Rapper Jay-Z joins cannabis business

Rapper Jay-Z has become the latest celebrity to enter the weed business, signing on to be the chief brand strategist for a California-based cannabis company.

The rapper said he reached out to the company Caliva after a wide search for a suitable partner in the booming industry.

"Anything I do, I want to do correctly and at the highest level," he said in a statement posted on Caliva's website. 

"With all the potential in the cannabis industry, Caliva's expertise and ethos make them the best partners for this endeavor.

"We want to create something amazing, have fun in the process, do good and bring people along the way."

Benefits of cannabis

Caliva said as chief strategist, Jay-Z would help the company with its creative decisions as well as outreach efforts and strategy for the brand.

He will also focus on efforts to increase participation in the legal cannabis business of people who have served time in prison and have been shut out of the fast-growing sector.

"Together, we hope to shape the conversation surrounding cannabis, foster equality, and fairness in the development of the industry, promote awareness for the many uses and benefits of cannabis and empower consumers to feel free to use cannabis how, when, and where they want," Caliva said in a statement.

Hip hop's first billionaire

The 49-year-old rapper, born Shawn Carter and married to pop star Beyonce, is the latest celebrity to get into the cannabis business which is spreading fast in the United States as more and more states legalise it for recreational purposes.

Rapper Snoop Dogg has established his own brand of marijuana and actress Whoopi Goldberg launched a line of medical marijuana products for women in 2016.

Jay-Z, who grew up in one of Brooklyn's most notorious housing projects, was recently named by Forbes magazine as hip hop's first billionaire thanks to investments in champagne, cognac, the ride-sharing service Uber and his Roc Nation entertainment company.