On
Look What You Made Me, the cocksure
Yung Berg repeatedly mentions
Jay-Z, Biggie, and
Pac, but he certainly won't be mistaken for any of them. He apes
Jay-Z's delivery quite a bit but his swagger and style is more
Nelly and when it comes to lyrics, he's serviceable, not stunning. Put it this way,
Look What You Made Me is his first full-length -- following his Almost Famous EP by just over a year -- and he's already used the word "Sexy" in the titles of two of his singles, but they were huge, hook-filled singles, both included here, surrounded by more of the same. "The Business," "Manager," "Do That There," and almost everything else that isn't marked "Interlude" would work just fine on urban radio. Add "Sexy Lady" and "Sexy Can I," plus a platinum dreams guest list that includes
Ray J,
Twista,
Lloyd, and
Eve, along with producers Rob Holladay and
Mr. ColliPark, and the album is as sweet as candy, even when it's trying not to be sugary. From the confrontational album title to the cuss words,
Berg is working to shake the pop tag and turn it hardcore with a baller stance that isn't so much embarrassing as it is uninteresting. The "I'm in touch with the streets"-type boasts just get in the way of the pop-rap excellence which has already earned this young artist his own imprint from Sony. If
Berg stops thinking of himself as the next
Jay-Z he might see what Sony sees and have a much better shot a becoming the next P. Diddy. After all, "Where Do We Go" takes an
Alan Parsons sample and canes it to death, a perfectly Puffy moment if there ever was one. [An f.y.e. exclusive was also released.] ~ David Jeffries