Cannabis trade-show booths were traditionally designed to display products and attract customers. At the 2015 High Times Denver Cannabis Cup, Vader Extracts flipped that script.
2015: High Times Denver Cannabis Cup
The original nuggnotes account places the story at the: 2015 High Times Denver Cannabis Cup. The brand responsible for the activation was: Vader Extracts (@vadercannabiscompany). The event featured a major musical lineup, but Vader created an experience that went beyond the official stage. Instead of simply displaying extracts and promotional materials, the company brought a charting hip-hop act into its vendor booth.
The Official Headliners
The caption identifies the official headliners as: Nas; A$AP Rocky; Sina Live; J Boog. (The documented companion concerts were Nas with SOJA and J Boog at Red Rocks and Snoop Dogg at Fiddler's Green; 'Sina Live' appears in no source and is most plausibly a garbling of SOJA.) However, Rae Sremmurd was not part of the official headlining arrangement described in the caption. The duo surprised the crowd with a performance at the Vader Extracts booth. The distinction was important: the performance did not happen on the main stage. It happened inside the brand's vendor space.
The Pre-Show Shakedown: More Money or No Show
The original account describes a financial dispute that took place just weeks before the Cannabis Cup. According to the caption, Rae Sremmurd's team approached Vader Global (@vaderglobal) with a sudden demand: More money or no show. The reason was connected to the group's newly released single: "Throw Sum Mo" featuring Nicki Minaj and Young Thug. The song had been out since December 2014 and was catching major radio attention. According to the original account, that growing exposure caused the group's price to increase quickly. The situation felt like a shakedown. Nevertheless, Vader Extracts doubled down and made the performance happen.
Not on the Main Stage: Rae Sremmurd Takes Over the Booth
Rae Sremmurd stunned the crowd with its surprise appearance. The original account emphasizes that the duo performed directly inside the Vader booth rather than on the main stage. It describes the move as unprecedented. A Billboard-charting act performing inside a cannabis vendor booth was, according to the caption, unheard of. The performance began with: "No Type." The set shut down the Cannabis Cup. Instead of functioning as a conventional vendor activation, the booth became one of the event's main attractions.
Vader's Best Booth Title: Seattle 2014
The original account says the energy surrounding the performance helped Vader Global secure: Best Booth at the 2015 Cannabis Cup. The documented record differs: Denver 2015 had no Best Booth category — Vader's only Denver placing was 3rd Best Hybrid Concentrate (Skywalker OG Kush) — and Vader's Best Booth win was real but came at Seattle 2014, where the brand also took 1st Best Medical Concentrate and 1st Best Product. The original account credits the award to: the energy; the music; the extraordinary crowd response. The performance helped establish the booth as an experience rather than simply a place to promote extracts.
Inspiring a New Generation of Cannabis Brands
The original account says many attendees left the High Times Cannabis Cup after visiting Vader's booth with ideas. The immersive marketing approach inspired a new generation of cannabis brands to improve their own booth game. The lesson was that an activation could become memorable through entertainment, crowd engagement and experience. Vader had demonstrated that a cannabis company could create something that felt closer to a live event than a trade-show display.
Cultural Disruption: The Booth Was the Experience
The original account describes Vader Global as having flipped the script. The booth was not simply about brand awareness. It was about creating an experience. The Rae Sremmurd performance connected cannabis marketing with mainstream hip-hop and demonstrated that a booth could become the main event.
A Decade Later: Something Brewing for 2025
The caption closes by looking forward. A decade after the 2015 activation, the original account says: Word is something is brewing for 2025. The statement hints at another development connected to Vader, although the caption does not identify what it will be. The significance of the reference is the decade-long connection between the original booth takeover and what may come next.
Legacy: When a Cannabis Booth Became the Main Event
At the 2015 High Times Denver Cannabis Cup, the official headliners were Nas, A$AP Rocky, Sina Live and J Boog. Rae Sremmurd surprised the crowd with a set inside the Vader Extracts booth, not on the main stage. Weeks earlier, the group's team had demanded more money or threatened not to appear because "Throw Sum Mo" (feat. Nicki Minaj & Young Thug) had just dropped and was catching major radio heat. Vader Global doubled down and made the performance happen. The set opened with "No Type" and shut down the Cup. The account says Vader won Best Booth at the 2015 event, crediting the energy, music and extraordinary crowd response; the documented Best Booth title belongs to Seattle 2014. The immersive activation inspired other cannabis brands to rethink their booth presentations and step up their booth game. A decade later, the caption hinted that something was brewing for 2025.
Sources
nuggnotes (@nuggnotes). "Legendary Moments in Cannabis History: Vader Extracts' Rae Sremmurd Booth Takeover." Instagram, June 21, 2025. https://www.instagram.com/p/DLLqJXlyfZr/
The original Instagram post behind this article.
TicketIQ Blog. "Prices for High Times Cannabis Cup Tickets Dropping Fast." TicketIQ, April 17, 2015. https://blog.ticketiq.com/blog/2015/04/high-times-cannabis-cup-rolls-into-denver-next-week-with-big-lineup-and-secondary-ticket-prices
Documents the event frame: the 2015 Cup ran April 18–20 at the Denver Merchandise Mart, billed as the newly combined U.S. Cannabis Cup for medical and recreational users, with more than 700 vendors. Its official companion concerts were Nas headlining at Red Rocks on April 18 — with Soja and J-Boog also performing — and Snoop Dogg at Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre on April 20. Neither A$AP Rocky nor Rae Sremmurd appears anywhere in the piece.
Dinafem. "Dinafem Is Attending the Cannabis Cup in Denver for the First Time: All of the Key Information about This Important Marijuana Event." Dinafem Seeds blog, April 2015. https://www.dinafem.org/en/blog/dinafem-cannabis-cup-denver-first-time/?amp=1
An exhibitor's preview confirming the April 18–20 dates, the Denver Mart venue, the first three-day format, and 700+ exhibiting companies. Its entertainment roundup names SOJA, Nas, J Boog, 2 Chainz and A$AP Rocky among the musical performers visitors could enjoy across the Cup weekend — so A$AP Rocky was billed around the event — but it places no act on a specific stage, and no performer called "Sina Live" appears; the caption's fourth headliner name is most plausibly a garbling of SOJA.
Rahn, Bailey. "The 2015 Denver Cannabis Cup Winners." Leafly, April 22, 2015. https://www.leafly.ca/news/strains-products/the-2015-denver-cannabis-cup-winners
The full published winners list for the 2015 Denver Cup. It contains no Best Booth category at all — the categories are U.S. and Colorado flower, sativa/indica/hybrid concentrates, non-solvent hash, CBD flower and concentrate, and People's Choice. Vader Extracts' only placing is 3rd Place Best Hybrid Concentrate, for Skywalker OG Kush, entered as "Dab Vader/Vader Extracts." This directly contradicts the caption's claim that Vader won Best Booth at Denver 2015.
Medical Jane. "Seattle HIGH TIMES 2014 Cannabis Cup Recap And Winners." Medical Jane, September 18, 2014. https://www.medicaljane.com/2014/09/18/seattle-high-times-2014-cannabis-cup-recap-and-winners-announced/?amp
The likely origin of the caption's confusion: at the Seattle 2014 Cannabis Cup, Vader Extracts genuinely won 1st Place Best Booth (ahead of Cloud Penz and Caviar Gold), plus 1st Place Best Medical Concentrate (Blue Dream x Tangie, with Grateful Meds) and 1st Place Best Product (Cypress Hill's Phuncky Feel Tips by Vader Extracts). Vader's Best Booth title is real — but it belongs to Seattle 2014, not Denver 2015.
Wikipedia. "SremmLife." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SremmLife
Verifies the music timeline behind the article: "Throw Sum Mo" (featuring Nicki Minaj and Young Thug) was released as a single on December 9, 2014, and peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100; "No Type" was released September 15, 2014, and peaked at No. 16. The duo was therefore a genuinely charting act by April 2015 — but the single had been out for more than four months by Cup weekend, not "just dropped" weeks before as the caption frames it.
Friday Night Inc. "Friday Night Inc. Announces Partnership With Krypted And Update On Ama Operations." Investing News (Accesswire release), August 4, 2017. https://investingnews.com/daily/cannabis-investing/friday-night-inc-announces-partnership-krypted-update-ama-operations/
Background on Vader as an operating business after the Cup era: Las Vegas producer Alternative Medicine Association (AMA) signed an exclusive license agreement to manufacture Vader Extracts in Nevada, and the release reports that AMA-produced Vader Extracts were sold out and consistently selling out when made available. It confirms Vader Extracts was a real, in-demand commercial extracts brand beyond the 2015 event.
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