A Salute To Weed Carriers

A handful of weed carriers have mastered the art of multi-tasking. Here are three examples:

Red Cafe

Originally a member of a group called Da Franchise, who had a deal with Violator Records that went nowhere, Red Cafe then embarked on a staggering run of fruitless record labels deals which quickly evolved into a string of weed carrying positions of epic proportions. He signed to Arista in 2003 with only a couple of singles released to show for it, before he was recruited to carry chronic for LA rapper Mack 10 and was rewarded with a deal on Hoo-Bangin’ Records/Capitol in 2005. Only a year later he began stashing for Akon, which saw him join the Konvict Muzik/Universal roster in 2006 before the imprint shifted to Interscope in 2007, although this was a mere technicality since he still failed to drop an official album. In desperation, he made ‘The Co-Op’ mixtape with DJ Envy and was able to get it issued via KOCH Records, who literally put out anything with beats and rhymes on it, regardless of the quality.

Fast forward to 2013, and Red Cafe is apparently “signed to Konvict Muzik, Bad Boy Records and Ciroc Entertainment and the Desert Storm label”, which effectively means he is committed to handling the baggage of Akon, Diddy and DJ Clue. No wonder he doesn’t have time to drop an album! His debut LP, ‘ShakeDown’, is listed as having a 2013 release date but I’ll believe it when I see it since he’s managed to avoid doing so for the past ten years.

Hanz On aka Hannibal The Great

This versatile handler dropped his first album, ‘Out Of Chef’s Kitchen’, on Ice Water Inc. in 2010 as a reward for years of loyal service holding trees for Shallah Raekwon. Also handy as goon, Hanz On famously put his “hanz” on Joe Budden backstage at Rock The Bells in 2009 and left with a black eye. In 2012 he moved on from handling baggage for Raekwon (at least in an official capacity) and started his own label, but the title of his new album – ‘Method Man Presents: Hannibal The Great’ – reveals that he continues to maintain his sour stashing activities for the Wu.

He told SILive: “I’ve never been a good criminal — that’s what my aunt always used to say. Right now I’m trying to gain stability for me and my family. I put a lot into this album, so I’m going to work it hard. I ain’t looking to get rich. I’m not looking for big mansions, big cars. I just need stability”. Sounds like a man who was born to carry weed.

French Montana

After serving a stint holding smoke for Akon, French Montana was simultaneously recruited by both Diddy and Rick Ross to carry trees, while still having enough of that sour left over to get Chinx Drugz and the rest of the unfortunately-named Coke Boys to stash for him. Unlike Consequence, French seems to have no problem holding that loud for a number of parties at once, which apparently doesn’t leave him much time to do “anything lyrical”, as he recently admitted.