Celebrating Weed with HotRock SupaJoint Courtesy of Proven Media You’d be hard pressed to find a more vocal and charismatic cannabis cheerleader in Phoenix than HotRock SupaJoint. The flamboyant character is hard to miss at 6-foot-5 and adorned in tight-ass leggings, shirt unbuttoned a la 1970s, a ridiculous amount of jewelry, a fake tattoo sleeve, and a wig that would make Weird Al Yankovic proud. Since medical marijuana was legalized in 2010, the entertainer has made weed his muse. A lifelong marijuana supporter, the 50-year-old HotRock has been a daily smoker since he was 19-years- old. When Arizona voters legalized medical cannabis, he decided to create a band that would be all weed, all the time. He looped in his friend Tato Caraveo, a muralist and musician who already had the stage name Volkom to join him. “But I was insistent that I wanted to also do it as a character with a different name,” he said. While HotRock is an over- the-top cannabis rapping fool, Mike Red aka HotRock is a married father of a 14-year- old son (Lil’Rock) with a work ethic that rivals that of a type A CEO. Prior to performing as HotRock, he was involved in multiple entertainment ventures from musical acts like Sounds of Birds and 28 JULY 1ST–JULY 7TH, 2021 | 2021 N EW T IME S | 710 GUIDE Tijuana Poker Sharks to starting his own record label, 56 Street Records. Under his now-defunct label, he put out 40 records over 15 years not only for HotRock SupaJoint, but also local bands like Andy Warpigs, RPM Orchestra, Bacchus and the Demon Sluts, and Soft Deadlines. In 2008, he wrote, directed and produced Television Noir with the Reverend Stephen Strange, which he proudly declares is the “lowest budget TV show of all time.” The 13 episodes ran on Arizona’s independent station, KAZT-TV. The television show was based on a stage production the duo did in the early 2000s. Once Red stepped into the character of HotRock, he was hooked and turned to focus all his creative energies into creating and developing the world of HotRock. He’s produced five HotRock albums all filled with weed anthems like “Who Loves the Weed”, “Damn I Wanna Smoke Some Weed” and “Happy Birthday Motherfucker Smoke Weed.” In 2015, he created a 50-minute movie, Fakest: A Hip Hopera Mockumentary, which was basically a string of videos strung together that premiered at Film Bar. “It was like Beyoncé’s Lemonade with less Beyoncé and more weed,” said HotRock. Since 2016, HotRock has continued to branch out even more. He produced an animated 20-minute meditation called, “Chakra Kahn,” a tongue-in-cheek stoner’s guide to meditation. In 2001, Red received his master level Reiki attunement. In 2019, HotRock created an audio book entitled, “The Art of the Meme Hack.” With live performances an impossibility during the pandemic, HotRock has put his main focus on his HotRock Supajoint Supershow Potcast, airing every “Weednesday” on his YouTube channel, Facebook, and Twitch. The show celebrates weed, music, movies and animations. While HotRock is the stereotypical stoner, Red is more like the typical cannabis user today now that marijuana is legal in Arizona. “HotRock says, ‘Yo’ and ‘homies’ and wears wigs and is a cartoon persona,” said Red. “He’s me turned up to an 11. In my real life I’m a tall, bald dude who wears black t-shirts and smokes weed primarily to sleep better.” But Red slips on the HotRock persona as easily as he slips into a pair of HotRock’s girly leggings. Suddenly he’s loud, energized, and peppering F-bombs with the best of them. Red’s HotRock is that unruly, unapologetic teenager we all wish we could unleash when we’re tired of adulting. While HotRock’s weed of choice is flower, you can bet he’ll be celebrating 710. “I’m sure I’ll end up doing a dab with someone,” HotRock said. “But that shit will fucking knock me down so they better expect to have me sleeping on their couch.”
