Landon Buford
For the past 20 years, Damien “Big Percy” Roderick, the CEO and founder of RMM [Roderick Music Marketing], has been the right-hand man to one of Hip Hop’s Iconic artists. According to Roderick, you might know him as Snoop Dogg, Snoop Lion, or even DJ Snoopadelic, but he is also known as family.
Roderick was introduced to Snoop by another hip-hop legend by the name of Kokane.
During this time, Roderick returned home from chasing his basketball dreams overseas and liking in managing artists under his then-company, 7th South Entertainment.
The entertainment company featured two influencers from Pomona. On this day, Kokane was scheduled to work with the legendary Warren G; when word came around, Snoop also wanted to work on something with Kokane. This would end up being the first time Roderick would meet Snoop at his studio.
Eventually, Snoop and Roderick would get the chance to speak, and the rest is history. According to Roderick, the fact that he came to the table having business entities to his name instead of looking to leech off the Icon was the major reason why they are still close today.
“I think that was the key factor of me coming around and being able to stay around because when Snoop and I were talking. Within less than a week, I already brought in two big money plays to him from Penthouse Players Clique and Bishop Don “Magic” Juan… Snoop told me, Big P, I’m going to let you in the door; it’s your job to kick in the door, and that’s what I have been doing ever since,” Roderick said during an interview over the phone.
Roderick, over the last couple of years, has secured business deals in companies such as True Legacy Vodka, NUGL Inc. NUGL has a unique manner of quickly connecting the consumer with the most related businesses in their geographic search regions based on keywords, providing a superior consumer database that is revered by both industry and mainstream consumers for being one of the most trusted cannabis websites.
Also, Roderick owns a clothing store named “The Place” in the Las Vegas Boulevard Mall and recently partnered with Pineapple, Inc, a publicly-traded cannabis company on the stock exchange.
“Pineapple Inc is the only company that has an African American CEO & President which doesn’t exist in the cannabis industry or barely in any industry in the country,” according to Pineapple Inc’s CEO, Shawn Credle.
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ick has been approached by other cannabis companies in the past about partnering with them, but felt it was the right opportunity for him. What set Pineapple, Inc apart from others was that the company had an African American CEO, President, and is blacked owned.
“I have been in the cannabis space illegally and legally for years, and it came from all these opportunities from friends and colleagues. That was jumping into the cannabis space and knowing the legal side, vending side, and the dispensary side.
And when I meet the CEO of Pineapple, Inc, Shawn through Deebo [Thomas “Tiny” Lister Jr.] We were at a weed convention in Las Vegas, and I am on the board of directors of NUGL Magazine, which is kind of like weed maps on steroids. It is a cannabis-based culture driven as a way people can find out more about the legal side,” Roderick shared.
“People can find out where they can get the best legal weed; NUGL has a unique manner of quickly connecting the consumer with the most related businesses in their geographic search regions. It is based on keywords, providing a superior consumer database revered by both industry and mainstream consumers for being one of the most trusted cannabis websites.
“I was at the Las Vegas weed convention a couple of years ago when I learned that Deebo was down at the Pineapple, Inc booth, so I called him and went down with the NUGL team, and met the Pineapple Inc team. Shawn and I started brainstorming and networking for about a year and a half now, and they came with an offer I could not refuse. I wanted to help my people get legal and get the information they did not know how to get to, and I wanted to jump into the cannabis space.”
“The key for me was that it was black-owned. I have been approached before it did not feel right. As I said, Shawn and I developed a friendship, and he has done a lot with my business partner Dave Evans, who owns Backstage Magazine,” Roderick said.
Pineapple, Inc has been in business since 1996, and is one of the first internet-based cannabis businesses in the industry. Pineapple Wellness is the only arm under the Pineapple, Inc umbrella that can ship products nationwide as they are CBD/Hemp only.
The company is also in the process of expanding the brand into Puerto Rico. According to Credle, he is working on being the first delivery service on the island to its medical patients.
Pineapple, Inc is also helping Puerto Rico to continue to rebuild after the devastations of late (hurricanes, earthquakes.) They are also offering interested parties in other legal markets the opportunity to franchise both Pineapple Inc and THC brands.
It has been reported that banks and insurance companies do not generally provide for the Cannabis industry. However, Credle says that is not necessarily true.
“There are legal cannabis-friendly credit unions/banks, but just like cannabis-friendly insurance companies, they come at a premium. Pineapple would help with setting up their franchise with everything they need and ongoing support to ensure the brand’s consistency and integrity and overall, the organization.”
There is also insurance available, but since there are not many companies that insurance cannabis base entities, they charge a premium for coverage.
“If folks are interested in franchising, they would need to reach out to me directly,” Credle said.
