High Culture: The Strains That Made Hip-Hop’s Biggest Hits

Isn’t cannabis culture amazing? 

Our culture seamlessly blends into others like music, fashion, and so many more. In fact, we wouldn’t have half of hip-hop’s iconic tunes if it weren’t for cannabis. 

More specifically, rappers far and wide have noted their love for certain strains, especially when in the studio. Keep reading to see what rappers and producers were smoking when creating their biggest hits.

For a song as vibey and lifted as “So High,” you can trust Wiz was smoking that good-good in the studio. He loves rolling up thick finger-sized blunts, which can be seen in many of his music videos and social media posts. 

Wiz Khalifa adores OG Kush, and it’s safe to say that this strain helped spark some creativity and flow for the “So High” rapper. However, his favorite strain has to be his own, Khalifa Kush. 

This strain is said to give off similar effects and flavors as OG Kush, a potent Indica-leaning hybrid.

This heated hip-hop bop was produced by Quality Control’s Grammy-nominated engineer J Rich. He’s helped bring Quality Control to the masses through exciting collaborations with the Migos, City Girls, Lil Baby, and many more. 

In an interview with J. Rich, he says the perfect strain for studio time is Sharklato. He believes this strain offers relaxing, euphoric effects that let him focus on his work. 

Sharklato is a balanced hybrid strain with a 22-28% THC content. It’s known to make users feel relaxed, uplifted, talkative, and euphoric.

Back when the D-O-Double-G rebranded himself as Snoop Lion, he dropped one of the most iconic stoner anthems to date. The legendary “Smoke The Weed” by Snoop Dogg is a groovy blend of hip-hop and reggae. 

If it weren’t for his favorite strain, Granddaddy Purple, would we even have this track? Snoop has raved about the powerful sedative effects of Granddaddy Purple, an Indica strain that brings the user into a melted, zen, and relaxed state.

Formerly known as YBN Cordae (now Cordae), the young rapper blasted the scene with his debut album, ‘The Lost Boy.’ When creating the hit track, “Have Mercy,” Cordae looked to some of his favorite strains for a boost of creativity and confidence. 

Cordae explained that his favorite strain is Cherry Pie OG. He says it “elevates your ears” and lets him find new ways to approach his engineering techniques. 

Cherry Pie OG is a rich and powerful hybrid made by crossing Granddaddy Purple and F1 Durb. Its flavor profile offers sweet, creamy cherry notes and blasts the user with a sense of balance, optimism, and bliss.

If it weren’t for producer Ron Gilmore Jr., we wouldn’t have the groovy and catchy “Crooked Smile” by J. Cole. This track was a summer anthem in the mid-2010s and is still blasted today. 

In an interview with ONE37pm, Gilmore Jr. said he was smoking Sour Diesel in the studio when making “Crooked Smile.” 

“J. Cole and Elite left the studio and I did the music for ‘Crooked Smile.’ It turned out to be some beautiful-ass music,” he says. 

With some help from Sour Diesel, of course. This iconic strain is a lively Sativa bred from Chemdawg and Super Skunk. The result is a 20-25% Sativa strain that packs vibrant euphoric, creative, cerebral, and exciting effects.

For a fire track like ScHoolboy Q’s “Dope Dealer,” it’s only right that he was sparking some fire in the studio. And no, we’re not talking about his bars. 

The self-proclaimed “Man Of The Year” has a very relaxed, blissed-out nature in many of his tunes. We can thank his favorite strain, OG Kush, for providing some of his biggest tracks to date. 

There seems to be a ton of rappers that rave about OG Kush, an Indica-dominant hybrid. This strain is a heavy hitter and crashes the user with relaxed, euphoric, and creative effects.