Post Malone’s Hemp and Lifestyle Company Donates 40K N95 Masks

Last summer, Post Malone founded the lifestyle brand Shaboink and rolled out his line of hemp-derived CBD pre-rolls with Sherbinskis, which were teased at the Hall of Flowers in Santa Rosa, California. But the gravity of recent events shifted the young rapper-turned-popstar’s priorities to address a new call to action: the looming COVID-19 outbreak that continues to devastate America.

For the past several months, the cascading surge of the immediate need for N95 masks caused a catastrophic global shortage as doctors reuse masks in desperation, sometimes risking death. Like several other stars in the spotlight, Post Malone chose to personally get involved in the effort to find a solution to the matter using his resources.

Announced on May 11, Shaboink will link up with Direct Relief to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to doctors and nurses who need them the most. Direct Relief is a humanitarian aid organization active in all 50 states. The PPE will be produced in the form of 40,000 N95 masks to be distributed to medical teams across the country. 

“I’ve been working with my team on a number of unreleased products that fit into my lifestyle that I can’t wait to share with my fans,” Posty shared with Rolling Stone, “[but] when faced with COVID-19, I knew it was important to pivot to products that could help us stay clean now, so we can get back to shaboink’ing later.”

Amid the COVID-19 dilemma, pre-rolls suddenly seemed less important. The artist went on to explain that since most of us are having a  “pretty shitty time right now,” we can be proactive in helping out the community—when it really counts. 

Introducing Clean Kits

While doctors and nurses who are forced to selflessly work on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic are prioritized when distributing N95 masks, regular citizens don’t always have access. And good luck finding decent masks that go beyond T-shirt fabric, or any sort of hand sanitizer at local markets. Empty shelves are commonplace across Walmart and Costco locations in nearly every state due to panic buying.

To address this issue, Shaboink is also releasing its own Clean Kits, which come with 3-ply masks, soap sheets, hand wipes, gloves, vitamin C candy, and hand sanitizer. The Clean Kits also come in super size with larger amounts of supplies, and both are available for pre-order now.

At a time when it’s difficult to find hand sanitizer and hand wipes due to hoarders, the Clean Kits are a welcomed effort to make it easier to survive the pandemic. A recent price-gouger in Tennessee, for instance, hoarded over 17,000 bottles of hand sanitizer with wild plans to charge $70 per bottle. Most price-gougers were promptly dropped from services or prosecuted, considering the ethical reasons of why the correct distribution of supplies are currently critical. Clean Kits provide one way of dealing with the general lack of supplies.

The Eventual Return to Music

Nearly all aspects of the entertainment industry are currently on hold due to social distancing practices and stay-at-home-orders, as some states are incrementally inching back towards normality. Likewise, Post Malone was forced to cancel his “Runaway Tour” and now spends the majority of his free time playing Call of Duty.

“I’m sure we’ll find a safe way to enjoy live music again real soon and I’m looking forward to that,” Post Malone continued, when interviewed by Rolling Stone. “I’m sure the fans are too. I know this is a shitty time, but we’ll all get through it together.”

Most recently, Post Malone launched a livestream of an extended tribute to Nirvana—an event that was approved by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Joining Post Malone was Travis Barker, guitarist Nick Mack and bassist Brian Lee, who performed 75 golden minutes of Nirvana classics. The Nirvana livestream helped to raise nearly one million dollars for the UN Foundation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Relief Fund. These days, Post Malone is reportedly self-isolating near the snowy slopes of Utah, one of his favorite places to relax.

Until life as we know it returns back to normal, Shaboink and Post Malone are doing what they can to try and make a positive impact with their recent collaboration with Direct Relief, and people are noticing.