The Color of Two: How Shavo Odadjian Perceived a Cannabis Brand Into Existence

Every Shavo Odadjian interview eventually circles back to the same fun fact: he sees numbers as colors. The System of a Down bassist has synesthesia, a neurological condition in which stimulating one sense can involuntarily trigger another. And for as long as he can remember, the number two has appeared to him as red.

Most interviews file that away as a quirky aside and move on. But it’s the entire architecture of 22Red, his cannabis and lifestyle company.

While many celebrity weed brands start with a licensing deal to cash in on a name, Shavo’s started inside his own mind, using his neurological condition to shape everything from the name down. Here’s the full story, including an exclusive interview with Shavo Odadjian himself.

Synesthesia is a condition in which stimulation of one sense involuntarily triggers the perception of another sense. Some people taste words. Some hear colors. For Shavo Odadjian, numbers carry color, and twos have always been red. Put two twos together, and you get 22Red: a precise map of his interior world made visible.

How does that work for someone whose brain doesn’t do it? Shavo has a way of making it click for the rest of us. 

“Close your eyes and picture a house. What color did you see? You didn’t actively choose that, it just came to you,” he says. “That’s exactly what happens to me with numbers. I close my eyes, I see the number, and the color is just there.” It’s not only numbers. “Letters have colors too. Everything has a visual layer to it.”

The same wiring shapes how he makes music. Shavo has described experiencing songs as visuals, which is why he directs several System of a Down music videos. The man literally sees what a riff looks like. So when people ask whether 22Red is authentic, the answer is built into the name.

But the name itself didn’t come from a pitch deck. 22Red actually hired a branding company early on, “and nothing they brought back was resonating,” Shavo says. So he pulled his creative team into a brainstorm and started laying out how 22 kept surfacing in his life. “Someone in the room asked what color 22 is to me. Red. Instantly. That was the moment,” he says. “The name wasn’t created out of thin air, it was just finally spoken out loud.”

The synesthesia explains the red. But the number 22 has its own interesting backstory. It’s a pattern that refuses to quit:

• Born April 22, 1974
• Married on May 22
• Signed to a major label at age 22
• Founded 22Red in 2018, the year he turned 44, exactly double 22
• His two sons are two years and 22 days apart
• His current band, Seven Hours After Violet, sparked at a party on 2.22.22

Numerology fans will tell you 22 is the “master builder” number, associated with turning big dreams into tangible reality. Whether you believe that or not, the pattern predates the brand and keeps going. Shavo is a firm believer in it: “One hundred percent. That’s been my life,” he says. “I’ve had to manifest everything, every project, every opportunity, every version of myself.” He’s deliberate about keeping that energy positive and won’t “manifest fear or failure.” His own birthdate reduces to 11, another master number. “As I was literally writing this, I looked up and it was 11:11,” he says. “That’s not a coincidence to me anymore. That’s just the frequency I’m on.”

So is the number finding him, or has he built his life around it? “It finds me. I’m convinced of that.” His sons were born 2 years and 22 days apart, the 2/22/22 album date, none of it planned. “At some point you stop questioning it and you just pay attention.”

Here’s what separates 22Red cannabis from the white-label celebrity pack. His name and face appear nowhere on the packaging. There’s no strain called “Chop Suey.” No System of a Down Easter eggs. In a category where the famous name usually is the product, the 22Red owner lets the flower carry the weight.

“I was protecting the brand, not myself,” Shavo says of that call. “This industry is full of celebrity products that sell on name recognition alone, and I didn’t want any part of that.” He’d rather be an ambassador than the selling point. “If someone picks up a 22Red product, I want it to be because it’s exceptional. Not because of System of a Down, not because of me.” The goal, he says, is for “22Red to eventually be bigger than myself.”

He also refused to launch until the product earned it. In a 2025 Shavo Odadjian interview with CelebStoner, he said he didn’t want to be one of those celebrity brand guys who “just slapped their name on any weed” and called it theirs. The turning point came when his partner, cultivator Sean Oganesyan, brought him to his grow. Shavo’s reaction? “I could rep this.” Something he could smoke every day and proudly call his own. That visit is the real founding moment of the company.

Shavo almost didn’t enter cannabis at all. “Every opportunity early on was some version of the same thing: put your name on it, walk away, collect a check,” he says. “I had no interest in that.” What flipped it was finding a setup where he had a real voice in shaping the brand. “If it’s in my hands, it has to be something I genuinely believe in.”

The quality obsession runs into the genetics themselves. Shavo is personally involved in pheno-hunting. For him, selecting and naming a strain is “like having a baby and naming your kid.” Every single product that reaches a shelf gets his personal approval first.

That same instinct shapes what makes the cut. Because he sees numbers and letters as colors, a strain’s name or number can start tinting his impression before he’s even tried it, so he shuts that off. “I don’t want a name or a number coloring my first impression,” he says. “I try it first, every time. The name comes after, and it comes from what I experienced, not the other way around.”

The results live in the lineup. Signature strains like So-Smooth, 22OG, and Mr. Jack, plus pre-rolls, vapes, and a concentrate line that’s been winning awards in Arizona.

Quick context for anyone arriving from the music side. The Shavo Odadjian System of a Down connection runs deeper than bassist. He was the band’s manager before he ever held the official bass slot. The one cold-calling venues from a bank job in the early ’90s. Having stepped into the lineup full-time in 1995, Shavo understood music as both art and business.

Raised in Los Angeles on skateboarding and underground culture, Shavo treats 22Red less as a pivot than a continuation. Same creative identity that drove the music, pointed somewhere new. Even the brand’s sound reflects it. While the cannabis category leans hip-hop almost by default, 22Red’s sonic identity is metal and heavy music. You hear it, and you know whose it is.

He’s not overselling the crossover between weed and music, though. Cannabis “enhances the experience, but it doesn’t change the core of what I see. That’s just how my brain is wired,” he says. It deepens whatever he’s feeling in the moment, music, a conversation, or just being creative. But the product and packaging comes “from a different place, from the brand, from the art, from what 22Red is trying to say.”

According to Hoodie Analytics data, 22Red ranks 10th among all celebrity cannabis brands by sales. On paper, 10th sounds modest. In context, it’s wild. The field includes brands backed by Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Seth Rogen, Willie Nelson, and Mike Tyson. Household names with bigger general audiences. Shavo hit that ranking with his face off the packaging and no mainstream crossover play.

The growth engine is a licensing model. Rather than building grow-ops in every new market, 22Red takes a more community-centered approach. They partner with established local growers who have distribution licenses, then supply the genetics, packaging, and marketing.

For a company that started as a passion project, the structure is near perfect. Which tracks, because the founder spent years managing a band before he ever played in one.

With distribution across Arizona and eyes on the Northeast, 22Red continues to expand. The official 22Red site covers the full strain and product lineup.

A few things worth knowing before you shop. There’s no standing 22Red discount code floating around, but there’s something better: 22 Day. It’s a recurring promo holiday on the 22nd of select months featuring BOGO or 50% off deals at partner dispensaries. Naturally, even the sale schedule obeys the number. Keep an eye on the 22Red events page for upcoming dates.

And remember, this started as a lifestyle brand before it was a weed brand. The 22Red clothing line is still central to the identity. It’s a sleek intersection of cannabis, skate culture, streetwear, music, and fine art.

Strip away the celebrity angle, and what’s left is rare in this industry: a brand with an actual reason to exist. Shavo Odadjian didn’t enter cannabis to monetize fame. He built a company shaped like his own perception, named by his neurology, numbered by his life, and quality-checked by his own hands. 

Ask what he wants it all to add up to, and it isn’t market share. “Authenticity and creativity,” he says. “I want 22Red to be a brand for creative minds, people who love art, who love beautiful things, who care about the experience as much as the product.” The visual world matters to him as much as what’s in the jar. “When people think of 22Red, I want them to feel something.”

Most people learn that 22Red is named after your synesthesia and treat it as a fun fact. For you, it’s how you actually see the world. Can you take us inside that moment when the name clicked? When the color red, the number two, and the idea of a brand all lined up at once?

“We actually hired a branding company in the first month or two, and nothing they brought back was resonating. So, I asked my creative team to join a brainstorming session. About five minutes in, I started explaining how the number 22 keeps showing up in my life in these undeniable ways. I was 22 when System of a Down got signed. I turned 44 the year we launched the brand. And then someone in the room asked what color 22 is to me. Red. Instantly. That was the moment. The name wasn’t created out of thin air, it was just finally spoken out loud.”

When you evaluate a new strain, you’re already taking in taste, smell, and effect at once. But you also see numbers as colors. Does a strain’s name or number change how you perceive it before you’ve even tried it?

“Sometimes it does, and I have to actively block that out. I don’t want a name or a number coloring my first impression before I’ve actually experienced the product. When I’m evaluating something, it has to come down to the visuals, the smell, the taste, and the effect. I try it first, every time. The name comes after, and it comes from what I experienced, not the other way around.”

You’ve described hearing music as something you see as much as feel. Does cannabis change what you see when you listen, and do those visuals influence 22Red’s product or packaging decisions?

“It enhances the experience, but it doesn’t change the core of what I see. That’s just how my brain is wired. The synesthesia is always there. What I can say is that cannabis deepens the connection to whatever I’m feeling in the moment, whether that’s music or a conversation or just being creative. But when it comes to product or packaging decisions, those visuals come from a different place, from the brand, from the art, from what 22Red is trying to say.”

For someone who doesn’t have synesthesia, what’s the closest honest way to describe what “two is red” actually feels like?

“Close your eyes and picture a house. What color did you see? You didn’t actively choose that, it just came to you. That’s exactly what happens to me with numbers. I close my eyes, I see the number, and the color is just there. It’s not something I decide. It’s not abstract. It’s as natural as the image that popped into your head just now. And it’s not just numbers; letters have colors too. Everything has a visual layer to it.”

The 22s in your life keep compounding, right down to Seven Hours After Violet starting on 2.22.22. At this point, does the number feel like it’s finding you, or have you started building your life around it on purpose?

“It finds me. I’m convinced of that. Both of my sons were born two years and 22 days apart. I didn’t plan that. My daughter’s birthday is 4/6 and even though that’s not a 22, the exceptions feel intentional somehow. Seven Hours After Violet dropped on 2/22/22. I didn’t chase that date for the symbolism; it just landed there. At some point you stop questioning it and you just pay attention.”

Numerology calls 22 the “master builder,” the number for turning big ideas into real things. Is that something you believe in?

“One hundred percent. That’s been my life. I’ve had to manifest everything – every project, every opportunity, every version of myself. And I believe deeply in keeping that energy positive. I don’t manifest fear or failure. Even when things go wrong, I try to find a way to receive it positively, because how you frame a loss matters. My birthdate breaks down to 11 in numerology and 11, 22, 33 are the master numbers. As I was literally writing this, I looked up and it was 11:11. That’s not a coincidence to me anymore. That’s just the frequency I’m on.”

You kept your name and face off every package, in a category where the famous name is usually the entire product. Walk us through that decision. What were you protecting by staying behind the scenes?

“I was protecting the brand, not myself. This industry is full of celebrity products that sell on name recognition alone, and I didn’t want any part of that. If someone picks up a 22Red product, I want it to be because it’s exceptional not because of System of a Down, not because of me. I see myself as an ambassador for what we’ve built, not the reason to buy it. My goal is for 22Red to eventually be bigger than myself.”

You almost didn’t enter cannabis at all because of how the celebrity space operates. What was the exact thing you saw that nearly kept you out?

“What almost kept me out was what people kept offering me. Every opportunity early on was some version of the same thing: put your name on it, walk away, collect a check. I had no interest in that. My name means something to me, and it represents a standard I’ve held my whole career. Once I found a situation where I actually had a voice, where I could be involved in curating what the brand stood for and what it was selling, everything changed. That’s the only way I know how to operate. If it’s in my hands, it has to be something I genuinely believe in.”

Products aside, what’s one thing you want 22Red to be remembered for?

“Authenticity and creativity. I want 22Red to be a brand for creative minds, people who love art, who love beautiful things, who care about the experience as much as the product. The visual world of this brand matters to me as much as what’s inside the packaging. My art team is a serious part of what we do. When people think of 22Red, I want them to feel something.”