When I personally asked King Jerm for this album to review, he thought I was crazy: there has been a lot of talk about Yung Berg; his comments about “dark butts”…don’t get me started on that one. I chose this album to review because, despite my own mixed feelings about Berg, I feel that I’d be fairest opinion on staff, being the youngest and the one who doesn’t completely hate Berg. You’d think he would be a rapper like 50 Cent: igniting fire and beefs everywhere he looks, but still making good music. You’d be wrong there: Berg’s EP was mediocre; it was driven by “Sexy Lady”, which was alright, but definitely nothing to write home about. Well, one year after his debut EP, Berg has dropped his album, Look What You Made Me. Can Berg rise above all the hatred aimed at him and avoid being listed as a lame in the Hip-Hop business forever? Let’s just say I’m not setting my standards too high, but let’s see what we’ve got here.
Intro
Wow. I wasn’t expecting this kind of track from Berg. To be honest, the beat actually sounds like “The Ruler’s Back” from The Blueprint, one of my favorite Hip-Hop albums. Berg starts out talking about how frustrated he is with people on blogs and YouTube talking shit, but how he’s not going to let it stop him. That said, Berg doesn’t really do the track justice in terms of lyrics and flows, which is a damn shame, because I bet that if someone else his age, like Bow Wow jumped on this track, they would go straight for the throat. An excellent beat is almost wasted here; he should’ve made it longer and actually thought out his shit and it would’ve been a lot more epic, but the way it is now, it’s just so-so.
Look What You Made Me
Produced by Rob Holiday
I don’t know who’s doing the vocoder shit in the beginning, it’s really annoying. Then the beat comes in, and it’s fire again. Hold up! I know Berg is not talking about whether Hip-Hop is dead or alive. This is the nigga’s first album! Damn! But I digress, it’s all about how Yung Berg used the music he listened to raise him, like Snoop Dogg is the reason he rides in coupes…Biggie’s the reason he tries to move units…yeah I’m not really feeling the lines on this one, mostly because I know none of it is true. One line that made me laugh was when he said: “Blame Jay-Z for me doing it how I do it”. Make an album better than Vol. 1: In My Lifetime…, and then we’ll talk. Once again, I’m liking the beat on this, Berg just isn’t doing it justice. It’s like I’d rather listen to just the beat instead of the vocals, which is really sad. And what the f*&k is with the singing at the end?!?? I give Berg credit for clever wordplay, but this beat should have gone to someone who can actually use it. Average track.
Sexy Can I
Featuring Ray J; Produced by Noel “Detail” Fisher
I can’t believe Yung Berg had the nerve to put this on his album. This Ray J’s song! I hate to be hard on Berg like this, but damn; people are listening to this song because of the addictive hook. Berg spits less than 16 bars on this track! At least when Snoop Dogg did the same thing, he spit two sizable verses when he put “I Wanna Fuck You” on his Blue Carpet Treatment. Maybe I’m just mad because I like this song; when this song came out for Ray J’s album, I was banging this song for real. I still keep this song on repeat sometimes. By the way, when Berg says “Fresh out the pool, no towel let it air dry”, does anyone see the infamous “Pool Test” reference there? Great song, probably the best on the album.
Do That There
Featuring Dude ‘n’ Nem; Produced by Xcel
I first thought this was a sample from Nelly on his verse from “Get Loose”, but I wrong, it was Dude ‘n’ Nem (Who ever that is). At first, I had to say this song is kind of hot, I was surprised it didn’t make a bigger splash on the Hot 100. This is the infamous track where he gets at Bow Wow with: “Wanna be like me, this is what you better do/Eat all ya Scooby snacks and clear a whole plate of vegetables”. Lame! I’m glad he squashed his beat with Bow Wow, cause he would probably eat him alive. Only problem with this song is the hook gets on you’re nerves big time after awhile. Like the last two tracks, the beat is killer, but Berg isn’t saying anything and the hook is awful! I don’t think I need to say it; you’ll listen to this track once, then skip it the rest of the time.
The Business
Featuring Casha; Produced by Rob Holiday
Berg calls this timeless music…no comment. Anyway, this song is all about the auto-tune effect, which to honest, I’m getting kind of tired of: EVERYONE is using it, and only T-Pain sounds good with it, but Kanye, Lil Wayne, and Jay-Z weirdly enough all sounded alright with it. Casha sounds good on it, and Berg is trying a faster flow on this one. It’s one of those candy-glossed up “Pop Raps” that become hot singles nowadays. As a track its good, a nice relaxing vibe kind of thing going on. On a side note, I like how cohesive Berg’s album is; one track flows nicely into the other.
Interlude
The beat here is the exact same one from the “Intro”. Why waste time with an interlude when you could’ve just pasted this on the back of the intro and had a hot intro?? This is about 1 minute long, and Berg isn’t saying anything…again. Oh wait, there was this one line that made me laugh again: “Once again I’m a product what you made me/Solid as a rock, I coulda signed with Jay-Z”. I doubt Hov would even think about signing Berg. This track isn’t even really needed…SKIP!!
Where Do We Go
Featuring Twista; Produced by JFK
As soon as I saw Twista on the track, I knew what was coming; everytime a rapper is on the same track with Twista, they always have to try to rhyme as fast as him or at a much faster pace than they usually can. Kanye, I think, was the only smart one who didn’t and flowed at his own pace letting Twista do his thing. Actually, Berg does well on a track like this, and actually finally sounds good on a beat like this, finally using it! The hook is just Berg talking about where he plans to go from where he is. Of course, Twista absolutely bodies Berg on this; the way he raps that quick continues to amaze me. Overall, Berg flows well, not as good as Twista, but well. This a decent track; maybe the “Interlude” was supposed actually separate the bad songs from the decent songs?
Sexy Lady
Featuring Junior; Produced by Rob Holiday
Oh no! This again? Really? That said, this song is the song that had Berg at his most lyrical when it came out, with lines like: “Damn right, you know baby girl is the shit/She like it when I throw her deep like Micheal Vick”, and “Damn right baby girl’s a diva/But when she with me she be blowin’ reefa/In the coupe lookin’ better than the Mona Lisa”. Clever lines like that make Berg an average rapper at best. But this song is so played out I can’t bring myself to listen to it any more, but that’s just my opinion.
One Night
Featuring Trey Songz; Produced by JFK
I wonder what this one’s about. This song is terrible, SKIP!
Manager
Featuring Lloyd; Produced by Mr. Collipark
The production by Mr. Collipark here is simply horrible; the parts where Yung Berg rap are annoying as sin, but when Lloyd sings the chorus, it’s actually a decent song. But then Yung Berg’s part came back on and I couldn’t take any more. And by the way, I really hate Mr. Collipark’s productions; he thinks he knows what 16 year-olds like, but this shit sucks! SKIP…
Interlude
Another interlude?? Damn! You know there’s something horribly wrong with this album when Yung Berg starts off by saying: “Congradulations, I see you’re still rockin’ wit me”, like surviving this album will win me a gold medal or some shit. You know the deal, same beat as “Intro”, only 2 minutes long. He really should have just made a killer intro, because the more I hear this track, the more I hate it. SKIP!!
If You Only Knew
Featuring Casha; Produced by JFK
FINALLY!! A good track! This probably should have been the first single for real. I mean, out of all the songs I’ve heard (and “Sexy Can I” doesn’t count), this is without a doubt the best. Berg is even actually spittin’ some good shit: “I lost one like Jay-Z so I gotta make the song cry”, and “I gotta put her on the ice like Gretsky”. Casha finally sings a little without the auto-tune device and it works well. I’d actually keep this song on repeat. There are only 3 more tracks left, let’s see if Berg can salvage what’s left of the album. Once again, on a little side note, this album really does flow well; each track slides slowly into the next one, I like that.
Outerspace
Produced by Rob Holiday
What the fuck!! Berg, what happened…? This entire song is him getting his T-Pain on, for real. No guest singers at all, no rapping, just T-Pain like singing…no comment. Why the hell did I ask for this again? SKIP SKIP SKIP!!!
Get Your Number
Featuring Amerie; Produced by Boogz
Berg does what he’s…average at, and keeps to rapping, thank god. Amerie takes the singing, as it should be. Berg goes back to the speedy flow that he did in that song with Twista, which actually isn’t too bad. It’s a so-so song, maybe I’m still just pissed off after that “Outerspace” bullshit.
Victory Lap
Featuring Eve & Collie Buddz; Produced by Rob Holiday
What the hell? This is song is over 10 minutes long! Only reason I hung in there for the nappyafro crew is I heard there was a bonus song, and there is. But first, for the “Victory Lap” track: Eve blows Berg away in lyrics, naturally, but I like Collie Buddz on the track; he gives it a reggae kind of feel that I like. After the song ends, wait like 30 seconds and another track pops up, really street orientated, the banger of the album since Berg hasn’t been trying to make any this entire album. As soon as I heard the bonus track, I felt cheated. This song is horrible, I don’t blame the beat either, the beat is a banger, but Berg is really bad over it, so is the other fool on the track, whoever it is. I’m just glad it’s finally over.
(At this point in the review, I had to take some Tylenol)
Bottom Line:
B-Easy warned me about this, but I stubbornly decided to listen to the album anyway thinking I’d give the fairest opinion. Well, now I can fairly say that Yung Berg is probably one of the worst rappers that I have heard in a long time. He’s got 2 songs here that he contributed to (I’m not counting “Sexy Can I” because if you haven’t heard it by now, you never will), and both of them are decent at best; there is nothing on this album that is great. Only two songs on this album are even good! YB’s problem is he spends too much time trying to come up with clever puns and wordplays and trying to reference great rappers and works that they did instead of actually BEING a great rapper, or at least one I don’t need headache medicine to listen to. Berg is not the worst rapper I’ve heard EVER, but he is pretty damn close. When you’re in the rap game, you need to make music; actual music. Only a few people in the game can get away with making meaningless songs and become famous and even have a shot at being called Best Rapper Alive (*cough* Weezy *cough*), but that doesn’t mean that everyone should do it. Berg frequently repeats lines over and over again (me, me, me: we get that me rhymes me already!), ruins perfectly good beats, and is overall an incredibly mediocre rapper. When B-Easy reviewed his EP, he said he hoped someone else would have to review the full-length album. Well, one-year later, Berg’s made an album that is worse than that. I pray for the next person who has to review a Yung Berg that there isn’t a another one. And King Jerm, if I ever volunteer for an album like this again, shoot me.
nappyPicks: “If You Only Knew”, but ONLY if you really want to listen to YB.
Download: Yung Berg feat. Eve & Collie Buddz – “Victory Lap”
