1990s NYC: Cannabis Culture 

The New York of the 1990s is worlds apart from the one you might know today. The city was being gentrified but was still rough around the edges, hustling was still a part of New York life, and street dealing weed was one of the safer options for hustlers. Cannabis was illegal, but NYC had a booming underground scene. The strains were usually high quality, complicated to get, and expensive. Strains like Sour Diesel were not widely available on the street and were often sold to rappers, artists and the like at sky-high premiums.

Law and Order

NYC had strict cannabis laws. Getting high in public or getting caught with small amounts could lead to arrest and jail time. Do you remember Mayor Giuliani? The guy with the great dye job? His thing back then was "tough on crime" policies, which meant stop and frisk was in full effect, disproportionately affecting Black and Latino communities. While street dealers were feeling the heat, the city's elite cannabis smokers. The artists, musicians, and city high rollers weren't about to stop getting high. Enter the first wave of NYC weed delivery services. The streets adapted to harsh laws, and private word-of-mouth operations catering to those who could afford premium prices started popping up. Sour Diesel wasn't just weed; it was the VIP section of cannabis. It was soon loved by anyone who had tried it, but where did it come from?

What are the origins of Sour Diesel?

Typical of a lot of cannabis strains, the origins of Sour Diesel depend on who you ask. Some say it comes from a Chemdawg 91, the legendary strain with deep ties to the underground cannabis scene of the early 90s. Other accounts suggest Sour D is European in ancestry, emerging as a phenotype of Chemdawg crossed with Super Skunk and possibly Northern Lights. While others claim the birth of this classic hybrid was a happy accident bred by New Yorkers. The claim is that Sour D is a cross of Chemdawg and a Massachusetts Super Skunk. 

The most detailed account of the origins comes from AJ Sour Diesel. In many circles, he is credited with popularising Sour D, and according to AJ, Sour Diesel originated from an accidental cross between Chemdawg 91 and DNL (a hybrid of Northern Lights/Shiva and Hawaiian). This cross is said to come from a hermaphroditic plant. 

It gets more confusing with a strain known as East Coast Sour Diesel(ECSD), which is, by some, said to be different from AJ's Sour Diesel. Some believe the ECSD has resulted from a different accidental pollination involving Chemdawg 91 and a Super Skunk hybrid, which is the original. The debate goes on.

East Coast Cannabis Icon

The rise to fame for Sour Diesel was rapid. It quickly gained a reputation rivalling the best West Coast strains. It was the cannabis strain that put New York on the cannabis map. Smokers loved the distinctive sour, citrusy, and diesel-like aroma it carried, thanks to its unique terpene profile, but it was the rap scene that brought Sour D into the limelight. 

Sour Diesel became the soundtrack to NYC hip-hop culture. Styles P from The Lox, a known cannabis connoisseur, has mentioned Sour D in interviews and lyrics, going as far as to say Sour D is his favourite strain.  

Mixtapes from the early 2000s were filled with references to 'that Sour,' and if you were smoking the 'real deal', you were in the know. Like gold chains or fresh Jordans, Sour Diesel was a flex. The East Coast equivalent to the West Coast's Kush wave. It was official: Sour Diesel was NYC's favourite strain, and by the early 2000s, it became a status symbol strain much like Kush had been in the '90s on the West Coast.

The Legacy of Sour Diesel

The legend lives on, and Sour Diesel is still sought after today, but some say the "real" 90s New York Sour Diesel is long gone. Even with the legalisation wave, or more so because of it, the original Sour D is a thing of the past. After the legal boom, dispensaries and pharmacies scrabbled to stock a version of Sour Diesel. But the legend is more important than that; before Sour D, there was no such thing as fire or loud strains; SD was loud before anyone knew what loud was.