Exclusive: Inside Xzibit And The Cannabis Cutie's "Lasagna Ganja" Cannabis Podcast
While it seems like people are starting new podcasts left and right, we have yet to see a good one that covers cannabis and cannabis culture.
Insert Lasagna Ganja, hosted by multi-Platinum rapper and actor Xzibit and cannabis advocate and educator Tammy Pettigrew, aka The Cannabis Cutie. If you’re a cannabis consumer, entrepreneur, or simply interested in what’s happening in the cannabis industry, this is for you. Not only are they diving into the history of the flower, but also its impact on culture, the latest trends, scientific breakthroughs, political issues and legislation, and more.
What Is Lasagna Ganja? Xzibit And The Cannabis Cutie's Cannabis Podcast
Hosted by DCP Entertainment, Lasagna Ganja releases new episodes every Thursday, also inviting interesting guests in cannabis to come on and share their story. The podcast took up an entertaining residency at the recent MJBizCon, where the hosts caught up with industry notables including rapper Berner of Cookies, Chris Ball of Ball Family Farms, and football Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson Jr., Managing Partner of Primitiv Group.
Xzibit And The Cannabis Cutie Talk Lasagna Ganja Podcast, Pressing Issues In The Cannabis Industry, And Consuming In Production
Honeysuckle's Shirley Ju had the opportunity to chat with Xzibit and The Cannabis Cutie about the launch of their new podcast.
SHIRLEY JU: Love the new podcast, Lasagna Ganja. How are you feeling now that it’s out?
XZIBIT: It feels good to work with the team and get these episodes out, find our rhythm. That's what's happening now, we’re feeling good about the platform. As we go, we find something new every time to improve on or bring to the light, or do a little more cohesively. My standpoint, I think we're doing a really great job. Tammy’s doing a great job. The balance is there, and I feel good about it.
TAMMY PETTIGREW: It's fun. Like he said, getting into it and figuring it all out as we go. It's been fun.
I was watching the fourth episode, you guys genuinely laugh and have fun. What's been your favorite episode so far?
XZIBIT: The one that I'm looking forward to hearing the most is the one we did with Mieko, the young lady whose son passed. That one has a lot of heart and a lot of real information, just real world scenarios. It puts our subject matter and what we’re doing in a different light. Whereas it's not recreational, this was something definitely needed for medical, medicinal purposes. It deals a lot with her pain and trauma of losing a child so early and what cannabis played in that. It's a different feel of what we do on a regular basis.
TAMMY: I don't have a favorite episode. I feel they're all unique and bring a different perspective to cannabis. They've all been very different.
Xzibit, what’s the wildest thing about cannabis that you've learned from doing the podcast?
XZIBIT: Being able to hear clinical definitions and finding out how we have a cannabinoid system.
BOTH: [Laugh]
XZIBIT: Learning different things about the plant that I may not have known before, it’s definitely educational. I learn a lot. That's the most beneficial part of all of this, is being educated in real time myself as well.
Tammy, you are like a walking encyclopedia. You don’t use notes, is everything in your brain?
TAMMY: Yeah. Genuinely my brain, I appreciate the way it works. Why I memorize random information so well? I have no idea, but I’ll take it. [laughs]
Were you always good in school? Or was this the passion for cannabis?
TAMMY: I was always good at school. I've always had interest in things that have been misunderstood, and the cannabis plant is very much one of those things. It helped me really find and discover myself, my purpose. Just to feel better overall. Once I became heavily involved with it, I didn't like the things that people would say about the plant. Over time, it naturally parlayed into The Cannabis Cutie.
What is the most pressing issue in cannabis currently?
TAMMY: These taxes, it's not fair. We're watching people literally put their everything in something and you know they're going to die eventually. It's not fun to watch.
XZIBIT: Overtaxation, overregulated. We talk a lot about decriminalization versus legalization. That's a pressing California problem, but nationwide feeling and seeing what states come on board, in what capacity for both of those issues are ongoing subjects that we keep a real close pulse on. Because as other states come in, California is the biggest market. We’re going to set the pace and tone for everything else around the country and around the world. We keep a real close look at that, we keep a real close look at who's doing stuff right. Who's doing stuff not so right. Try to put the playing field out there so everybody can make their own judgments accordingly.
You're the owner of Napalm, a cannabis brand focused on industry-disrupting products. As someone who has a cannabis brand, how do those issues affect you?
XZIBIT: This is my second brand that I've put into the market. I've had different levels of success and challenges, so I have a lot of opinions about how brands are run. Opening my first store in November, [I’ve been] stepping into a new side of things for retail. I've done many jobs around cannabis and it is different than alcohol. It’s different than clothing or things you traditionally see hip hop artists ally themselves with on the brand. For cannabis, it's a whole different animal. So I'm definitely opinionated about the do's and don'ts of that.
How much cannabis are you guys consuming while filming?
XZIBIT: Ooh, good question. I don't know, Tammy can answer that.
TAMMY: Off camera, I have at least one or two blunts. On camera, we're not doing any consuming yet.
XZIBIT: We don't want to scare away the advertisers.
TAMMY: And we don't want to get demonetized. You know if anybody knows, Shirley, how the social media gods treat you. So we're being mindful about on camera consumption until we've earned the right to consume on camera. [laughs]
XZIBIT: Put some numbers on the board!
How many episodes do you guys have in the vault?
TAMMY: I don’t even remember.
XZIBIT: I don't know yet, we still going. We're not really turning around and looking at anything yet, we’re just going.
Anything else you guys want to let us know about the podcast?
XZIBIT: We do have an Instagram if you want to ask us questions or make suggestions, or give us suggestions on guests. Hit us on @thelasangaganja. Send us all your questions or if you got a topic, anything and everything. We like testimonials as well; tell us some stories and we'll get into it on the show.
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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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Featured image: Tammy "The Cannabis Cutie" Pettigrew and Xzibit host cannabis podcast LASAGNA GANJA (C) DCP Entertainment