Atlanta’s critically acclaimed producer Jermaine Dupri is calling out critics who say he is no longer relevant.
The So So Def producer launched his record label in 1993 and is responsible for a myriad of notable hits like Kriss Kross’s
“Jump”
record that was released in 1992 and more recently his record
“Pressure”
with Ari Lennox, which serves as Lennox’s highest-charting single to date, according to That Grape Juice.
Dupri went on the
“I Am Athlete”
podcast and clapped back at the people calling him ‘old news’.
“I’ve had a hit record every year that you can think of, you just don’t even really realize it,”
The Grammy Award-winning producer proclaimed.
“2020 was Usher and Ella Mai,”
Dupri added.
“If you from the rap world and you listening to only trap music, then you gon’ be like, ‘JD ain’t made no music.’ Cause you ain’t listening to R&B music. You don’t know. Matter fact, I left something out. I put out Anthony Hamilton’s album last year,”
he continued.
“So I’m saying, if you not really into what’s going on, you might have missed it. So you can say what you want to say, but that’s a reckless statement for you to put it out there unless you know what’s happening.”
Jermaine Dupri has gone on to record records with Summer Walker, dvsn, Tory Lanez, Snoop Dogg, A Boogie wit a Hoodie, Anthony Hamilton, and the list goes on. In a recent interview with Forbes, the 50-year-old expressed his gratitude for the success and legacy he has created within his label and in the industry.
“I brought youth into hip-hop and I’m the one who inserted the idea of kids rapping and I did it at the highest level,”
he said.
“People never took So So Def seriously because, at the time when we came in, it was an adult sport,”
Dupri added.
“There were no other kids in the business, so everything we see now on YouTube and SoundCloud with kids in their houses, making records, and becoming stars were nonexistent.”
#Clique, what are your thoughts?
