George Clinton, the visionary bandleader behind Parliament-Funkadelic and a pioneer of psychedelic funk, has spent six decades reshaping the boundaries of music, culture and consciousness. At 83, he entered an industry he’s long championed from the sidelines: cannabis.
Clinton recently launched The Funk, a new cannabis brand created in partnership with Wiz Khalifa’s Khalifa Kush, at a time when the U.S. market is projected to generate over $35.3 billion in legal sales in 2025. The product debuted at Planet 13, the 112,000-square-foot Las Vegas dispensary that has become a launchpad for celebrity brands and immersive cannabis experiences.
And while dozens of entertainers have entered the space in recent years, Clinton arrives with a different kind of credibility. His relationship with cannabis dates back to the early 1960s—long before legalization—and has been inseparable from his music, worldview and public identity.
“When you sit down, put on something funky and get your head right, you should think of The Funk.”
— George Clinton
A Lifetime With The Plant
Clinton’s history with cannabis began in the days of Acapulco Gold and unregulated Northern California grows. “In the early ’60s, it was all about whatever you could get,” he said. “But it was always for the mind. That part never changed.”
From doo-wop and Motown to the cosmic theatrics of Funkadelic, cannabis was a constant presence—not just a social lubricant but creative fuel. “We stayed lit to do all those albums,” he said. “That was the atmosphere. It was part of the process.”
For Clinton, it wasn’t escape; it was alignment. Even before formal medical research caught up, musicians intuitively understood the plant’s power. “I heard about the medical side back in the ’60s. Stress, anxiety, chilling out—we knew,” he said. “But America made more money pretending to stop it than selling it.”
He doesn’t mince words about the politics that kept cannabis underground: a mix of control, stigma and pharmaceutical interests. “They sell you all kinds of drugs you can’t pronounce, then give you another one to get off the first one,” he said. “Cannabis could’ve handled a lot of it, if they’d just let it.”
The Funk: From Studio To Shelf
Building on that personal legacy, Clinton’s new line is more than a co-brand; it’s an extension of his artistic universe. The Funk launched with infused pre-rolls that combine Motorbreath flower and Daily Grape live resin—built for heavy, unmistakable flavor.
“I wanted uncut funk,” Clinton said. “The kind of stuff you light up and it tells you a story.”
The name nods to his lifelong mythology and to a track by his granddaughter—“Something Stank (And I Want Some)”—a generational echo tying scent and sound together. The packaging pulls from his signature cosmic visuals, echoed in a John Fluevog shoe collaboration. Clinton credits his wife for pushing the project across the finish line: “She made sure we got it done.”
Planet 13, where The Funk debuted, struck him as more than a storefront. “It felt like the right place to lift off,” he said. “It’s like you’re on another planet—and able to launch yourself from there.”
The infused pre-roll format is a strategic call. In California, infused joints now account for more than 66% of all pre-roll sales, according to RollPros and BDSA data. Market leaders like Jeeter and STIIIZY turned infused pre-rolls into high-volume, high-margin products—with Jeeter alone generating $26.7 million in California sales in a single quarter. Clinton and Khalifa are betting that authenticity—and funk—can carve out space in a category that’s now the main event.
How The Collab Happened
Clinton and Wiz Khalifa already shared creative orbit—Khalifa even played Clinton in a Mothership-era film cameo. After sampling Khalifa Kush, Clinton says the taste and feel snapped him back to the 1960s and ’70s. “This is what I’m looking for,” he remembers thinking. From there, the families connected, the wives kept momentum, and The Funk took shape with Clinton’s fingerprints on how it should hit—“bodywise, mentally and just for fun.”
Industry, Equity And American Contradictions
Clinton isn’t trying to be a policy advocate—but he’s seen the contradictions up close. “I’m not the one to stand in front of Congress and try to convince anybody,” he said. “They’ll just know I like it.”
For him, the American legalization story has been about economics over justice. Institutions that once punished cannabis culture now profit from it; the communities that built it still chase equity. According to the ACLU, Black Americans remain nearly four times more likely to be arrested for cannabis offenses than white Americans, despite similar usage rates. Meanwhile, the legal industry remains disproportionately white and male.
Clinton doesn’t offer a roadmap, but he’s clear about who belongs at the table: artists, legacy growers, and anyone who helped normalize the plant long before tax revenue justified it. “Cannabis has always been good,” he said. “They just finally figured out how to profit off of it without getting in trouble.”
Music, Memory And A Multi-Generational Legacy
Clinton’s move into cannabis isn’t a pivot; it’s a continuation of the world he built. From Parliament’s space-age funk to Funkadelic’s psychedelic sermons, weed wasn’t a side note—it was part of the sound.
That legacy now spans generations. Clinton is on tour with his children and grandchildren, celebrating 50 years of landmark albums and passing the torch in real time. The Funk reflects that handoff—its name inspired in part by his granddaughter’s song, its visuals echoing the cosmic mythos he minted.
Meanwhile, an Eddie Murphy-directed biopic is in the works. Clinton doesn’t know which scenes will make the cut, but he trusts the storyteller. “Whatever they come up with, I’m fine with,” he said. “We were building characters people would want to talk about later.”
Five Quick Hits with George
- First heard about “medical” cannabis: “In the ’60s… jazz musicians talked about stress, anxiety—chilling out. We’d already seen it.”
- Joint with anyone, dead or alive? “Jimi Hendrix. I’d want to hear how he felt that change—from blues to the psychedelic era.”
- On the war on drugs: “There’s more money in pretending they’re stopping it than selling it.”
- Advice to young artists: “Love what you’re doing and put work in. It shows in the end.”
- Brand promise: “Uncut funk.”
Built On Legacy, Not Hype
Celebrity weed is everywhere; The Funk is rooted somewhere else. Clinton didn’t enter for trend points—he’s been here. In a crowded market chasing volume and shelf space, The Funk leans into what made the plant sacred in the first place: taste, timing, feel.
He’s not chasing politics or influence. He’s doing what he’s always done: building worlds you can step into.
“Something’s stankin’—and they want some.”
— George Clinton
With The Funk, he’s adding one more chapter to the mythology. This time, in smoke.
This article originally appeared on Forbes in May, 2025, and was adapted and expanded for High Times based on the original interview.
Photo: Shutterstock
