Pusha T and Pharrell Williams have spent more than two decades making music together, and now one of the most recognizable words from their shared history is being poured into a cup. According to the official Grindin Coffee brand, the longtime collaborators have launched Grindin Coffee in partnership with Italian coffee company Lavazza, turning the name connected to Clipse’s classic 2002 record “Grindin’” into a specialty coffee business built around work, creativity, and ambition.
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Grindin Coffee is not entirely starting from zero. In November 2024, Pitchfork reported that Pusha T was introducing Grindin as a highly caffeinated coffee blend at Camp Flog Gnaw in Los Angeles and Café Tropical, with plans for a wider rollout. The 2026 version represents a significant expansion. Pharrell is now part of the venture, Lavazza is handling the coffee expertise, and Grindin has developed into a direct-to-consumer brand with multiple products and merchandise. In a recent GQ profile, Pusha described coffee as part of the early morning studio and fitness routine he developed while working closely with Pharrell.
According to Grindin Coffee, customers can choose between medium and dark roasts in whole bean or ground formats. The medium roast uses 100 percent Arabica coffee sourced from South America with bittersweet chocolate, caramel, and roasted hazelnut notes. The dark roast blends Arabica and Robusta sourced from Central and South America and Southeast Asia, with cocoa, caramel, warm spice, and woody notes. Both are designed to work for filter coffee, espresso, and cold brew. “Our customer is someone who builds things,” Pusha said in the launch announcement, positioning Grindin Coffee less as a leisurely lifestyle accessory and more as fuel for people trying to get something done.
The timing puts Pusha and Pharrell in a massive and increasingly premium market. The National Coffee Association reported in September 2026 that 66 percent of American adults drank coffee in the past day, while specialty coffee reached a new record with 48 percent of adults consuming it. That helps explain why coffee has become an attractive lane for entertainers who already know how to turn identity, community, and storytelling into consumer brands.
Jadakiss was ahead of the current Grindin Coffee expansion. According to Kiss Café, the LOX rapper operates the coffee company with his father, Bob Phillips, and his son, Jaewon, making the business a three-generation family venture. A 2022 launch announcement from Kiss Café said Bob Phillips had worked in the coffee industry since 1977, giving the brand an industry foundation that goes far beyond Jadakiss lending his face to a bag of beans. Kiss Café currently sells its Beijo medium dark roast in whole bean and ground versions.
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The Weeknd has also used coffee to connect business with heritage. Blue Bottle Coffee partnered with Abel Tesfaye and his XO label in 2023 to create Samra Origins, named after his mother and developed around Ethiopian coffee traditions. The concept later grew beyond Blue Bottle. Nespresso’s current Samra Origins collection includes the Togetherness Blend, coffee machines, and accessories, extending the brand into a larger coffee lifestyle collaboration while maintaining its connection to Tesfaye’s Ethiopian roots.
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Issa Rae took a different route by investing in the physical coffee shop experience. The Los Angeles Times identifies Rae as a co-owner of Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen alongside Yonnie Hagos and Ajay Relan. The Los Angeles-based company has built its identity around coffee, food, creativity, and community, showing another model for entertainers who want a stake in hospitality instead of simply releasing packaged products.
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Radio personality Angela Yee is also building on coffee’s community potential. According to Coffee Uplifts People, Yee co-founded the Brooklyn-based company with Tony Forte and LaRon Batchelor in 2020. The company says it operates with a 100 percent people of color supply chain and sources coffee from countries including Ethiopia, Peru, Indonesia, Mexico, Kenya, and Brazil. CUP now sells coffee online while operating a Brooklyn café, placing Yee directly in the specialty coffee business rather than in a temporary celebrity collaboration.
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Even outside music and television, the formula has attracted major Black cultural figures. NBA star Jimmy Butler turned the coffee hustle he began inside the 2020 NBA bubble into BIGFACE, later opening a Miami Design District café. The Washington Post documented Butler’s growing specialty coffee business, while Axios reported that its first permanent Miami shop opened in December 2024.
What makes Grindin Coffee especially marketable is that Pusha T and Pharrell do not have to manufacture a story around it. The name already carries more than two decades of cultural recognition, while their early morning coffee routine gives the product a connection to how they say they actually work. In a crowded celebrity product market, that kind of continuity matters.
Grindin Coffee is another reminder that hip hop entrepreneurship has moved far beyond clothing, liquor, and endorsements, with coffee becoming another space where artists can turn habits, heritage, and cultural equity into businesses built for everyday consumption.
