The artist is entering cannabis as co-founder and brand ambassador of Young Gong, a new venture with Dr. Sha-Ron Pierre-Kovler’s Glenmere Farms Enterprises.
YG Marley is entering the cannabis business.
The artist is launching Young Gong, a new cannabis brand created with Glenmere Farms Enterprises, the New York-based company led by biomedical scientist Dr. Sha-Ron Pierre-Kovler. The official launch is set for April 19 with a “Countdown to 4/20” event at Partake NYC in Long Island City, during the 2nd day of NYC’s weekend-long Kanafest.
According to materials shared exclusively with High Times, Marley is part of the venture as co-founder and brand ambassador, giving the project a more direct connection to the artist than the usual celebrity licensing play. The brand is being positioned around cannabis, music and meditation, with the name “Young Gong” drawing on both Marley’s identity and the idea of sound as a healing force.
“I’ve wanted to work with Dr. Sha-Ron for a while now,” Marley said. “I saw that she is a creative genius. She understands this plant is more than just a feeling — it’s a frequency.”
Pierre-Kovler said Marley made sense as a partner not just because of his public profile, but because of his long relationship to cannabis culture and his instinct for pairing strains with mood, setting and experience. In her view, New York also offers the right backdrop for that kind of rollout, giving the brand a chance to build cannabis-centered experiences in a market still taking shape.
That language carries through the rest of the rollout. Young Gong is framed not just as a cannabis line but as a broader lifestyle brand, one that leans on the overlap between cannabinoids, sound and wellness. The company says packaging will include QR codes unlocking exclusive digital content from Marley, tying the physical product to music and other branded experiences.
The first products will roll out across New York on April 19, according to Pierre-Kovler, with a New Jersey launch expected this summer. The debut lineup includes Harmon-E, K-Lab, Melody Makers and Roads of Flames, each positioned around a different intended effect and audience.
Pierre-Kovler said her role in the venture is to help shape the science, formulation and broader vision behind the brand, drawing on her research background and a focus on giving consumers products that feel safe, consistent and grounded in more than just marketing language.
Pierre-Kovler, whose Glenmere Farms Enterprises is part of the joint venture, is described in launch materials as one of the few Black women operating at scale in legal cannabis and as a longtime advocate for cannabinoid-based wellness. Glenmere says its broader portfolio includes both Dr. Sha’s and Young Gong Cannabis.
For Marley, the move adds a cannabis venture to a public image already closely tied to one of music’s most storied family legacies. But the pitch here is not nostalgia. It is a modern wellness-forward brand with celebrity visibility, scientific branding and a launch timed for the cannabis industry’s most crowded week of the year.
The official Young Gong launch event is scheduled for Sunday, April 19 at 9 p.m. at Partake NYC, located at 10-29 44th Rd, Long Island City, NY. More details are expected through the brand’s Instagram account, @younggongcannabis, and its website.
