By Mekhi Abbott
Special to the AFRO
mabbott@afro.com
The National Hip-Hop Museum is tapping into the cannabis industry, opening three new dispensary locations in Washington, D.C., with an eye toward fundraising.
The Orbit Shop, the Lifted Shop and the Lifted Lounge do not serve solely as cannabis venues. Each store has a unique customer experience, including unique collectables, artwork and more.
Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Beaver spoke to the AFRO about the constant evolution of both the Hip-Hop Museum and the cannabis industry.
“The ever-changing aspect refers to the rollercoaster ride anyone would go on when trying to create the world’s first hip-hop museum. There’s a lot of challenges and a lot of really fun, fulfilling aspects. This is one of those fun, fulfilling aspects,” said Beaver. “With the help of our retail director Erica Parham, we transformed our gift and retail store into a world-class, online collectable and retail business with all things related to classic hip-hop. One of the big things we’re doing is using cannabis as an opportunity to raise more money for the museum while also adhering to the new laws in Washington, D.C.”
The three dispensaries will be located throughout the heart of the District. The Lifted Shop is located near the entrance of Howard University at 2622 Georgia Ave. The Lifted Shop is also home to The House of Hip-Hop, the National Hip-Hop Museum’s main exhibit gallery. The Lifted Lounge, located at 406 Florida Ave. NW, will serve as both an art gallery and smoke lounge equipped with a gaming lounge and live DJs. The Orbit Shop on 18th Street NW is already home to the Hip-Hop Shop, the National Hip-Hop Museum’s flagship retail store, home to the East Coast’s largest collection of hip-hop memorabilia and merchandise. The Orbit Shop will only offer medical marijuana, as the law mandates in Washington, D.C.
“We’re going through the process of getting licensed right now so that our retail store has the ability to sell legal, medical cannabis products in Washington, D.C. It’s medical, not recreational. That’s the way the law here states,” said Beaver.
The Orbit Shop, Lifted Shop and Lifted Lounge have already partnered with classic hip-hop acts with their own strains of medical cannabis. For example, The Sugar Hill Gang has a strain called Sugar Hill Delight and Grandmaster Caz’s strain is called Casanova Fly.
Beaver and the National Hip-Hip Museum have made a concerted effort to honor the pioneers of hip-hop. Beaver is very intentional about giving recognition to the original contributors of hip-hop culture before turning his attention to newer acts.
“There are still so many legendary, pioneering acts that we haven’t honored yet from the year 1973 to 2000,” he said. “We want to shine a light on some of the legends that may not have received the accolades, awards or plaques, but had a huge impact on not only music but larger society.”
At the end of 2024, the National Hip-Hop Museum paid homage to many pivotal contributors to the genre at the Hip-Hop Holidays Honors.
Improvements to The House of Hip-Hop, which doubles as the Lifted Lounge, are underway to provide a full, immersive and entertaining experience for customers and hip-hop enthusiasts.
“We’re going to be opening our new space, The House of Hip-Hop on 406 Florida Ave., in the next couple of months. It’s going to be equipped with a performance stage and it’s going to have a liquor licence so we can serve alcoholic beverages. We’ll have two floors consisting of an art gallery and an outdoor deck as well as a lounge,” said Beaver. “Short of a really large, unified hip-hop museum downtown which is being worked on, this is an opportunity for people to come in, see the memorabilia and art, check out a performance or book and really just enjoy themselves.”