Berner raised the stakes with his latest album, GOTTI — arguably, his most ambitious to date. Laced with high-profile features, from Future to Nas, GOTTI arrived after he announced that he was battling cancer. The Cookies Boss underwent surgery last month and is still in recovery but, as expected, the hustle doesn’t stop for him.
During a recent interview with Cabbages Newsletter, the rapper detailed the making of the project, including getting John Gotti Jr.’s blessing to use their family name. While he was able to secure verses from Nas, Rick Ross, and more MCs, he revealed that he nearly got in a record with Jay-Z.
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“I even reached out to Jay-Z to get on the album,” Berner said. “He didn’t get on the album, but he heard the record, it was put in front of him. And there was a rollercoaster for like a week where we thought he was going to do a verse to the project. Shit like that just doesn’t happen.”
Another factor that could’ve played a role in the record not working out is that Berner needed the verse turned around quickly. Given his busy schedule with the Cookies brand, and his recent health issues, he put a due date on when the verse could be submitted.
“I put time limits on everything. Maybe that’s part of the reason why Jay-Z didn’t do the verse. I sent him an incredible record and I told him I needed by this day. And my boy was joking with me, like, did you just try to on-demand Jay-Z? I only have X amount of time to work on the music, like with Cookies being what it is, with the clothing, the apparel side of the business, being what it is, I don’t have much time to work on music,” he said.
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Berner said Memphis Bleek helped put the song in front of Hov. Even with a deluxe edition on the way, he doesn’t seem convinced that he’ll get a verse from Jay-Z. However, he said that he’s appreciative of the opportunity, nonetheless.
“I don’t think he’s gonna do it. You know, that’s a rare thing,” he added. “But, shout out to Memphis Bleek, the fact I was actually able to put the record in his hands is a life goal on its own, to even entertain that conversation.”
Check out Berner’s GOTTI album here.