Jay-Z’s cannabis brand, Monogram, launched in 2020 amid glowing media coverage in GQ, Vogue, and Vanity Fair soon followed. However, four years later, Monogram seems to have vanished from the market.

Monogram, the result of a merger of three cannabis companies that went public via a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), seemed to be in an unbeatable position, with board member Michael Aurbach touting its massive cash reserves and Jay-Z serving as the chief visionary officer. What could go wrong?

Then This Happened

For starters, TPCO, which entered the cannabis market with $575 million in cash, reported a staggering $587 million loss in 2022, primarily due to overvalued acquisitions, unmet sales projections and stiff competition, notes SF.

After burning through half a billion dollars, TPCO merged with Gold Flora Corp. (CBOE: GRAM) (OTCQB:GRAM) in 2023, but only retained a 49% stake in the new entity. Monogram separated from TPCO in late 2022, though Gold Flora retained distribution rights.

From Luxury To Loss To Billions, For Jay-Z That Is

Cannabis investor Seth Yakatan told SFGATE that The Parent Company was spending "mind-boggling" amounts of money during its brief time and that Jay-Z's pricey Monogram products failed to live up to the hype.

Apparently the $50 hand-rolls also fell flat, especially after a GQ review criticized them for failing to stay lit — a basic requirement for any joint.

"Like many other things we've seen in cannabis surrounding rappers, the hype hasn't met the reality. Monogram was supposed to be an ultra-premium product, and I don’t know anyone who tried it and thought it was anything more than mid-tier," Yakatan said.

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