Hitmaka

Christian Ward (born September 9, 1985), known professionally as Hitmaka, is an American record producer. Ward began rapping under the stage name Iceberg in 2001, at the age of 15. His career was cut short, due to his time at a military-based boarding school. Six years later, he signed with Epic Records and adopted the stage name Yung Berg. His 2007 debut single, "Sexy Lady", peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, while its 2008 follow-up, "The Business", peaked at number 33. He was featured on Ray J's single, "Sexy Can I", that same year; the song peaked within the chart's top five; all of which preceded the release of his debut studio album, Look What You Made Me (2008), his only studio album to be released during his tenure as a rapper. Despite unfavorable critical reception, it peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200. After releasing several follow-up mixtapes and singles that failed to chart, he transitioned from recording in favor of a career in music production by 2014. Ward's production work was commercially successful. Since the 2010s, he has been credited on the Billboard Hot 100-top 40 singles "Bounce Back" by Big Sean, "John" by Lil Wayne, "Party" by Chris Brown, "Look Back at It" by A Boogie wit da Hoodie, "Dangerous" by Meek Mill, and "Plan B" by Megan Thee Stallion. In 2019, he was appointed the executive vice president of A&R at Atlantic Records. A year later, he was given the same position for Empire Distribution.