or real positive and very reading or a black leader like Common or like Kanye. There are different people in different states. I’m just the young of it, the more youth, urban of what’s going on in. People don’t know much about you. What type of artist do you consider yourself to be? I’m a jack of all trades, dawg. I produce, I write, I own my own record company. I’m just young. I’m a young boss, man. That’s what I am. Everything I do is young bossed up. I put my own records out, produce my own records, I write R&B for other people, I write raps for other people. I’m real self-contained. If people say Yung Berg is a one hit wonder, how do you take that criticism? They can’t say that cause I’ve been on so many other songs besides “Sexy Lady” now. Me and Ray J got a song [“Sexy Can I”] that went #1. My other record “Do That There” is out burning up in the clubs. My official single off the album “The Business,” its about to have like fifty ads next week. So, there’s no way for you to say I’m a one hit wonder, it’s too many fuckin’ songs. How’d you hook up with Ray J? Ray J is one of my niggas. I asked him to be on my album back in the day. And then, when “Sexy Lady” was poppin’, I recorded “Sexy Can I” last year. They wanted it to be my single but I was like, “if it becomes my single, I’m gonna be the sexiest muthafucka alive.” And I was like, “Nah, I can’t do that.” Cause I didn’t wanna be in a box. I already knew people were looking at me and trying to view me in a different way. I felt like I had to do something different. So, we made it his single. But it’s not really his single, it’s my single, it’s a duel single, you know what I’m sayin’. It’s on his album, it’s on my album. And shit, I just wanted to get my Chirs Brown, T-Pain look on. I’m sitting here watching BET now. “Sexy Can I” just went off and “Do That There” just came on. What’s the situation with your album? The album comes out August 12. As far as feature wise, on the album, we got Lloyd, Trey Songz, Amerie, Eve, Collie Buddz, Twista and my YB artist, her name is Casha. She’s the most important feature on the album for me. She’s on the first single called “The Business,” a record I wrote and produced with my man Rob Holiday. It’s produced by me and Young Bosses, with the exception of “Do That There” which was produced by Exel. My man Boogs produced one song called “Can I Get Your Number.” And then Collipark produced the joint with me and Lloyd called “Manager.” You’ve been in the news and on the internet in a lot of beef lately. First of all, with Bow Wow. Where did that start? Honestly, I’ve always been a competitive dude. When I was signed to X, at that time Bow Wow was poppin’ off with Jermaine [Dupri]. I always felt like rivalry, it was never like no hate or nothing like that. But I wanted to get it poppin’ then. Later on in life, we started fucking some of the same hoes. And then our bitches talk, they started saying Bow said this and that, so I started getting a bad taste in my mouth about Bow. And then, I said what I said. But the most important thing is that me and the boy, we linked up. We talked about it like some grown men and it’s all good. I don’t got no hate for Bow Wow or nothing. He’s cool. But I’m just doing me. The most important thing in my life is myself and my crew. And if you ain’t in alliance with me and we ain’t cool, then fuck you. SandraRose.com had a picture of you and Bow Wow, saying that you all had a fight at a bowling alley. So, all of that was untrue? Man, that shit was so fugazy. I was telling that nigga happy birthday or whatever the fuck was going on. We damn near came together to meet up there to go to [Atlanta] 300 [bowling alley] and then go to his birthday party at Velvet Room after that. So, Sandra Rose, she just loves Bow Wow, [you can tell] by the way her website looks. She likes dick sucking on that nigga. I mean, it’s all love though. Another situation you got into was with your Flo-Rida comments. You got some backlash from that too. Were the comments you made about Flo-Rida taken out of context? Yeah, like come on, man. I’m from the Chi, we play the dozens. We talk shit, shallow spit all day. I didn’t mean no disrespect when I said [“Your album got pushed back like Flo-Rida’s hairline”]. The camera was rolling, I ain’t know it was gonna hit the net like that and be what it was. I didn’t even know the fucking shit was rolling. I was just in the Epic office talking to my manager and talking to these guys from XXL about my album. Then Brisco came back with this whole [threats] and shit, despite the fact that last weekend I shot my video for “The Business” [in Miami]. I was in
the same hotel as Flo-Rida for four days. My thing is, I was just joking and if you’re really gonna take it that far and be that upset about it, what can I do? I can reach out saying it’s love with me on my end, let’s get to the money. But if he ain’t wanna do that, I can only respect him as a man for that. As far Brisco, whatever. We good, my dude. We did a song together. I respect you being a young goon and jumping out there for your man. But if it was really that real beef, dawg, you would’ve got my number from Wayne. I talk to Wayne on a regular basis. He shoulda reached out to me on some grown man shit. When you go straight to the internet, that’s some hoe shit. Why would you go straight to the internet when you got a direct contact on me, if you really got a problem with me? Maybe he wanted to be famous. Maybe he’s peeping my success and he felt like it was a good look to do that. Is there anything else going on with you that we didn’t talk about? Just the fact that I’m 22 years old and I’m writing and producing at the capacity that I am right now. Don’t ever call me a one-hit-wonder when I wrote [and] produced “Sexy Lady.” I’m the writer, producer and the artist. People got to go to producers and other artists to make a hit. I broke through this game on my own. I ain’t put out a dud yet. Any other tracks out there that you wrote or produce that people don’t know you did? I’m involved with a lot things right now with my boy Tricky Stewart. I’m working on shit so crazy, from my artist Casha, all the way to a whole other left field. I’m working on Heidi, from The Hills TV show, I’m writing R&B for her. All the way from the urban hood to the whitest of the white MTV, I’m across the spectrum. And I don’t know no 22-year-old nigga that’s doing this. [My shit isn’t] like that Soulja Boy shit, like how them beats be sounding. That ain’t no real beat, dawg. My little nephew could make that shit with four spoons and slapping his hands together and a nigga kicking a drum. What are you saying? You don’t respect the beats that Soulja Boy’s making? Nah, I do respect it. It makes the club go crazy. But I just don’t think that it’s groundbreaking or anything like that. I’m all about putting out lifechanging music. When you hear “The Business” and know it’s produced and written by me, it’s gonna sink in. You sound real confident, man. Are you feeling like you’re the best in your age bracket right now? I mean, in my age bracket, 23 and under, yeah, I really feel like that. As an all-around package though, as a young boss. I’m running this. I’m signed to my own record company. I’ve put out Top Ten records. I’ve just got my platinum plaques and shit. I’ve sold millions of ringtones already. I have five records in rotatio, on the radio and my album hasn’t even come out yet. How many videos have I been on and my album hasn’t come out yet? When I go on my promo tour, I’m gonna be playing six songs off my album that have been in rotation, that have been charted on Billboard. I just don’t know anybody else that’s doing it. I watch, I read the credits in the albums. Like when you look at producer, everybody that broke into this game—and when I say these references, I’m not saying I don’t like these people—from a Hurricane Chris to Soulja [Boy] to all these other people are backed by somebody. I ride on my own dick, bro. Ain’t no Colliparks or none of these other niggas jumping out in Scooby Doos and slippers for me, baby. I come out by myself. I ain’t got no man with millions of records behind me, telling the world that I’m the next best shit since sliced bread. So I gotta be my own thang and I’ve done that consistently. And once you really take a look at it for what it’s worth, you’ll really understand everything. That’s what makes me a young boss and that’s what makes them artists. If people read comments like this in a magazine, they might take offens. Are you ready to take the backlash from statements like that? Like I said, if you’re gonna keep it 100, you’re doing an interview. If you’re gonna quote me right, then quote me right. If not, then take Hurricane and Soulja’s name out of it. And just say that they are artists. Name me one artist that broke through in 07-08 without a cosign? I just don’t know anybody that’s doing it. I watch TV. I’m in tune with the game. Everybody that came out, came out with somebody. It’s like, “Yo, this my little nigga.” I don’t have anybody saying, “This is that new nigga.” I have to make my own lane, and I love that lane for myself. Once I get there, I’m glad it wasn’t a super-progression; I came out, “Sexy Lady” did a million ringtones, stupid downloads, I sold a 100,000 singles on my EP and everything. My album hadn’t even come out but at the same token, I did that shit by myself, dawg. I took the song to the radio before I even got a record deal. That’s a young boss, my nigga. //
OZONE MAG // 57