Wiz Khalifa will forever go down in history as one of the most well-respected stoner rappers to ever do it. And if you know one thing about his consumption, it’s the fact that he’s always smoking on that fire Khalifa Kush.
What Is Wiz Khalifa's Khalifa Kush Cannabis Brand?
In 2015, Wiz launched the official Khalifa Kush brand, capitalizing on the fact that he only smokes the best in the game. Split between the artist's current residence in Los Angeles and his hometown of Pittsburgh, Khalifa Kush remains a staple in the cannabis community, offering a wide variety of flower, pre-rolls, vapes, edibles, and concentrates.
View Honeysuckle's BTS with the super star for our previous cover shoot
Wiz Khalifa's Khalifa Kush Is Entering Germany In 2025
With Wiz’s global fanbase and international presence, it was only right to expand Khalifa Kush to the European market. At the top of the year in 2025, Khalifa Kush will enter the German medical cannabis market via a strategic partnership with Berlin-based Sanity Group and its leading medical cannabis brand, avaay Medical.
"I'm excited for our international expansion of Khalifa Kush, as we bring the brand to the European market, starting with Germany," said Wiz Khalifa. "When we started exploring a partnership it was key to find a group in Europe who shares our passion for quality and we found that in Sanity Group.”
Khalifa Kush CEO DJ Saul On Working With Wiz, Launching In Germany's Cannabis Market, And New Highs
Honeysuckle spoke with DJ Saul, CEO of Khalifa Kush, about how he connected with Wiz and the exciting new expansion into Germany.
SHIRLEY JU: What is your background in cannabis, and how did you get involved?
DJ SAUL: I’m a little over four years into my cannabis adventure here. My background before that was running a creative agency on the east coast. We grew and sold to a big holding company back in 2016, so I moved to L.A. Originally born here, grew up in Oregon, so a West Coaster at heart. Moved back home to raise my kids out here with my wife; we had our first kid out in D.C. Second one out here, moved back to be closer to family. Wasn't sure what I was going to do next, to be honest.
2020, technically before Covid hit, I was catching up with Will Dzombak. That's Wiz's manager and business partner [and co-CEO of Taylor Gang]. Will's older brother is my best friend from college, so I've known Will and met Wiz a handful of times. In the early, early days. Never thought I’d work with them professionally until 2020. Had a couple conversations with Will, one thing led to another, and we decided that I was the right fit to come in as CEO. Take Khalifa Kush on and take us to new heights.
How's this journey been? It started in 2015, right?
As you and most people know, the [Khalifa Kush] strain has existed for over a decade now. KK has been KK, that's what Wiz has smoked for 12, almost 13 years now. First commercialized in 2015. When I came on board, it was Vegas heavy. Pre-2020, that’s when most people had seen real KK, not random knockoffs/counterfeit that shows up every once in a while all over the world. It was heavy Vegas, so that's what I inherited.
It's been a nice growth and journey from there. We've grown the team: half in L.A. where me and Wiz are, half in Pittsburgh where they're all from. Then a couple folks in New York and Toronto and elsewhere. We've grown, we're getting close to a dozen states. West to east: California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, D.C. and Maryland. Then Massachusetts.
Speaking of, congrats on the expansion into Germany!
We'll be live in January over in Germany, which is a medical market, but moving quickly on their regulatory framework. It's moving faster than most other markets in terms of a path to rec here. We partnered up with Sanity Group, who's arguably the best and most well-positioned player in the space. Well capitalized, awesome team. Big ambitions for growing a European footprint, which obviously we're ready to join them on that journey. Germany’s going to be massive for us. Wiz is a global star. He's performing at a festival in Cologne in three weeks over in Germany, so we have a bright, global feature ahead of us. We're getting pretty close to a few more announcements as well, with a couple other global markets. Germany is going to be the soonest one here.
How long did that take to lock in?
I'd say just under a year.
What was the most difficult part?
Honestly, going along for the ride of how their regulations were going to shake out. Same thing as we're looking at Thailand right now, great example. We'd been talking to operators and players out there for two years now. In that two year window, the regulations have changed three or four times. It's not that different from the U.S., where each state is a little bit different as well. But that's probably been the most challenging thing, is getting ready to launch in a market that doesn't have a fully mature set of regulations yet.
Why do people love Khalifa Kush?
People love KK, for many reasons. The top of the list would be Wiz's authenticity in the space. There's plenty of other celebrity brands and celebrity owned brands. We also pride ourselves on the quality of our genetics and products. KK isn't just a random OG, it's a tried, true, incredible OG that we think is the best one on the market. People love the quality and consistency in what they get, especially now that we've expanded. When you get KK in California, it's the same thing you're getting in Massachusetts, Florida, PA, and soon to be a couple global markets. It's the double of getting a quality product that you can trust and you know you're going to enjoy, also knowing that you're smoking exactly what Wiz is smoking. Which means a lot more than — not going to name any names, and love all the other people that are going for it. But Wiz is Wiz, there's only one Wiz.
What are the two strains that you guys are launching in Germany?
We're going to be launching with KK and Khalifa Mints, then the rest of our menu is going to be right behind it. We're going to be rolling out our full, more robust menu in the first couple quarters. As soon as a new product becomes legal and ready to go out there, we'll be ready.
Anything else we should know?
We're going to announce a couple additional artist collabs underneath the Khalifa Kush the next couple of months, we've got some cool stuff brewing there. We're also a couple months out from launching our own paper brand, that we've been working on for a long time and super excited about. We got a few things to tease out there in the world for sure.
For more, visit khalifakush.com or follow @khalifakush and @wizkhalifa on Instagram.
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Written By:
Shirley Ju is a journalist, media host, and seasoned music industry professional. She is the founder of Shirley's Temple, a podcast series with a focus on mental health, where her guests include Trippie Redd, Chanel West Coast, Ricky Williams, Blac Chyna, and more. Shirley's work has been featured in publications such as Variety, Complex, Nylon, Flaunt, and REVOLT; she can also be seen doing exclusive interviews for leading urban news source VLADTV, featuring a platform with 5 million subscribers. Find out more about Shirley at @shirju on Instagram and Twitter, and on LinkedIn.
@shirju (IG)
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