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​read in broswer​

roll it up

Hey! TikTok just released its year-end report. Lizzo is the app’s most viewed artist of the year. Her and her team pushed “About Damn Time” hard on TikTok, and it paid off.

Lizzo has huge singles but her albums don’t get streamed as much. Her latest album Special had 37 million streams in its first week, which is fewer streams than SZA’s CTRL had in its best week of 2022, and that album is five years old!

But despite the streams, Lizzo sells out these arenas. She did two nights at MSG! Night in, night out, at bad bitch o’clock, the Lizzbians show up. With a fanbase name like that, how can they not?

Today’s memo is about the Bay Area artist, Berner. We’ve yet to break down his cannabis business, but now’s the perfect time. I talked about it on this week’s Trapital Podcast with Zack O’Malley Greenburg, who has been following Berner and other artists on his Hip-Hop’s Wealthiest Artist list of 2022. Let’s dive in.

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how the Cookies crumble

Zack estimates that Berner’s net worth is $410 million. Most of that is from Cookies, his cannabis business that does nearly $500 million in annual revenue.

When weed was legalized in California, Berner worked at a Bay Area dispensary and gained a reputation for his Girl Scout cookies-style strain of cannabis.

He turned that into a standalone Cookies company that licenses its products to other dispensaries, sells direct-to-consumer, and has a clothing line too. Cookies now has nine distinct brands and operates 55 stores in 20 states and seven countries. It’s the type of legitimate enterprise that Stringer Bell dreamed of when he took that Macroeconomics 101 class in The Wire.

And when Berner’s not building his business, he’s still a prolific hip-hop artist. In 2022, he released a 30-track album and had over 100 million Spotify streams overall.

wealth for the non-superstar

The wealthiest artists tend to be the ones who first reached the highest levels in music. Jay Z, Diddy, Rihanna, Dr. Dre, and Ye leveraged their massive fanbases and influence in music to build their billion-dollar businesses. They launched audience-first companies with built-in distribution.

They’re all impressive, but Berner’s success is more unique. He wasn’t a household name from his music, but he still used his notoriety to build Cookies. He also did it in a polarizing industry with tons of regulatory challenges. It speaks to the strength of the company, its products, and its marketing.

Also, weed is historically (and literally) grassroots. Cannabis consumers don’t rely on big brands or celebrities to influence buying decisions. Berner started selling weed when he was an underground rapper. He’s the perfect salesman. If you have ever bought weed, you’ve probably bought it from someone who also tried to sell you their mixtape too. If that’s not product-market fit, I don’t know what is.

Berner’s not alone as an artist building a non-superstar business empire. Master P is a hybrid. He was well-known after No Limit’s run. “Make Em Say Uhh” was an anthem. But P never reach the consistent music heights that Jay Z or Diddy did. Percy Miller did get there in business though. His consumer products have distribution in Walmart and other major locations. Plus, he owns most of his businesses so the margins are much higher.

Another example is Chamillionaire. He had a huge hit in 2006 with “Ridin Dirty.” He never hit that superstar level in music, but he started angel investing, worked at Upfront Ventures, and has invested in several companies that have exited, like Lyft, Ring, Cruise.

the rest of the list

Here’s the full list of Hip-Hop’s Wealthiest Artists of 2022:

1. Jay Z – $1.5 billion

2. Diddy – $1 billion

3. Ye – $500 million

4. Berner – $410 million-

5. Dr. Dre – $400 million

Not much has changed for Jay Z recently. His name is always in the mix of potential buyers when an NFL team is up for sale though. $1.5 billion isn’t enough for outright ownership of a team, but he could still contribute to a sizable stake in a bid.

Diddy recently bought a $185 million cannabis business and hopes to bring that Ciroc marketing magic to the industry. Berner’s success with Cookies is a sign that a great marketer can win in this space.

Ye and Dr. Dre have dropped on the list in recent years, but Zack predicts that Drake may be the next artist to rise up. With his massive streaming numbers and his massive deal with Universal Music Group, it may only be a matter of time.

Listen to our full conversation here:

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​https://trapital.co/2022/12/08/berners-billion-dollar-cannabis-business-and-hip-hops-wealthiest-artists/​

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