Berner | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Gilbert Anthony Milam Jr. |
Born | [1] [2] San Francisco, California, U.S. [3] | October 27, 1983
Genres | Hip hop |
Occupation(s) |
|
Years active | 2007–present |
Labels |
GT Digital EMPIRE |
Website | cookies.co cookiessf.com |
Gilbert Anthony Milam Jr. (born October 27, 1983), better known by his stage name Berner, is an American rapper and entrepreneur signed to Wiz Khalifa's Taylor Gang Entertainment. He has released over 50 albums, several of which have charted on Billboard 's "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums" chart. [4] As an entrepreneur, he created the Cookies brand of cannabis products and clothing wear that formed out of San Francisco in the early 2010s. [5] The company has grown to include dozens of dispensaries across the United States and abroad, along with multiple clothing stores. [6]
A Sunset District native, Berner attended Galileo Academy of Science and Technology before dropping out. His mother was an office worker and his father was a chef at a Mexican restaurant on Fillmore Street. [7] When Berner was 13, the family moved to Arizona, where his father planned to open a restaurant. During high school, Berner began battle rapping and in 2006 he released his first mixtape, Dirty Sneakers...Plenty Ways to Get It. [7]
After forming his own label, Bern One Entertainment in 2007, Berner released his debut album, Track Money & Pack Money, with Equipto. His first solo album, Weekend at Bernie's arrived in 2009, along with four other albums. [8]
In March 2012, Berner signed to Wiz Khalifa's Taylor Gang Records. Urban Farmer, Berner's first collection to be released on Taylor Gang Records, was released on October 2, 2012. In 2013, Berner performed on the "Under the Influence of Music Tour" alongside Khalifa, A$AP Rocky, Trinidad Jame$ and Joey Bada$$. In 2015, Berner released Contraband, a collaborative album with Cam'ron, as well as Drought Season 3 with deceased rapper The Jacka. In 2016, Berner released the solo album Hempire , also producing a 4/20 show at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium with a lineup that included Cypress Hill, Juicy J, Dizzy Wright, J Boog, Kool John, and Berner. [8] [9]
Urban Farmer, another of Berner's albums, features Iamsu! from The HBK Gang on two tracks; and the Jacka, Rydah J. Klyde and San Quinn on 21 Gunz. [10]
Berner's single, 20 Lights reached number 95 on the Billboard 200 chart. It was released on January 6, 2015. "Best Thang Smokin" is the lead single in Berner's album Hempire, released April 1, 2016. [11]
On May 4, 2019, he released the album El Chivo.
Berner began working in the cannabis industry at age 18 at a San Francisco dispensary named The Hemp Center. [12] In the early 2000s he befriended a cultivator named Jai Chang (a.k.a. "Jigga"), who developed a strain of cannabis that he named "Girl Scout Cookies". [13] Berner and Chang began selling various strains that Chang developed to dispensaries, including Girl Scout Cookies. [13] After the Girl Scouts of the USA sent a cease and desist letter, they named their brand simply "Cookies". [13] Berner was also selling the strains to friends, including rapper Wiz Khalifa whom he met in 2010. [12] [13] Khalifa soon began mentioning Cookies in his rap songs, while Berner wore clothing bearing a Cookies logo in music videos that he appeared in. [12] [14] Berner went on to develop a line of Cookies clothing wear and opened the first Cookies clothing store in San Francisco in 2015. [15] He also began opening Cookies dispensaries, with the first appearing in Los Angeles in 2018, [16] followed by the first on the East Coast opening in 2021. [17] Using a business model similar to franchising, [16] Cookies expanded to a total of 49 dispensaries by June 2022 to go along with "Cookies SF" clothing stores in San Francisco and Los Angeles. [14] A third clothing store also serving as a "Cookies University" was opened in Manhattan in October 2022, but was later repurposed into a dispensary. [18] [19]
In August 2022, Berner was the first cannabis executive to be featured on the cover of Forbes magazine since it launched in 1917. [20] Forbes conservatively estimated the Cookies brand to be worth $150 million. [13]
By January 2024, Cookies had expanded to 70 dispensaries across the U.S., Canada, Israel, and Thailand, according to a profile of Berner in The New York Times Magazine . [16]
Berner was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2021, [6] but it went into remission after chemotherapy. [21]
He has a daughter and a newborn son. [6]
Brandt Jones, better known by his stage name B-Legit, is an American rapper from Vallejo, California.
Quincy Adams Brooks, known professionally as San Quinn, is an American rapper from San Francisco, California. He is the cousin of Messy Marv, Stevie Johnson, and Ya Boy.
Cameron Jibril Thomaz, better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer and actor from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He signed with local independent label Rostrum Records to release his debut studio album, Show and Prove (2006). His contract entered a short-lived joint venture with Warner Bros. Records the following year. His Eurodance-influenced single, "Say Yeah" was released in 2008 and received urban radio airplay; it entered the Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot Rap Songs charts, becoming his first minor hit.
Andre Lamond Adams, better known by his stage name Andre Nickatina, is an American rapper from San Francisco, California. He previously performed under the stage name Dre Dog.
Max Perry, primarily known by his stage name Maxwell Smart is a record producer, born in New York City and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He has worked with artists including Wiz Khalifa, Trina, and Snoop Dogg.
"Black and Yellow" is a song by American rapper Wiz Khalifa from his third studio album, Rolling Papers. It was released on September 14, 2010, as the lead single from the album. The song was written by Khalifa, along with Stargate, who produced it. It was released as a CD single in honor of Record Store Day. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Wiz Khalifa's first number-one single in the US.
American rapper Wiz Khalifa has released seven studio albums, one compilation album, one soundtrack album, three extended plays (EP), two collaborative albums, 84 singles, sixteen promotional singles, twenty-one mixtapes, and 82 music videos. After signing to independent record label Rostrum Records at a young age, Khalifa released his first mixtape Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania, and his first studio album, Show and Prove (2006). Following the release of Show and Prove, Warner Bros. Records signed Khalifa in 2007 as part of a joint deal with Rostrum. At Warner, Khalifa released the singles "Youngin' on His Grind" and "Say Yeah". The latter became his first song to appear on a Billboard chart, peaking at number 20 on the US Hot Rap Songs. Disagreements with Warner over the release of a purported major-label debut album led Khalifa to departed from the label, and release his second studio album Deal or No Deal in 2009 on Rostrum Records alone.
Shante Scott Franklin, better known by his stage name Currensy, is an American rapper. Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, he was signed to hip hop labels such as Cash Money and Young Money before founding his own label Jet Life Recordings, in 2011.
Taylor Gang Entertainment is an American entertainment company. Co-founded by rapper Wiz Khalifa in 2008, it operates as an independent record label, music management, music production and film company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The record label is home to artists such as Wiz Khalifa, Berner, and Juicy J who serves as A&R for the label. TM88 is a producer for the label. The company is currently headquartered at ID Labs in Pittsburgh.
O.N.I.F.C. is the fourth studio album by American rapper Wiz Khalifa. The album was released on December 4, 2012, by Atlantic Records and Rostrum Records. The album's title was inspired by the album H.N.I.C. by Prodigy of Mobb Deep, and is an initialism for "Only Nigga In First Class". Upon release, O.N.I.F.C. received generally mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 selling 148,000 copies in its first week.
Casey Joseph Jones, better known by his stage name Casey Veggies, is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California. Prior to his solo career, he was a founding member of the Los Angeles-based hip hop collective Odd Future. He signed with Epic Records to release his debut studio album, Live & Grow (2015); its lead single, "Tied Up" received gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His second album, Organic (2019) followed thereafter.
The discography of Juicy J, an American rapper, consists of six studio albums, 22 singles, two promotional singles and eighty music videos.
Drought Season is a collaboration album between American rappers Berner & The Jacka, the first album of their Drought Season series. The album features guest appearances from Michael Marshall, B-Legit and San Quinn, among other artists.
Kevin Lee "Chevy" Woods is an American rapper and songwriter from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his affiliation with hometown native rapper Wiz Khalifa, having signed to his Taylor Gang record label as among its first signees in the late 2000s. Woods made his first major appearance on Khalifa's 2011 song "Taylor Gang," which received gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He has released the collaborative project The Cookout (2011) with Khalifa, as well as his Gangland mixtape series.
Beach House EP is the debut extended play (EP) by American singer Ty Dolla Sign. It was released on January 21, 2014, by Atlantic Records. Ty mostly produced through the entirety of this EP, alongside the variety of the other record producers such as DJ Mustard, D'Mile and Young Chop, among others. The EP features guest appearances from Wiz Khalifa, B.o.B, French Montana, Trey Songz, Twista, Jay Rock, Travis Scott and Fredo Santana, among others. The EP was supported by three singles: "Paranoid" featuring B.o.B, "Or Nah" featuring Wiz Khalifa and DJ Mustard, and the remix to the first single entitled "Paranoid (Remix)".
"Or Nah" is a song by American singer Ty Dolla $ign featuring American rapper Wiz Khalifa and American record producer DJ Mustard. Written alongside Lemmie Crockem and Mike Free, the latter of whom produced the song with DJ Mustard, the song was released on January 7, 2014 as the second single from the former's debut EP Beach House EP. The song has since peaked at number 48 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. On April 29, 2014, it officially impacted rhythmic contemporary radio in the United States. The song samples the signature "bed squeaking" from the 2004 hit single "Some Cut".
Hempire is the fourth solo full-length studio album by American rapper Berner. It was released on April 15, 2016 via Bern One Entertainment. Production was handled by several record producers, including Drumma Boy, Max Perry, Scoop DeVille and TM88. It features guest appearances from Wiz Khalifa, B-Real, Atmosphere, Mistah F.A.B., Cozmo, Freeze, Hollywood, Juicy J, K Camp, Lil' Kim, Maejor, Project Pat, Quez, Smiggz, Snoop Dogg, Strap and Young Dolph. The album peaked at number 54 on the Billboard 200.
20 Lights is the first solo extended play by American rapper Berner. It was released on January 6, 2015 via Bern One Entertainment. Production was handled by Cheeze, Cozmo, Ricky P, Sean T, Sledgren, The Elevaterz and Max Perry. It features guest appearances from Ampichino, Curren$y, Mac Dre, Migos, Smiggz, The Jacka and Wiz Khalifa. The album peaked at number 95 on the Billboard 200. Music video for "OT" was directed by David Camarena.
Gotti is a solo album by American rapper Berner. It was released on December 3, 2021 via Bern One Entertainment/EMPIRE. Production was primarily handled by Cozmo. It features guest appearances from Cozmo, Benny the Butcher, Conway the Machine, Kevin Cossom, Future, Jadakiss, Madeline Lauer, Janelle Marie, Millyz, Mozzy, Nas, Ryn Nicole, Rod Wave, Rick Ross, Styles P, Ty Dolla $ign, Wiz Khalifa, and John Gotti's trial tapes. On the Billboard charts in the United States, the album peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200, number 11 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, number 4 on Top Rap Albums, and number 2 on the Independent Albums chart.
From Seed to $ale is a solo album by American rapper Berner. It was released on October 27, 2022, via Bern One Entertainment/Empire. It features guest appearances from Cozmo, Seddy Hendrinx, CJ Washington, Hollywood, JMSN, Mozzy, The Jacka and Wiz Khalifa. The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200.