,000 acres, and Canada is cultivating it on 100,000 acres.” 

Although most Southern and Southeast Asian countries remain firmly opposed to marijuana, some countries are finally beginning to relax their restrictions on hemp. Thailand approved low-THC CBD hemp extracts last year, and South Korea now allows imports of two synthetic cannabinoid medications.

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It rained green in Israel yesterday, as a drone dropped hundreds of bags of weed onto Rabin Square in the capital city of Tel Aviv. 

A number of witnesses, understandably, rushed into the streets to snatch up the surprise dope delivery, stuffing their pockets and running off with as much free weed as they could carry. Correspondents are still awaiting reports on the quality of the kind itself.

Green Drone, a cannabis legalization advocacy group shrouded in some smokey clouds of mystery, has claimed responsibility for the benevolent bud drop.

Shortly before the stunt, Green Drone posted a message on the encrypted app Telegram that proclaimed, “It’s time, my dear brothers. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s the green drone, handing out free cannabis from the sky. Enjoy, my beloved brothers, this is your pilot brother, making sure we all get some free love.”

Green Drone also announced that their airborne distribution of dank is only getting started. The group said it plans to keep up its “rain of cannabis” mission by dropping one kilogram of weed broken into two-gram baggies each week onto lucky public thoroughfares around Israel.

Another motivating factor, Green Drone said, was Israel’s potentially upcoming pandemic lockdown. That challenge, the group stated, “requires thinking outside the box and coming up with new ways of getting cannabis to consumers.”

The Jerusalem Post reported that police arrested two suspects in their 30’s who were allegedly connected to the stunt. Authorities noted that distribution of a substance suspected to be dangerous is very much against the law in Israel — as is recreational marijuana itself.

Many observers believe that Israel is likely to soon go green, however.

Earlier this year, Israeli lawmakers granted preliminary approval to two cannabis reform measures. The first bill would decriminalize weed, while the second aims to both legalize it for adult use and create a regulatory framework for the resulting market.

Additionally, Israel is also a global leader in cannabis research. In April, Israeli scientists enacted clinical trials for using cannabis to treat COVID-19. Two months later, Israel outpaced Germany to become the world’s leading importer of cannabis flower.

Apparently, weed has a long and even ancient history in the region as well. Earlier this year, researchers discovered marijuana resin in a shrine dating from 750 BC, located in what is now Israel. Experts believe the plant may have been used in ritual services that involved, you know, getting high.  

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The post What Exactly Is A COVID Super Spreader? appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

Protoje is a reggae artist from St. Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica that’s currently signed to RCA records. He also runs his own independent label, In.Digg.Nation. Recently, Protoje dropped his sixth studio album, In Search of Lost Time, featuring artists like Wiz Khalifa, Popcaan, and Lila Iké. And straight up, it’s 10 songs and 36 minutes of audio soul food.

In Search of Lost Time sounds like how it feels to get off work early before a 3 day weekend, there’s no traffic on the drive home, and it’s payday. Yeah, a vibe. From start to finish, it invokes an energy that makes you want to call your friends and plan out your next Best Weekend Ever. 

The album has songs like “A Vibe” featuring Wiz Khalifa, that make you want to burn one around an evening bonfire; and songs like “In Bloom” with Lila Iké that sound like a straight up mushroom trip. Truly, there’s something on here for every type of listener, and you’d be doing yourself a disservice by skipping over it.

Protoje’s cannabis use and musical collaborations

On how the Wiz feature came about — and if this was his first time getting up with DJ Daddy Kat himself — Protoje had a pretty cool full circle tale. “I always took to his vibe, and when I first had [“A Vibe”], I was like, ‘I’m not putting it out without him.’ So I let it sit for years and finally had the chance. MY OG Archie that brought me to RCA [records] to set up the whole thing. He’s cool with Will, Wiz’ manager.” 

Though they never actually met face-to-face during the making of “A Vibe,” Protoje recounts an encounter they had had years prior: “We’ve met before, but he doesn’t know that he did a song with that guy he met.” They bumped into each other backstage at a show in London — Protoje had been ducking the craziness of the crowds. Khalifa was looking for the same, ‘Excuse me, bro,’ I let him pass me. He’s now in the corner directly by me, and I’m kind of governing it, you know? He builds this gigantic spliff, and he takes two [hits] off it, he’s like, “Here, bro.’ I don’t generally take spliffs from [strangers], but it’s Wiz Khalifa: if he’s giving you a spliff, you know it’s going to be something fire. I take it from him, take two off it, put one in the sky, and I [pass it back]. He’s like, “nah, that’s all you homie, that’s all you homie.’ Then he rolls another one for himself. And that’s how we met. So it’s cosmic, I guess.”

In addition to the new album and the power of the universe, I also had the pleasure of talking to Protoje about his relationship with cannabis. On the mental and physical benefits, he tells me, “initially, the first thing was [that] it let me look inside myself more. It made me pace myself and be a lot more introspective — and just think. I was always a thinker, but this kind of let me go deep into my thoughts and it changed the course of my life.” When remembering his days growing up and seeing those first bursts of success, his use of cannabis offered a different view, “it just changed my perspective on certain things and I became less material driven. Musically, it gets my creative energy going and I can maintain it.”

Knowing that his love of cannabis has had such an impact on Protoje’s life, we couldn’t just leave the conversation at how fire the new album is — and the universe making Wiz features happen — we also had to talk about some of the cannabis products he can’t live without. Here’s four of his favorites:

Hybrid Flower: Biscotti and Gary Payton

When asked how much weed he smokes a day, Protoje told me, “Too much. Definitely too much,” as he grabbed one of the 8 quart-sized mason jars full of a strain called Goji 24k that he just purchased. “And I think I smoke way more since this pandemic,” he continued. “I get up, I start smoking; music, smoking; before I go to bed, smoking. So much that I’ve said I really need to step back a little bit. I’d say, probably like now, I smoke maybe 4 or 5 spliffs a day. Which, for me, is too much. I preferred when I was like, 1 and a half.”

On his favorite strains, Protoje simply said, “hybrids.” It’s not about the indica/sativa distinction for him, “I just started learning about that. When you’re growing up, you’re just smoking. But when I started to travel, especially on the West Coast, it was all about, ‘what strain are you smoking?’ I didn’t even know that that was a thing. Mostly, I like a thing that keeps me feeling a vibe, but I think that’s mental too; you’re in a certain state of mind, maybe you’re smoking, it keeps you going.”

Biscotti and Gary Payton were two strains he liked when visiting California.

The Puffco Peak

“I have this dope dab rig from Puffco. I mess with that sometimes, but it’s kind of strong.” 

The Puffco Peak is a portable dab rig from Puffco that many like for ease of use and convenience. It’s great for people that love hash, but don’t want to deal with the purchase of dab rigs, bangers, and all of the other accessories needed. 

Price: $299.99

Grinders

“Definitely a grinder. Especially now, I can’t deal with the sticky sticky.”

Read our Weedmaps Buyers’ guide to grinders.

Lion Pride Slim Rolling Papers

When he’s in California, Protoje tells me that he smokes blunts exclusively. Otherwise, he’s rolling up Lion Pride papers. “There’s a company out here called Lion Pride. They make smoking accessories and they have one called Lion Pride Slims. I smoke this one the most.”

Lion Pride is a Jamaican company that makes  grinders, trays, even condoms, and much more.

Featured graphic by David Lozada/Weedmaps

The post 4 weed products reggae artist Protoje can't live without appeared first on Weedmaps News.

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