“Nobody darker than me is allowed in my bed. Who is Christopher Ward? You probably know him better as Young Berg or Hitmaker. He’s the genius behind some of rap and R&B’s biggest hits, like ‘Sexy Can I’ by Ray J and ‘Party’ by Chris Brown. Despite his professional success, his personal life is a mess, including a tumultuous relationship with R&B singer Tink and accusations of being a colorist and a deadbeat.
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When the Chicago native first entered the music scene, he adopted the stage name Iceberg and signed with DMX’s Bloodline Records at just 14. Surrounded by great mentors, including the rapper Eve, who renamed him Young Berg, he seemed set for success. For the first few minutes of this video, we’ll call him Young Berg.
Despite the positive influences around him, Young Berg admitted on the Kota Collection YouTube channel that he was acting out. He hooked up with former 3LW member Naturi Naughton and kept firearms in a house that DMX had provided for him. After one of the guns accidentally went off, his well-off parents, worried about his future, decided to intervene. In 2001, they sent him to Spring Creek Lodge Academy, a boarding school in Montana known for its harsh boot camp-like environment. He spent a year there, cut off from the outside world, missing events like 9/11 and the passing of Aaliyah. The New York Times even described the school as physically and psychologically brutal. As of now, the school has officially closed.
After leaving the academy, he returned to Chicago, where his dad got him some studio time. He threw himself into making music and also found time for romance. At 18, he started seeing a girl named Bana in his dad’s basement. When she got pregnant, he told her he wasn’t ready for a child. Bana told the Bossip website that while Berg initially convinced her to terminate the pregnancy, he disappeared when it was time to pay for it. She chose to keep the baby and said that he stopped communicating with her from that point on. Bana recounted, “I went over to his father’s house and said, ‘Hey, I have this child,’ and his father told me, ‘He doesn’t live here anymore, but I’ll let him know you contacted me.’” She later gave birth to their son, Lamont.
Berg reconnected with Eve and her manager, who moved him from Chicago to Los Angeles. In LA, he helped other artists create music. Then, in a surprising move, he hired his weed dealer as his manager and decided to focus more on his own music.
Wait, did you say he hired his weed dealer as his manager? From what I know, weed dealers usually aren’t exactly rolling in cash. They’ve got too many responsibilities, like kids and flashy cars that eat up their money. Anyway, let’s see how this plays out.
Berg got hold of a beat from a 17-year-old high school kid in Philly and convinced him to drop out of school and move to LA to make music together. The kid agreed, and one of the first songs they created, “Sexy Lady” featuring Junior, was released in 2007 and hit number six on the Hot Rap Songs chart. Berg scored another hit after being featured on Ray J’s song, which topped the charts in October 2007.
B went to Atlanta for her birthday with her sister and son, turning it into a family trip. They ended up at a nightclub where Ray J, Berg, and Berg’s brother Cap-1 were hanging out. B recognized Cap-1 and asked if he was from Chicago, and he confirmed. When she noticed Cap-1 referring to Young Berg as his brother, she realized Berg was actually Christopher Ward, her son’s father. She was about to show Berg a picture of their son when a fight broke out, and she got separated from him.
B later got Berg’s number from a mutual acquaintance and sent him a photo of their son. Berg responded, “That baby doesn’t look anything like me.” When she told him their son had been diagnosed with autism, Berg disappeared again.
If you could say anything to your dad right now, what would you say? “My father’s going to eat my sandwich.” “Are you going to make him a sandwich?” “Yes.”
He released his first studio album in August 2008, but a month later, he stirred up controversy with some offensive remarks about dark-skinned women. He was quoted saying, “No dark butts, liquor butts. Hold on, let’s check the climate in here because it’s no dark butts. Yeah, so everybody in here would have passed the test. We got to thank those Spanish light-skinned women. We love black women as well. What I love, pink toes, then he loves white girls. Basically, no butt darker than my butt in my bed. He needs his ass beat.”
In an attempt to clear up his statements, he enlisted the help of his publicist and occasional partner, Hazel E. He referred to her as “4 a.m., AKA Melanie Fiona,” because he would only hang out with her in the early morning hours. Despite this, he continued to attract negative attention for various incidents.
In Atlanta, he got slapped by rapper Mayo after talking trash at a club. Then, in Detroit, he was beaten up and had his chain snatched at a club owned by rapper Trick Trick. He recounted the incident on The Breakfast Club, saying, “I’m, like, 5’6″, 150 lbs. I come out there, and the whole club security surrounds me. They whooped my ass through the club. My entourage was all around us, and they were getting their ass whooped too.” Later, UK rapper Rowdy T stole his beloved Batman chain and flaunted it on camera.
During this time, someone named B contacted Bossip, accusing him of being a deadbeat. By summer 2013, he was linked to Karrine Steffans, also known as Superhead. Karrine posted an Instagram photo of him kissing some groupies, accusing him of being “an ain’t [ __ ] ninja” and a woman beater. The post was deleted, and they soon parted ways.
He then started dating Joy Chavis, and in 2013, Hazel introduced him to the producers of Love and Hip Hop, leading to his casting on the show. By the time Love and Hip Hop Hollywood premiered in 2013, Joy was removed from the footage. He later told The Jasmine Brand that Joy was fired for being too boring, and the producers created a fake relationship with Hazel for the show. Hazel revealed that while they were still close off-camera, he constantly humiliated her on TV. He told her, “You ain’t never been my girl, okay? Ever.” She responded, “You’re lucky I don’t know how to whoop your ass in this goddamn street.”
After eight years of an on-and-off relationship, things ended when Hazel reposted a naked photo of rapper Jason Lee in retaliation for his insults. Despite reconciling, their relationship changed, and Hazel appeared intoxicated during a performance of “Love and Hip Hop.” Their once-strong connection fell apart, leaving her hung up over it.