What happens when those who smoke weed every day and those who grow weed every day come together? An epic partnership is forged. We’ve collaborated with Snoop Dogg’s Death Row Records and we’re ready to share the story through our interview with Death Row’s head grower – AK. Ready to step up your grow with Dogg-worthy Cali fire?
In 1991, Suge Knight, Dr. Dre, The D.O.C., and Dick Griffey made hip-hop history by founding Death Row Records – the label that brought West Coast gangsta rap to the mainstream via the works of legends like 2Pac, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg.
Despite its indisputable impact on hip-hop culture and popular music, Death Row Records’ history is also marked by internal turmoil, legal issues, and violence. In 2022, however, Snoop Dogg, one of Death Row’s foundational artists, bought the bankrupt and inactive record label with one goal: restoring it to glory.
“It looked like ‘why the f*** is he buying a bag of problems?’” Snoop told Associated Press after acquiring Death Row. “But they [Dr. Dre and fellow rappers] didn’t understand what I seen – I seen my legacy, I seen certain things that was connected to me that needed to be finished.”
For Snoop, acquiring Death Row is all about protecting his 30+ year legacy. And his plan for doing so?
“By putting some beautiful music back in Death Row, putting some happy times in Death Row, and some life rather than death.”
And given Snoop’s love for weed and the plant’s integral role in hip hop culture, it comes as little surprise that cannabis will also play a key role in Death Row’s rebirth.
Less than 12 months after acquiring Death Row Records, Snoop Dogg launched Death Row Cannabis – a line of flower, pre-rolls, and other products representative not only of The Doggfather’s uncompromising demand for quality, but also the rich historical seam between cannabis and hip-hop.
At the helm of Death Row Cannabis’ select line of strains and products is AK (we won’t expose his real name for obvious reasons) – a legacy West Coast grower with a 25+ year track record growing, breeding and, of course, smoking weed.
To break the news about our out-of-the-blue collab with Death Row, we sat down with AK to talk about his history as a grower and cannabis lover; his vibrant career in California, and his plans as Death Row’s head weed hunter.
Related post
AK – Death Row Cannabis’ legacy grower
AK got into growing cannabis for a very simple reason:
“I just got tired of smoking not very good weed,” he told us bluntly in an interview. “I came up in Seattle and Washington state…Back then, we got the bottom of the barrel of the imports from Canada.”
Introduced to cannabis by his older brother, AK quickly learned how to identify and appreciate quality flower.
“My brother is seven years older than me. And his friends, none of them knew that I smoked,” AK said. “Then once they found out that I did, they were like ‘you need to be smoking this.’ They showed me my first, like, local homegrown flower.”
And it turns out that AK’s first taste of real chronic was already tinged by Sensi Seeds: the first strain he was given by his brother’s friends was Black Durban – a cross of Durban and Sensi Seeds’ renowned Black Domina.
“It came from this legend in Seattle called ‘old man purple.’ My mind was blown. You know what I mean? I thought you’d only find that in High Times,” he told us passionately.
After getting his first taste of real top-shelf indoor cannabis, AK wasted no time in trying to grow his own plants. He chuckles as he recalls hiding his first grow in his parents’ backyard while they were away on vacation:
“I had two weeks left to finish and my parents were coming back. So, I had to call my brother and be like ‘yo, dude, mom and dad are coming back. I need to get this s**t out of the house,” he says. “I made him put it in the closet of his room and hide it from his roommates at that time.”
When he was 19, AK had ditched his guerrilla grows for a small set-up in his closet, powered by a pair of 75-watt HPS bulbs. Eventually, he came to run larger tents before manning commercial grows and entire dispensaries under Washington’s medical and recreational programs.
With close contacts in California and ties to Deep East Oakland Farms, one of AK’s first moves in the Cali scene involved the birth of the infamous Rainbow Sherbet line.
“I kinda saw the original exchange of, like, the Sherb cut and everything else that went down while Deep East was developing the beans,” he says.
Moving to Los Angeles circa 2014, AK also played a significant role in helping California’s weed scene transition from black and grey to legal markets. Later, his expertise led him to collaborate with big-name Cali cannabis breeders like Wizard Trees, Doja Pak, and Cookies – as well as found his own brands: SMKRS and NPKali Pro nutrients.
Together with Wizard Trees, AK hunted down delicious Rainbow Sherbert phenos. From a batch of 88 RS beans sourced directly from Deep East, AK and Wizard Trees identified three iconic varieties: RS11, RS54, RS37, and RS3.
RS54, the most Sherbert-like pheno, was one of the strongest selections from the hunt and is the backbone of two strains we created together with Death Row. Meanwhile, AK kept the RS37 on the down-low but is considering using it in future Death Row x Sensi Seeds crosses.
RS3, finally, is extremely close to AK’s heart, and he rebranded it as Shirazi under SMKRS in honour of his Persian heritage and his family’s Iranian hometown.
“It’s all about flavour for me. I want the best smoke. So, the RS3 was the lightest yielder out of all of them, but it was the heaviest Z-leaning female as well. I loved it, and so I kept it,” he told us.
After parting ways with Wizard Trees following their collaboration on the RS line, AK started SMKRS; his own premium line of flower that very quickly caught the attention of Snoop Dogg.
“We were also running the American Pie cut at the same time. We had just started this new facility and were worried about getting dirty cuts from people. So, we popped like 1,100 seeds in total. American Pie and some other things came from that same hunt,” AK said.
A few of those creations happened to make it across Snoop Dogg’s table and caught the rapper’s attention. At the same time, AK also got an offer from TRP – the retail, cultivation, and distribution platform powering brands like Cookies and Dr. Greenthumbs.
AK helped TRP establish brand-new state-of-the-art facilities in DeLand, Florida. Then, his phone rang, because when Snoop Dogg sees an opportunity, it’s only a matter of time before he pounces.
“One night… I got a personal call from Snoop and Shaggy,” AK says proudly. Shaggy has been Snoop’s sound engineer for 16 years. “He’s probably smoked more weed with Snoop than anyone else alive,” AK jokes. “If it doesn’t impress Shaggy, it doesn’t make it to the shelves.” – which is exactly why he has become Death Row’s head of quality assurance. The two already shared mutual respect from their time in the scene, and when Shaggy and Snoop made the call, AK knew it was real.
This time, they made AK an offer he couldn’t refuse – namely, to source fire weed for the newly established Death Row Cannabis.
Related post
Death Row – Not your standard celebrity weed brand
Death Row isn’t Snoop Dogg’s first venture into the cannabis business. In 2015, he signed 8-figure licensing deals with companies in Colorado and Canada to create Leafs By Snoop (LBS).
Despite generating sufficient hype following its launch, Tiffany Chin (Snoop’s right-hand woman when it comes to weed and the CEO of Death Row Cannabis) criticised the LBS brand for not completely capturing the essence of Snoop Dogg.
“It was a success, but when it came out, I think a lot of people were like ‘this doesn’t really scream Snoop Dogg,’” she told Cannabis Talk 101. “This is like this nice white packaging that seems a little elevated and removed from who this man is. But you cannot say that about Death Row Cannabis.”
And AK agrees.
“Our biggest goal with operating Death Row is to unboof celebrity cannabis,” he says. “A lot of times what happens is that the marketing and packaging [behind celebrity cannabis brands] is a lot better than the weed.”
And to make sure that doesn’t happen with Death Row, AK teamed up with the only people he knows can help him ensure a product so good, not even Snoop could turn it down – namely the legacy breeders and growers at Sensi Seeds.
Of course, the Sensi team loved the chance to work with a West Coast name and jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with AK and Death Row. So, our breeders got straight to work with AK, and created a bunch of brand-new crosses drawing from the best in Death Row’s and Sensi Seeds’ genetic lockers.
AK and Shaggy visited our facilities on multiple occasions and were enthusiastic about our history and commitment to creating the best cannabis genetics. Together, we hunted down the plants with traits that capture the essence of both Sensi Seeds and Death Row.
“This is about weed. It’s not about, you know, a fancy Mylar bag or a gimmick to sell,” AK insists.
In fact, for AK, it’s never been about anything other than the plant and paying his respect to it; its history, and the vibrant community surrounding it. After his blooming career in Washington and California, working with Snoop seems like nothing but the perfect step forward.
Meet the Death Row x Sensi Seeds collaboration strains
The first batch of strains we created with AK promise to produce nothing but true fire. Check them out below:
- Studio Candy – an indica-heavy hybrid combining Durban and RS54 x Coffin Candy genetics. Yielding pointy, dense, and sticky buds that burst with notes of sweet candy, sharp diesel, and creamy vanilla, Studio Candy is as smooth as Snoop’s flow.
- B-Funk – a sativa-dominant cross of Burmese Pie x Fruity Juice, B-Funk draws from ancient Afghani and Thai landraces as well as the almighty OG Kush (a staple in Snoop’s stash). Enjoy tangy tropical notes and a smooth, earthy base in every toke!
- Dough Boy – a cross of Cinderella 99 and Northern Lights x Durban, Dough Boy is a sugary-sweet and creamy descendant of the almighty Jack Herer. Packing a gentle cerebral uplift with a deeply soothing body buzz, Dough Boy will have you droppin’ it like it’s hot every time you light up.
- Cereal Killa – a 60% indica queen that incorporates genetics from RS54 x Coffin Candy and Cereal Milk x Maple Leaf Indica. Expect dense, conical buds drenched in snowy trichomes with sweet, earthy, and creamy notes.
- Caramel Pineapple – a special OG with delicious tropical terps and an uplifting, creative buzz. Descending from the renowned SFV OG crossed with Jamaican Roadkill Skunk, Caramel Pineapple has real Cali roots and exceptional traits that impress even the pickiest smokers.
At Sensi Seeds, we couldn’t be happier to be a part of the massive mission of restoring Death Row to glory. Click here to see the full collection of strains from our Breeding Grounds project with Death Row Cannabis, and prepare to deck out your next grow with true Cali indo.
We had a blast presenting these strains to the world during Spannabis 2025, at a special event hosted in Barcelona’s iconic Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum to mark Sensi Seeds’ 40th anniversary. AK and Shaggy joined us for the celebration, along with the rest of our Breeding Grounds family — a perfect moment to share the results of our collaboration with the broader cannabis community.
AK, Snoop, and Sensi Seeds combine to secure the future of cannabis
After the incredible career he’s had, you’d expect AK to shift down a gear (or two). But that’s far from what’s happening. It seems that, more than ever, this legacy breeder is buzzing with energy and motivation.
Pondering the many challenges that legal cannabis still faces, AK hopes for an even brighter future. As the legal market grows, he clings to hope that we’ll soon unlock this ancient plant’s full potential.
“From its non-intoxicating traits all the way to its intoxicating and healing traits… to this petroleum that’s making us sick, replaced with hemp. I’m hoping this is the evolution of the plant from a to z,” AK says.
While the full line of Death Row x Sensi Seeds strains hasn’t launched in the US yet, the full collection is growing away at AK’s facilities as we speak. And you can grow them at home, too – browse the strains and order your seeds here.
Meanwhile, the team at Sensi Seeds is eagerly awaiting AK and Snoop’s next visit to Amsterdam to continue sourcing new strains for our collab. Plus, we’re also dying to get a taste of AK’s famous Shirazi – which is hard enough to source in LA and downright impossible to find in Europe.
Luckily, we’ve got the contacts to secure some on our next trip to California.
“When you come back here, then I’ll have some for you,” AK promises with a warm smile.
