Life with Wiz Khalifa | DJ Bonics

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Hey, it's your boy DJ Bonics, official DJ for Wiz Khalifa, Taylor Gang, Director of Strategic Partnerships for Jardin Premium Cannabis Dispensary, and all-around great guy. Join me on the Grow Weed Atome podcast with Kyle Kushman. It's a great episode, you're going to get to know me, I'm going to get to know Kyle, and we're going to get to know each other, you know what I'm saying? Let's go!

Kyle: Hey, hey everybody! We're here with another great episode. We're here on Equity Row, 40 Tons at MJ Biscon, and we're here with DJ Bonics, also called Brandon by his friends.

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Yeah, that's right. My mom gave me that good name. Good to meet you!

Kyle: Good to meet you! 

Brandon (DJ Bonics): What is Equity Row though?

Kyle: Well, Equity Row means you know, it stands for all the people who’ve been put in jail for cannabis that are now trying to take part in the actual business. You know what I mean? People are making millions of dollars and there are still people in jail for it, right? So, some of the states have mandated that certain numbers of the licenses and permits and all those things have to be offered to people who have been impacted negatively before it's opened up to just the general millionaires and billionaires. It's something, at least.

Brandon (DJ Bonics): It’s something.

Kyle: At least it’s something, right? I’m not making any money here, that’s not why I’m here. Right? I’m here just for the experience, and I know you make music.

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Right.

Kyle: And people who make music make money off of it, but you don’t make music to make money. It comes beforehand, right? 

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Yeah, that’s not how it really begins, you know?

Kyle: So, what’s for you, what’s the intersection between cannabis and business?

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Well, you know, we never thought about it in the beginning as business, right? It kind of was what helped us get creative, and it was a ritual that we had, right? We get together with the homies, smoke some weed, come up with some ideas, maybe start hitting some keys or whatever, and you know, hit the turntables and bang out some ideas. So, I think it was always like, it’s like our companion, you know, like our plant Pokémon, if you will, that kind of has always been with us on the journey. And so, you know, I kind of grew up in the Hip-Hop angle of it—hip-hop, DJing, radio, eventually—and then getting on tour with Wiz Khalifa. And what I didn’t realize when I started, when I joined the road with Wiz Khalifa, was that Wiz and I would become an icon, and I was next to him, basically watching it happen.

Brandon (DJ Bonics): So, meeting all these characters on the way—Josh from Raw, or the Burners—and just the personalities within the space, you know, I kind of had a default degree into it. And so, now we’re at this place with MJ Biscon, which is an amazing thing. And every aspect of cannabis, from clothes to food to dispensary to growing seed to sale, it’s here. And now seeing peers along the way become, you know, very successful—it’s not even about the money, like you said—but being able to impact the world through cannabis, whether it’s music or any angle of it, so yeah, we’re here, it’s great.

Brandon (DJ Bonics): And because of that experience I had, you know, that experience got me to Jardin, which is the dispensary that I’m working in marketing with now and kind of helping them, you know, helping their branding and getting the word out about them, and building relationships with the community and the artist community, you know, locally and internationally. So, I think you're right, you know, I don’t think it’s most—it’s not—it wasn’t, especially in cannabis, man, we just enjoyed it. We enjoyed the ritual, passing it. How we got it didn’t come free, you know? Some of us learned to grow it, some of us had to make money to get it. And, uh, being a part of that whole journey and having it be through music...

Brandon (DJ Bonics): And then most recently I’ve been DJing with Snoop Dogg, which, you know, I had a Snoop poster in my room growing up. So, being able to be with him, 

Kyle: It must be on another level.

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Like, it’s another level, ‘cause even as a dude that has been DJing for 25 years, and I’m a grown middle-aged guy, being on stage with Snoop Dogg never gets dull. And, you know, he even passed me the joint on stage the other day, and it’s just like...

Kyle: Have you hotboxed him yet?

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Uh, we've smoked definitely a lot, but we haven’t necessarily hotboxed. But, you know, we’ve definitely smoked. We’ve been, you know, we’ve toured with him a lot. You know, with Wiz, 'cause him and Snoop are very close, and so it’s family now. And, you know, just being here, walking the floor at Biscon, seeing a lot of peers who I’ve known throughout the years start this small in the industry and now they have their own booths, or now they’re the face of different lanes in cannabis, it’s just, you know, it’s a celebration. I love this for this city and for the industry. I get to meet cool people like you, you know?

Kyle: Thank you! So, what’s it like? I’m going to say the brand name wrong again...

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Yeah, no, you got it. Jardin.

Kyle: Jardin, yeah. So, what’s it like, you know, repping a brand like Jardin in Vegas?

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Well, the one thing I love about Jardin, again, and bringing it back to where did we learn about cannabis, you know, is that they really support the culture. Local artists, we support a lot of DJs, musicians, athletes. And we just kind of like make it a little bit sexier than it being such a stoner kind of approach. So, it’s a little bit of a sexier approach as far as dispensary, but what I really do believe is our relationship with the culture. We have a lot of artists just stop by, and they come, they visit the dispensary. We have our own podcast room, you know, we sponsor a lot of parties, and you’ll even catch us at some events outside of Las Vegas.

Brandon (DJ Bonics): So, it being kind of a boutique dispensary, we’ve kind of made waves, I think, internationally, just with what we bring to the table. And, you know, we have some—we’re going to be expanding—but it’s really about, it’s hard curating a brand. Like, a lot of these brands that we celebrated 10 years ago, they’re not here right now, you know, even though they were the pioneers and we celebrated them. So, especially with cannabis being a little, I don’t know, watered down to a certain degree, longevity, I think, is important in this game. To be able to maintain kind of excitement through it all, ‘cause it’s tough, you know, the cannabis laws in Vegas are a little bit strong, you know, people’s accounts always get taken down, and, you know, you could see crazy stuff on the internet.

Kyle: You know, what I like? I like meeting people such as yourself. The Cannabis Community is the most eclectic community on the face of the Earth. It’s got to be, right? I mean, there’s people from every walk of life. Everybody’s got every reason you can think of, right, for why they want to be in the business or why they smoke cannabis or why cannabis saved their life, right?

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Yeah, that’s what I was going to say. Truly, it helped people. It helps people, and I just think that that alone is a great motivation for someone in every single angle—from food to drink to just lifestyle or hemp clothing, or... I mean— 

Kyle: So, what about you? Did you—you know, most of us have had our run-ins, you know. Did you get in trouble with the law in this [ __ ]?

Brandon (DJ Bonics): You know, I didn’t actually get in trouble. I dodged a few bullets being on the road, definitely.

Kyle: Okay, you don’t have to...

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Yeah, exactly. Uh, and it’s gotten tight. I’ve accepted that one day maybe in the newspaper, it’ll say, “Wiz’s DJ smokes pot,” you know, maybe. 

Kyle: Yeah, but that ain’t like, uh, Adam or Stein and Darling Nutting arrested with 50 lbs of marijuana worth 3 million dollars in Upstate New York. 

Brandon (DJ Bonics): I mean, you guys like crawled so we can walk. 

Kyle: You know, spending 10 days in jail thinking you’re going to do 10 years. You know? 

Brandon (DJ Bonics): What was that like, man? I mean, was it scary then, or did you know you were doing the right thing as far as helping people in that matter?

Kyle: You know, I cried myself to sleep my third night in jail. My third night in jail. I mean, I’m not saying I just wept, but I know I cried.

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Did you think your relationship with the plant... or how did that change your relationship with that?

Kyle: Well, see, while I was in jail, I just really thought I wasn’t getting out, right? So, I was just preparing myself to be there. Oh, [ __ ] you know. And then, uh, and then all of a sudden, it was really—it’s funny you asked. So, one day I wake up, it was like the fourth or the fifth or the sixth day I was in there, ‘cause I was in for 10 days. I woke up and I had this feeling, I had this feeling like everything was going to be all right, right? And I—and later on that day, one of the guards said, “You got a phone call. Your lawyer called.” I didn’t have a lawyer. Well, I worked for High Times magazine and they got me a lawyer.

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Wow.

Kyle: So, this lawyer didn’t even have to come down out of the city. She got me released on an illegal search and seizure over the phone.

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Wow. How much?

Kyle: I got caught with like 3 and 2 lbs. I mean, it was like 13. I don’t even remember, because they lied. It was like, they said it was $3.5 million worth of weed, like 20 lbs. It was really like three, and like, it’s like 7 lbs or something, right? And uh, yeah, I—that was my thing. I got out after 10 days, and uh, legal search and seizure. Thought I was going to be there for 10 years, right?

Brandon (DJ Bonics): You know, well, we’re glad you’re here, man.

Kyle: I’m glad I’m here too. So, how long have you been in Vegas?

Brandon (DJ Bonics): I’ve been in Vegas for three years. It was kind of the COVID pivot. Uh, we weren’t having any shows, no DJ shows or concerts, so it got a little scary. And, um, Adam, the owner of Jardin, I had already been doing kind of influencing for them, and he had a spot for me. And it’s really been great, because I think everyone at least visits Vegas once a year, you know, whether they want to or not.

Kyle: Whether they want to or not.

Brandon (DJ Bonics): You know what I mean? Um, whether it’s conventions. So, you know, we’re hoping that we’re the closest thing to Amsterdam, you know, in the U.S. because of all the entertainment. Whether it’s conventions, so someone, you know, we’re hoping that we’re the closest thing to Amsterdam, you know, in the U.S. because of all the entertainment. So, it’s been a cool opportunity to kind of showcase what we do, and um, Vegas has been great, you know, tying in the weed with the entertainment part. I have some DJ residencies here, and uh, it’s been a pretty great three years.

Kyle: So, what’s your, um, your main connection like? Uh, how much do you utilize cannabis, and how much does it, uh, intersect with your profession as a DJ?

Brandon (DJ Bonics): I mean, it’s daily for the most part. I, you know, it can be every day, starting from the morning and through, and some days it’s not like that. But it’s a—I hate to say it, but it just makes me feel leveled, you know what I mean? I think there’s a lot of...

Kyle: Well, that’s kind of what I was getting at, so it’s not one of those things like, like you say, “I got a big gig tonight, I’m not going to get high.”

Brandon (DJ Bonics): I mean, that might happen, like for the actual for the Snoop gig on Amazon, uh, you know, a few days ago, I was like, you know what, let me not. But I like to, when I’m doing daily stuff or when I’m doing anything on cannabis, I like to say, like, sometimes you like to play the video game on a different level, right? Harder, you know? I don’t think it’s about easy or hard, and I think that’s kind of the energy of jam bands. Kind of is like, what’s high tonight and how is it going to come? How are we playing tonight? And I think it makes everything unique. So, in that, and that’s how I look at it, is that it’s just a, overall, I’m not much of an alcohol drinker, I don’t take much pills or painkiller type things, and um, and it’s just a plus one in life.

Kyle: As we’re moving along through this wonderful world of cannabis, what is like, uh, what desire, what goal do you have for yourself?

Brandon (DJ Bonics): I mean, I think it’s just continuing to do it the way honestly how I’ve been moving around. You know, I didn’t—I’m not necessarily—I didn’t have to get kicked in the balls to continue my career. Like, I just want to continue to be a brand that people, you know, just follow and see this blue-collar journey. And I think continuing with Jardin as they expand, and really what I love about Jardin is that it gives back to the culture.

Brandon (DJ Bonics): You know, like I had said, we learned about weed through music, through hanging out with our friends, through music, through movies. And I think that Jardin's relationship with artists locally, internationally, and nationally, and giving back to them and sponsoring things, and we know when they come in, giving them another home, because, you know, people are coming to Vegas once at least once a year, if that. So, I think it’s really—it’s a great intersection now where culture meets cannabis, and I’m glad that they, you know, support that.

Kyle: Is there anything else that you can say about, like, how you would like other people to approach cannabis, being that you have experience with, you know, health and well-being? And, I mean, do you have a health reason for being in the cannabis industry? Do you have a story behind it?

Brandon (DJ Bonics): I mean, you know, there definitely was. Uh, back in 2010, actually, the first year that I was with Wiz, I was partying a lot, you know what I mean? And I had some heart problems, and I had a heart attack, actually, then.

Kyle: Wow.

Brandon (DJ Bonics): And I’m not saying that cannabis, to smoke cannabis, if you’ve had that in the past, but, you know, I remember asking my doctor about it, and then it was kind of sketchy. It was like, well, is it okay if I smoke cannabis? And, because smoking cigarettes and drinking, I think, it’s a lot of different things. And my doctor at the time said, “I can’t tell you, no.” And so, to be able to kind of stop all the other vices, you know, I was definitely doing other things then, and kind of make cannabis the more default sort of relaxer.

Brandon (DJ Bonics): And it’s, like I said before, it’s been our—it’s been our buddy. It’s been my buddy the whole time. And I think you can abuse it, um, but as far as health’s concerned, it’s helped a lot of people. It’s got them off the white pills, they obviously, uh, can, you know, help creators, but I think, you know, with CBD, you know, even my mom, who thinks that cannabis is the scariest thing ever, because that’s how they were programmed, you know, she’s asking me to send her CBD, you know what I mean? So, that’s amazing. You know, it’s a plant, it’s from the earth, it’s for the people. 

Kyle: It is nice to be on the right side of, uh, of a community that is just, you know, is holy—uh, what’s the word I’m looking for? It’s, uh, not giving. We’re just, uh, accepting, right? You know, there’s not a lot of, uh, limitations to who you can be, what you have to look like—male, female, big, small, dark, light, right?

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Right, right.

Kyle: You know, old, young. 

Brandon (DJ Bonics): That’s the beautiful thing about the shop even, is seeing the variety of people that are coming. Like, people that you may not agree with politically, you know, but they’re in there as well. And that’s what I’m saying, is that weed and cannabis, it’s—it’s a—it’s a beautiful thing. 

Kyle: Cannabis brings people together.

Brandon (DJ Bonics): Yeah, that’s right, you know, for sure. Look, it brought us together.

Kyle: It did bring us together. So, what—what are you, uh—anything special that you can, uh, that you want to mention coming up in the near future?

Brandon (DJ Bonics): You know, I think I’ll be dropping, personally, as DJ Bonics, probably drop some more music. And I’m kind of jumping into where I want to go in my creative bag. I think being in the corporate aspect of weed has definitely helped me kind of come out of the chaotic COVID period, and, um, financially has helped me, you know, bring us back after there were no DJ gigs and all that. Uh, so just moving forward, just helping expand the brand Jardin, and then my own musical endeavors, you know. I’ve been, uh, doing some shows with Snoop, which is very exciting, and watching Wiz continue to do his thing, and, and even my own DJ adventures around the world. So, you know, I think I have a lot of creative things that I want to do, but nothing really in stone. I think it’s just follow the adventures.

Kyle: Well, if you’re ever—if you’re ever looking for a collaboration, I think I’d be good for like an Afroman part two—"Because I Got High." But then I got high...

Brandon (DJ Bonics): I love that. Hey, I’m open to it. So, yeah.

Kyle: Well, thanks for coming on the show, man. I hope you’ll check us out. I’ll check you out online, and, uh, thanks for being here with us for another great episode at MJ Biscon.