Married to marijuana - review

Produced by: Klub Kush
Initial release: 2014

A lot of nowadays hip-hop artists are all about the bling, the benjamins, and yes, Mary Jane. Of course hip-hop and marijuana have always gone hand in hand, but with legalization spreading, it has become an even hipper subject than ever before. Today, this music genre levels the playing field with reggae when it comes to association with marijuana consumption.

Back in 2014, Klub Kush decided to make a documentary about the relationship between hip-hop and marijuana through the eyes (and inspired by the book) of DJ Jason "Big Kush" Berry who himself does all the interviewing, and we of course had to take a look at it.

THE GOOD

This documentary involves some famous artists and characters in hip-hop, such as B-Real from Cypress Hill, Method Man, Chef Raekwon, Jadakiss, Devin the Dude, and a couple others. It’s a nice documentary that explains the hip-hop-meets-cannabis scene from the inside.

All of the interviewees are asked about their first experiences with Mary Jane, and each provides an interesting answer. They go through some of their favorite strains and share some interesting historical facts surrounding hip-hop and weed.

It’s funny to watch B-Real from Cypress Hill claiming that California takes the throne when it comes to cannabis quality, especially in comparison with Amsterdam. There's a lot of gloating involved— but what do you expect from a hip-hop documentary?

THE BAD

The audio quality sometimes is quite poor, with the volume between the interviewer and interviewee differing significantly. Also, the sound quality changed between clips.

Even though all the interviews were engaging, they would have been better with some historical background on the evolution of the relationship between hip-hop and marijuana.

The film would probably also benefit from a more in-depth cultural perspective on the issues discussed. Some of the plants shown in this documentary were quite weak in comparison with professionally grown cannabis, however, Chef Raekwon seemed to enjoy them.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Hip-hop is taking over the world with its Kush-infused poetry. In the '20s–'30s, marijuana was mostly associated with the Jazz scene; in the '60s–'80s, with the rock and reggae scenes. Right now, it seems as if there is a massive shift occurring, in which hip-hop is claiming the gold medal for representing all things cannabis.

Even though the documentary could have been made a bit more professionally, it is still worth your high. Check it out.