Dave East: 3 Things I Can't Smoke Without

Dave Brewster — better known as Dave East — came up out of East Harlem and built a catalog the streets respect. From the early Mass Appeal run with Nas to a discography deep enough to soundtrack a borough, he's been one of New York's most consistent voices for over a decade. Cannabis has been part of the story since day one, and these days he's not just a smoker — he's a collaborator. His Don Pablo line with Good Leaf put his name on the wrap itself.

Before the interview even starts, Dave East is already putting people on. "Make sure y'all come check out Good Grades," he says into the camera, fresh through the door of the Queens dispensary. "I'm here in the building. I'm live."

It's a small moment but a telling one. Dave doesn't do many co-signs casually, and he doesn't usually open a video by name-checking the shop he's standing in. Good Grades earned the shout the way it earns most of them — by stocking the kind of flower, leaves, and pre-rolls a flower-snob rapper actually wants to take home.

Then he gets into what he's really here for: the three things he can't smoke without.

"Yo, you already know it's your boy Dave East. We live today at Good Grades."

Dave's first answer doubles as an origin story. "The number one thing I can't smoke without is my Fronto leaf," he says. "Big shout out to Good Leaf. I actually got my own leaf with them — Don Pablo collab with Good Leaf."

It's a real-life flex hiding inside a smoke-session essential. While most smokers are picking up whatever wrap the store has on the counter, Dave can reach for one with his own name on it. And he's specific about the kind he wants: "I gotta have my dark leaf, or I just feel like it's not gonna be the same high. The vibe not gonna be right."

He's lived through every chapter of the wrap evolution. "I graduated to that, because I came from Dutchmasters," he explains. "Then I went to Backwoods, and then I got to the leaf. I think I'm gonna stick with the leaf." That's a one-sentence history of New York blunt culture told from inside it — from the corner-store Dutchies of the early 2000s, to the Backwoods era that took over for a decade, to the dark-leaf moment that's reshaped the rotation today.

"I gotta have my dark leaf, or I just feel like it's not gonna be the same high."

When Dave isn't on a leaf, he's on a paper. And there's only one brand he'll name. "The second thing that I can't go without, as far as rolling up or getting lifted, is Bob Marley papers," he says. "Big shout out to the Marley family, whoever runs that. That's the best papers in the game to me."

He pauses to be diplomatic — "No disrespect to the other brands" — then doubles down anyway. "I gotta have my Marleys. If you smoke with me or been around me, you already know what's going on."

There's something fitting about a Harlem rapper anchoring his rolling kit to a Marley product. The Marley family's catalog of papers, wraps, and rolling accessories has become a kind of universal language in cannabis — a brand that crosses cities, genres, and generations the same way the music does.

"If you smoke with me or been around me, you already know what's going on."

Dave's third pick is the one that catches people off guard. It's not a product at all. "The third thing I cannot go without on a good smoke up, good smoke session, is music, bro," he says. "I don't care if I'm in the car, if I'm in my crib — I gotta have music playing. Some type of music."

He's not picky about the genre. "It don't necessarily have to be hip-hop. It could be R&B. It could be some old school. It could be some new, anything. I just gotta have music. Music is a major component of me smoking."

And then he says the thing that explains the whole answer: "It helps me create music." For an artist who has spent more than a decade turning Harlem into a soundtrack, the session and the studio are basically the same room. The flower, the leaf, the paper — those set the table. The music is what turns the smoke break into a writing session.

"Music is a major component of me smoking. And it helps me create music."

There's a quiet through-line in Dave's three picks: nothing is disposable, and nothing is trendy. A dark leaf he had to earn the right to put his name on. A paper brand he treats like a family. A soundtrack he refuses to roll without. It's the same Harlem instinct that runs through his catalog — pick the real version of every thing, and run it for a long time.

Good Grades, in the same way, is positioning itself as the kind of Queens shop where that mindset is welcome. Real flower, real wraps, real artists pulling up to talk through what they actually use. Dave's visit isn't a commercial. It's a smoker showing other smokers how he sets up a session.

Dave East's three things — a Don Pablo leaf, Bob Marley papers, and music — are less a shopping list and more a vibe check. They tell you what he values: lineage, craft, and sound. Two of those you can buy at Good Grades. The third you bring with you in your AirPods.

If you're putting together your own rotation, his version is a strong blueprint. Find a wrap that respects the flower. Pick a paper brand worth being loyal to. And don't ever sit down to smoke in silence.

Watch the full interview below and explore more artist conversations in our Cannabis Culture hub.

"That's the three things I gots to have. I can't do without."