Yung Berg has gone through a metamorphosis of sorts since the early aughts, evolving into one of the most sought after producers in the industry under the moniker Hitmaka.
“Nobody said I was going to win again,” he told Forbes during a September 2019 interview. “I wanted to give everybody else the records I would use for myself.”
Hitmaka has proven doubters wrong. With an infectious producer tag (Hitmaka!) that’s hard to miss, he has cultivated a production track record that has earned him more than 28 million digital sales and 5 billion streams.
“I didn’t have a fall back plan or anything,” he told Billboard in September 2019 ahead of the release of his “Thot Box” posse cut. “Music was the only option.”
The transition was natural. A Chicago-native, Hitmaka was first introduced to production work at 14-years-old by lingering in recording studios occupied by Kanye West and No ID.
In 2017, he secured a position as Vice President of A&R at Atlantic Records, a relationship he’s maintained since 2001.
“I’m not done until I’m bigger than LA Reid, til I’m bigger than Barry Gordy, til I’m bigger than Craig Kallman, til I’m bigger than Clarence Avant. It doesn’t matter.”
In honor of his birthday Monday (September 9), check out these list of songs below that you may not know were produced or written by Yung Berg aka Hitmaka.