2008 was like a reality show gone wrong for Yung Berg. And
we watched.
Sure, he had two hits singles on the charts and dropped his
proper debut, Look What You Made Me,
but the Chi-Town representing MC was best known for controversy. Disagreements
with rappers, catching a beat down and a slap, offending women, a stolen chain,
name calling, threats, and endless Internet videos overshadowed any success he
may have had.
Signed at 15 by DMX, his story began with that of a young
upcoming MC taken under the wing of an established rapper. While his project with
DMX never fully materialized he still worked his way into the Hip-Hop industry
and eventually made it big with “Sexy Lady,” showing an inkling of a promising
career. Before his first single he
already had a resume that included working with established rap acts he’d
written and produced for, so all credit due.
However, Berg is still a fairly new artist and it’s probably
not the best game plan to attract that many foes in the industry when you’re
still establishing yourself as an artist. Some are already questioning if the
23 year-old has signed the death certificate of his career. That may be too
early to determine since he shows no signs of slowing down with more projects
underway along with rumors of his own reality show.
Will 2009 be better than 2008 for Yung Berg? Here’s a career-spanning run down of
what happened, who was involved, and what’s still going on.
•2001 – A
young 15 year-old from Chicago known as “Ice Berg” [check
the video below] impresses DMX at the shooting of the “What These B###### Want”
video and is signed to DMX’s then label, Bloodline
Records through Def Jam.
•2001 – Unlike some parents who often shove their musically inclined children
into the limelight, at 15 Berg’s parents send him off to boot camp.
•2005 – Now under the moniker Yung Berg, he returns to the Hip-Hop game and
links up with Disturbing The Peace’s Shawnna, serving
as her hypeman.
•2005– Along with partners JFK and Rob Holiday, Yung Berg launched
the Yung Boss Imprint, a conglomerate of his production crew (Yung Bosses) and a roster of artists; since
forming they’ve produced for Eve, Juelz Santana,
Memphis Bleek and Shawnna.
•April 13, 2007 – After pushing his mixtape with the single “Sexy Lady” to several L.A radio
stations and signing with Epic Records, the song becomes a hit. The single
easily climbs charts clenching a number 18 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
•July 24, 2007 – Berg’s EP Almost Famous (Epic/Koch) drops, featuring five songs including
“Sexy Lady” featuring Junior.
•December 21, 2007 – Yung Berg is arrested in Miami
during the video shoot of “Sexy Can I” on marijuana charges.
•January 22, 2008 – 2008 starts off on a good note for
Yung Berg when he’s featured on Ray-J’s single “Sexy Can I” ; in the following
weeks and months the single spends time on the Billboard Top 10 for three weeks
later becoming a platinum single and selling over half a million ringtones.
•March 2008 – On his radio show, DJ Envy asks Yung Berg
about his street single, “Do That There” and if the intro
is directed at Bow Wow. Yung Berg insinuates he doesn’t respect the new Bow Wow
and doesn’t recognize him without being “Lil’ Bow Wow”. Rumors later circulate that Bow Wow
approached the rapper at an event resulting in an altercation, but that rumor is
later found to be false.
•April 2008 – Responding to lingering questions about
the lyrics to “Do That There”, Yung Berg reveals to XXLmag.com that 50 Cent
advised him to move Bow Wow out the Hip-Hop game. Yung Berg states: “First and
foremost, 50 gave me some good advice. 50 told me move him out the game,
period. He told me to crush him. He told me demolish him”. He later says he
doesn’t want to end Bow Wow’s career and he actually would like to work with
Bow Wow, and in fact, if he hops a song with him they’re cool, but if he doesn’t
there will be more problems. (well, who wouldn’t want
to jump on a track with someone after that ultimatum?)
•April 2008
– Terrence J from BET’s 106th and
Park catches the short-lived wrath of Yung Berg when he mentions the music
video host’s name in a freestyle telling him to keep his name out his mouth
after he apparently calls him a “ringtone rapper.”
•May 13, 2008 – The third single off his then upcoming
album, “The Business” featuring on the rise singer Casha
is released. Catching good buzz, the single goes on to reach #33 on the
Billboard top 100 successfully reaching high digital sales and also at one
point ranking #8 on the Ringscan chart.
•May 2008 – Yung Berg jokes about his album delay
saying in his Internet video, “My album was supposed to be released July 1st,
but like I’ve been saying all day it’s been pushed back further than Flo- Rida’s hairline.”
Oddly enough, Flo Rida’s reaction
to the comment is barely heard or pretty non-existent while his label mate and
friend, Brisco, takes it upon himself to deliver the
message to Yung Berg.
Brisco: See n***as from the streets, when they make that transition
to rap they gotta understand
to stay in character, there’s certain things you gotta
watch what you say. Before you say things you got to pause then I’ma say it, so I’ma pause, then I’ma say this. Yung
Berg I’m not Flo-Rida, I’m his twin, Brisco, how you doin’. You did a
record with me and Lil’ Wayne we was at the studio me,
I’ma f**k you up. Only reason I’ma
f**k you up is because you talkin’ too much and you a
lil’ guy. I thought you was Ice-T’s son, they said
Yung Berg I thought you was Ice-T’s son you feel me that’s why I was tryin to feel you, but b***h lied to me. When a n***a catch you, Yung Berg,
“Sexy Lady like to know you”, that boy, I’ma
beat your little red a** , boy”.
•July 2008 – While appearing on Shade 45’s Lip Service
Radio, Berg responds to the Flo Rida/Brisco question by
saying he squashed the beef and that he and Flo Rida
are on good terms, but if he has to he’ll punch Brisco
in the mouth for his involvement
•July 2008 – Yung Berg makes more comments on the Lip
Service radio show. This time he has the Internet going nuts after he makes derogatory
statements about dark-skinned women calling them “dark butts.”
Yung Berg: “I’m
kinda racist, not even like that. I don’t like dark
butts. You know how some women prefer light skin men or dark skin dudes. It’s
rare that I do dark butts – that’s what I call’em. It’s like no darker than me. I love the pool test. If you can be like baby, I met you
at the club let’s go back to my
house jump in the pool exactly like you are and you don’t come out looking better
than you looked before you got in the pool – then that’s not a good look. Eyelashes coming off…any girl that use brown
gel to lay down her baby hair is not poppin’.”
•July 11, 2008 –Attempting to numb the uproar over his
comment, Yung Berg appears in a video exclusive on AllHipHop.com and issues an
apology for his comments citing his own mother is a “lovely dark skinned lady” and
that he would never want to insult any woman. [click here for vid]
•August 2008 – It wasn’t all beef and beat downs for
Yung Berg. On a positive spin he
aligns himself with the Declare Yourself campaign to help register young people
to vote.
•August 10, 2008 – Yung Berg and four others are arrested in
NYC and charged with possession of a weapon, marijuana and menacing following a
limo driver’s complaint about an altercation with the five men (later that
month, despite not showing up for court the judge drops his gun charges).
•August 12, 2008 – Yung Berg’s first full-length album Look What You Made Me (Epic/Koch) is
released. Despite one of the biggest hits of 2008 (“Sexy Can I”) being featured
and the success of his single, “The Business,” the album only reaches #20 on
the top 200 .
•August 22, 2008 – In town for 102.7’s Summer JAMZ Yung
Berg drops by the Plan B Nightclub in Detroit where he catches a beat down
ending in his signature Transformer chain being snatched. Trick Trick, who has ties to the club
speaks to AllHipHop.com days later to clear the air that he didn’t set Yung
Berg up and actually stopped the fight.
Trick Trick: “My lil n****s got him. The label called and told me he wasn’t
coming, so I wasn’t expecting him. So there was no need for
me to tell the lil homies
that ‘aye, the n***a’s straight,’ because he wasn’t
coming. I saved that n***a’s life. He would
probably be dead right now or in a coma if I hadn’t ran over there and pushed the
lil homies back so they
could quit stomping this n***a.”
In the same time span, Trick Trick
speaks to Power 92.1’s Sean Anthony and Big Keith saying that he doesn’t know the
whereabouts of the chain but that Bow Wow may know (Bow Wow having any involvement
was pretty much never taken seriously since after the incident pictures
circulate on the Internet of everyone from unknown men to Trick Trick’s brother
and daughter with the Transformer chain)
•August 27, 2008 — Brisco’s
alleged twin brother Jay Stones takes offense at Trick Trick
and what went down in Detroit. Stones, and everyone else in the vid, proceed to incriminate himself
by busting guns on the Internet via YouTube. Okay.
• October 3 2008 – The slap heard around the world; as Maino explains to Hot 93.7’s
Jenny Boom Boom that he slapped Yung Berg to teach
him a lesson…
“Yeah, I did smack him, but it was in a club in Atlanta, I’m
in Atlanta. Yeah he was a little disrespectful, so I just tried to clean him up
a little bit and you know just give him some togetherness that’s all. I just wanna say this Jenny ‘cause people try to make it
seem like I’m out here bullying these kids, like this kid is a little boy to me
and I like him. We’ve been on tour all summer together. I like him, he put me on his remix. I don’t know what his problem
was last night, I seen him earlier in the day we was at a concert, we performed
at the same concert and for some reason later on in the club he approached me,
he said to me, ‘yo I heard I heard you was talking
reckless about me’. So I said ‘What?’ He said ‘Yeah, I heard you were talking
reckless about me.’ So his body language and his mannerisms lead me to believe
he was being disrespectful to me, so I slapped him, that’s all I did to him.
For people who are like oh he’s this big or this, that, I smacked him, it ain’t like I beat him up or tried to hurt him, I just
smacked because he of what he said to me I took to be disrespectful. He didn’t come
to me and ask me a question, he was like steppin’ to
me or something.”
•October 2008 – Yung Berg sets his attention on R&B
singer Ne-Yo after the R&B star tells Power 106’s
Big Boy that Yung Berg is the artist he’d like to three finger
slap the most. He later explains
that he likes Yung Berg and thinks he’s talented but said he wanted to smack
him for “lack of originality for jockin’ Lil’Wayne.” Showing
he’s truly in the year of the gentleman, Ne-Yo says
in an interview with MTV that he refuses to engage in beef despite Yung Berg’s
video response to Ne-Yo questioning Ne-Yo’s sexuality, dragging up old pictures, and talking about
Ne-Yo’s girl.
Ne-Yo: “Response for what? That ain’t my lane, dude. I don’t beef.
I don’t do that. That ain’t
my thing. I don’t do diss records. I don’t do beef. I
don’t do any of that blogs talking about cats. I don’t do that. That ain’t my thing. I’m a grown man. I
got money to make.”
•December 2008 – Catching heat
from all angles, Drew Sidora, an ex-girlfriend of
Yung Berg’s, releases an unofficial version of her first single “Not Alone”(Yung
Berg Diss)” featuring Young Jeezy
circulates on the Internet and is rumored to be directed towards Yung Berg.
However, the official released song is “Not Alone,” minus a Young Jeezy appearance and confirmation it’s about Yung Berg
•January 2009 – A video that doesn’t quite explain
when the incident took place surfaces on line showing Yung Berg getting
arrested in Miami for public intoxication after crashing a motorbike with a
female companion riding with him [the vid has been
removed].
When arrested he pleads with the officer that he doesn’t
deserve to get arrested because he’s signed to Universal and is an artist.
•January 12, 2009 – New year,
new drama. Young Trump, a rapper
from New Orleans and the son of C-Murder goes on record to put to rest rumors
there was a physical fight in a club between him and Young Berg and that he that
he started the rumor himself.
Young Trump tells VladTV: “Pretty
much I don’t know where the rumor came form but it’s crazy. I’m
chillin’,
I’m getting like mad calls people asking me about that. It’s a little rumor
going around but I heard from a mutual friend in Los Angeles that he took it
real serious and that he really wanna war with me. So , I’m like bring it on it’s whatever like I’m like dude
don’t do that don’t get in that war. You don’t really know if the rumor true. Like
I feel like he ain’t do nothing to Trick Trick when he jacked his chain, he ain’t
do nothing to Brisco but when Ne-Yo
say something he attack Ne-Yo and Ne-Yo a R&B dude so when you get real street n***as he ain’t do nothing you feel me. Plus I know a lot of dudes in Chicago so I got a
lot on him”.
Young Trump records a diss track
called “Career Ender” featuring Chi-Town Harry where Young Trump calls Yung
Berg Hip-Hop’s punching bag and a snitch while Chi-Town Harry says he’s an
embarrassment to Chicago,
•January 11, 2009 – Our own Illseed “reports”—it’s the Rumors section, for all you sensitive rappers out there—that Yung Berg’s “Big Brother” (no Kanye & Jay-Z) has skewered him with a dis record where he basically calls him a swagger jacker. (Click here to hear song)The saga continues…