High Culture: Meet Dope As Yola, The World’s Favorite Cannabis Content Creator

With over 1.34 million subscribers on YouTube, Dope As Yola has become one of the most beloved cannabis content creators the culture has ever seen.

Born Thomas Araujo, he’s known for creating different weed-friendly and informational videos like smoking a $200 joint, reviewing products, and how to roll any sort of canna-creation you could think of.

He’s a true favorite of the cannabis community worldwide. But how did he get so popular? How did he turn his cannabis consumption into a full-blown career?

In a recent interview with Forbes, Araujo answered why he thinks he might be one of the most popular cannabis content creators.

“I recently got deleted off Instagram, again. I had about 4.1 million followers,” he expressed. Unfortunately, this is nothing new for cannabis content creators, entrepreneurs, and even businesses trying to promote their products.

Araujo added some impressive facts, “My Snapchat was number two in the country, not just for cannabis, but in general: It was Kylie Jenner, me, and Cardi B. And then they deleted that also.”

In terms of his YouTube views, his “watch time is roughly 70 million watch time minutes a month. So I get in a day what some of the biggest cannabis websites get in a month,” says Araujo.

People have grown to love Araujo’s content due to his honest and blunt approach, pun intended. He’s a no-bullshit type of creator who’s on a mission to help inform consumers of what’s worth it and what’s not.

He’s a seasoned, friendly cannabis connoisseur who knows his way around every method of ingestion.

Araujo’s fame in the cannabis world has even attracted attention from major celebrities. He has the Dope As Usual podcast, which has featured notable names like B-Real, Steve-O, and Ricky Williams.

One of the most memorable moments of the podcast was getting Tommy Chong to share a joint with him.

Araujo told Forbes, “I rolled a joint for Tommy Chong to smoke in 2015, and I think that was the most memorable one, just sitting there unable to believe this was where weed had brought me.”

With so much fame and respect in the cannabis world, you’d think Araujo would be the first one to march down to Congress and express the benefits of legalizing cannabis federally.

He said if he could testify in front of Congress, “I think they’d kick me out because I’d be so blunt.”

For Araujo, he says it all comes down to the calming, relaxed nature of cannabis users. “I’ve never seen a pot fight, but I’ve seen bar fights. I’ve seen people get killed and shot drunk. I’ve never once met anybody smoke a bowl and go, ‘let’s box.'”

He concluded that if everyone “smoked a joint and forgot about religious beliefs and political beliefs and laws, I think a lot of people would change their perspective on life.”

But, he knows the government isn’t always so accepting of the idea that cannabis can change the world. “And [lawmakers] are not going to try to hear that; that’s why I would be escorted out of the building,” he expressed.