When it comes to weed, one of the biggest names in the game is Berner. The Bay Area rapper and Cookies founder has risen to global fame, with retail locations around the globe. He’s collaborated with some of the top names in the hip-hop game, including Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa. And while he may be well-known for helping make strains like Girl Scout Cookies and Gary Payton ubiquitous in the culture, music is still his main passion.
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Hoffa, Berner’s latest album, is out this week. Named after the Teamsters leader turned mobster Jimmy Hoffa, the rapper told GreenState the record is reminiscent of some of his seminal works.
“It’s got great features on it, great production. My team said it feels kind of like a Gotti number two, which is probably one of my best-performing albums,” he said.
His Taylor Gang colleague Wiz Khalifa, Too $hort, Ghost Face Killah, B-Real, Killer Mike, Ty Dolla $ign, and many more feature on Hoffa. A hefty 18 tracks made it on the final cut, available to stream as of today.
The strain of the season is…
When it comes to the inspirations behind his album, the El Chivo artist noted cannabis is, of course, a big part of the creative process. Berner is known to engage in pheno hunts while making records, a process where varieties not yet on the market are tested.
“I like to take about 15 to 30 new flavors into a studio, roll up, taste things, get new highs, and just write music,” the rapper explained.
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As for which new strain was hitting this season, Berner revealed the latest Cookies’ collabs with Humboldt-based Ridgeline Farms are the heat.
“I really love and enjoy the Blueberry Caviar (and) the Blackberry Caviar project that we did together,” Berner said, adding Ridgeline founder Jason Gellman recently delivered the first samples fresh from harvest season.
The Blueberry Caviar terpene profile makes the new flavor stand out to the rapper. A cross of Ridgeline’s signature Lantz strain and Grape Gas, the variety boasts a funky berry aroma with a tint of fuel.
“It’s just incredible to taste the smell,” Berner said of the strain, adding that he’s proud of the natural breeding process that brought out such robust flavors.
“You know, you see a lot of spray terps out there in the streets right now. A lot of these kids on the East Coast are enjoying these fake terpenes, and we don’t really know what that comes with—it seems like it might be addictive or have some weird s*** in it. So, it’s cool to see flavors being hunted and developed that have just as good of nose and crazy ‘wow’ factor.”
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Berner added that the Caviar strains could take the market in a different direction, lauding the “same candy profile” that has dominated the scene lately.
“I feel like it could really stick,” he predicted.
The new strains will soon be available in Cookies stores across California. They’re the perfect pairing for a Hoffa listening sesh or a viewing of the documentary Wine and Weed, which Berner executive produced. The rapper said to stay tuned for 2025, when he’ll be doubling down on his creative pursuits—and likely even more innovative weed collabs.
