Artist: Yung Berg

I had to be very objective when listening to this CD, because I’m really not a fan of Yung Berg. In fact, I don’t even like him. He comes off unnecessarily arrogant in his interviews, his rhymes are really not that great, and I’m guessing he didn’t get the memo that doing a nursery rhyme with Ray J. doesn’t do much for your career – I mean come on, it’s Ray J. But anyway, I got a copy of Berg’s debut album Look What You Made Me and I gotta say, it’s better than I expected. Don’t get it twisted though, this album is far from being a classic, but there are a few tracks I could keep in rotation...

The truth of the matter is that it’s really not Yung Berg that makes this CD worth the listen. More than half the songs on this album are collaborations, with some highly respected artists by the way. There’s Brandy’s brother, Twista, Trey Songz, Lloyd, Amerie, Eve, reggae artist Collie Buddz. The title track is a nice intro to Yung Berg the artist, and discusses his influences, past record deals (he was signed at age 15 to DMX’s Bloodline Records) and the factors that have shaped him as an artist. The problem with the remainder of the CD is you really only listen to see how well he blends with other, superior talent. Where Do We Go with Twista is one of the album’s better moments, but he’s outshined on his own track by Twista’s superior wordplay. Then there’s One Night featuring Trey Songz, one of the many songs for the ladies. This is probably the arena where Yung Berg fits best – making songs for the ladies. His attempts to establish any type of street cred (Do That There) hardly seem authentic. Another highlight of the album is Get Your Number with Amerie, but only because her spicy vocals save this track from the total wackness of Berg’s lyrics: shawty fish bowlin’, so I drop flakes… Yeah, okay… Even Eve drops in a hot verse on the album's closer, Victory Lap, but Berg takes a backseat yet again and just can't cut it next to the pitbull in a skirt.

Case in point: Look What You Made Me proves that the right amount of guest appearances can make any album worthwhile. The problem is Yung Berg’s lyrical ability and talents are minimized next to the well-established artists on his album. On most of the tracks, you’re really only listening for their contributions rather than his. But hey, it is what it is, and THEY still make the album pretty good, even if he doesn’t.

-Mack-