The collaboration connects Balbuena’s new audiobook and AI multimedia experience with a companion playlist and Green Renaissance-inspired programming at Zen & Kush events.
Before cannabis became an industry, it was a medicine, a material, a ritual, a muse and a source of human connection. It traveled through ancient civilizations. It inspired musicians and artists. It became part of spiritual traditions, healing practices, resistance movements and communities around the world.
That living history is at the center of a new creative collaboration between JM Balbuena, author and filmmaker behind Green Renaissance, and Lizzy Jeff, artist and founder of Zen & Kush.
Balbuena is expanding Green Renaissance into a multimedia experience beginning with the launch of its audiobook, featuring music by Palo Xanto and Rudi Fate, and an author-led AI series that reimagines pivotal moments in cannabis history through a first-person historical travel narrative.
The next chapter will include a Green Renaissance-inspired companion Spotify playlist developed in collaboration with Jeff. The playlist will connect listeners with the sounds, artists, cultural movements and historical eras surrounding cannabis, extending the experience beyond the audiobook and giving the story a musical life of its own.
Elements of Green Renaissance will also be brought into select upcoming Zen & Kush events through immersive, culture-centered programming. The collaboration is envisioned as a meeting point between history, sound, visual storytelling, performance and community.
“We have spent years talking about cannabis through the language of prohibition, legalization, regulation and business,” said Balbuena. “That work matters and it continues. But cannabis also has a cultural history that deserves to be protected, celebrated and experienced. Green Renaissance encapsulates both elements. Zen & Kush gives it a space where people can come together and feel it.”
Jeff’s Zen & Kush has long created environments in which music, wellness, sensuality, plant medicine and creative community exist together. Balbuena’s work approaches cannabis through historical research, film, literature and advocacy. Their collaboration connects those perspectives without claiming ownership over a culture that existed long before either project.
“We are not trying to introduce cannabis as culture,” Balbuena said. “Cannabis has always been a huge part of the culture. We are adding our voices to that ongoing story and creating a space for people to engage with it.”
“Music holds memory, and intentional experiences allow people to reconnect with what those memories mean,” said Jeff. “This collaboration creates space for history, sound, plant medicine and community to speak to one another.”
The timing is intentional. As cannabis continues to evolve legally, socially and commercially, Balbuena and Jeff believe cultural storytellers must be present in the conversations shaping what comes next.
As cannabis enters a new era of public acceptance, Green Renaissance and Zen & Kush hope to inspire a broader conversation, one that recognizes cannabis not simply as an industry, but as a living thread woven throughout human civilization.
About Green Renaissance
Created by author and filmmaker JM Balbuena and published by Synergy Studios, Green Renaissance is a book and multimedia storytelling platform exploring the history, culture, prohibition, and reemergence of cannabis. Its growing creative universe spans literature, audio, film, AI-assisted historical storytelling, education, and immersive experiences.
About Zen & Kush
Zen & Kush is an elevated lifestyle brand and immersive event series curated by artist Lizzy Jeff. Through music, wellness, plant-based living, creative expression and intentional community, Zen & Kush creates spaces in which artists, healers, educators and audiences can connect.
Media Contact
Synergy Studios
greenrenaissance.io
@synergystudios.media
