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Jermaine Dupri also known simply as JD (born Jermaine Dupri Mauldin on September 23, 1972) is an African-American record producer and rapper. Dupri is notable as the youngest ever inductee to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame on September 16, 2006, introduced by Quincy Jones and Russell Simmons. He is known for giving credit to his label So So Def in some songs that he has produced, saying at the beginning of the song "Y'All know what this is! So, So, DEF!"

Early life

Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born in Asheville, North Carolina. He grew up in the College Park community of Atlanta, Georgia. Dupri was first introduced to the music business by his father, a concert promoter and manager of rap and R&B groups, at an early age. He dropped his last name as a teenager and started out as a breakdancer for artists such as Diana Ross and Cameo. Dupri became the youngest charting producer in the history of music at age 14. He went on to produce a number of hits for platinum artists such as TLC, Jay-Z, Ludacris and Bow Wow

Music career

From DG Jermaine Dupri is the founder, President and CEO of his own label, So So Def Records, which has been the home to several artists such as Da Brat, Jagged Edge, and Xscape. Juvenile rap acts such as Kris Kross and Bow Wow have been some of his biggest successes; Dupri earned significant amounts of songwriting royalties by ghostwriting for such acts.

In addition, Dupri has pursued a recording career of his own, which has resulted in hits such as "Money Ain't A Thing" (1998, with Jay-Z), "Welcome to Atlanta" (2001, with Ludacris) and "Get Your Number" (2005, with Mariah Carey), and "Gotta Getcha" featuring Johnta Austin. He became involved with a dispute between Eminem and Dr. Dre in 2002.

So So Def, a label specializing in Southern hip hop, R&B, and bass music, was originally distributed through Sony Entertainment/Columbia Records. In 2003, Dupri was appointed president of Arista Black Music and moved So So Def and its artists there. In 2004, Dupri was appointed President of Urban Music at Virgin Records and moved So So Def over to Virgin. Meanwhile, Dupri also expanded his business ventures, buying into Chicago-based distillery 3 Vodka and opening his own boutique restaurant, Cafe Dupri.

In 2004 and 2005, Dupri worked with R&B singers Usher and Mariah Carey on their releases, Confessions and The Emancipation of Mimi (the top-selling albums of 2004 and 2005) respectively. He produced some of the biggest hits of those years including "Burn", "Confessions, Pt. 2" and the remix featuring Kanye West, Shyne, and Twista, and "My Boo" with Usher and "It's Like That", "We Belong Together", "Shake It Off", "Get Your Number", and "Don't Forget About Us" with Carey. He produced the hit track "Radio" for young R&B sensation Jarvis, but didn't release the album because his label was in transition with the distributor. He has also scored hit singles with J-Kwon ("Tipsy"), Dem Franchize Boyz and many more. He also worked with St. Louis rappers, Nelly, Chingy, & St. Lunatics.

Dupri's 2005 single, "Gotta Getcha" featuring Johnta Austin, is featured on the July 2005 release Jermaine Dupri presents...Young, Fly & Flashy, Vol. 1. The album is a compilation of tracks produced by and featuring Jermaine Dupri. So far, "Gotta Getcha" has peaked at #60 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The controversial music video for the song features his girlfriend, singer Janet Jackson, in a x-rated peep show club. Dupri also worked with Jackson on her new album titled 20 Y.O., released September 26 2006.

In fact, as of August 9th, 2006, Dupri is in the list of the top ten richest people in Hip-Hop. Numbers 1 to 10 were: Sean "Diddy" Combs, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Russell Simmons, Damon Dash, The Neptunes, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eminem, 50 Cent, and Nelly/Jermaine Dupri.

Dupri continues to produce and deliver guest appearances for today's hottest artists. He has worked from many of the major artists ranging all the way from Jay-Z ("Money Ain't A Thang"), Ludacris ("Welcome To Atlanta") to Warren G ("Havin' Thangs"). His current roster as of April 2006 includes Young Capone, Dem Franchize Boyz, Da Kid Slim, Daz (aka Daz Dillinger & Dat Nigga Daz), T. Waters, and Johnta Austin. He plans on dropping Daz's album, tentatively titled "So So Gangsta," in 2006. Daz's album is to include production by Dupri, Scott Storch and Daz.

Singer Monica's new album, The Makings of Me features production from Jermaine Dupri with the lead single "Everytime Tha Beat Drop". He also helped start the career of Deandre Maiden.

Lately rumors began to emerge that Jermaine would leave his President of Virgin Records Urban Music Position , on Saturday the 21th it has been confirmed , So So Def's Status on Virgin Records is unsure.

Feuds

Dupri had a minor feud with famous hip-hop producer Dr. Dre in 2002. In an interview, Dupri claimed that he did more complete work on production than either Dre or Timbaland. Dre proceeded to insult Dupri on Eminem's track "Say What You Say" from The Eminem Show, namely with the lines, "Over 80 million records sold/And I ain't have to do it with ten or eleven-year olds." The song ends with a recording of Timbaland saying, "Yo, this is Timbaland/Tell him I said he can suck [DJ scratches] MY dick." Eminem and Xzibit, of whom was affiliated with Dre's Aftermath label at the time, also insulted Dupri on the Xzibit track "My Name." Xzibit also released a diss track on a DJ Kay-Slay mixtape called 'Short People' that contains a sample from the Randy Newman song and insults JD on his height among other things.

Dupri replied to the Dr. Dre and Eminem insults with an underground track called "JD's Reply" which he leaked to the internet. On the track, he implies Dr. Dre is a homosexual and calls him a "gayass mark." Dupri states that Dr. Dre is not doing any work in the studio and other producers are ghostwriting for him and makes remarks referring to Timbaland using the same style of beats on his production. At the end of the track, he says, "If you come at me again, I'm gonna come back at you three times harder."

After "JD's reply" was released, the previously mentioned track "Say My Name" by Xzibit featuring Eminem and Nate Dogg was released on Xzibit's album "Man Vs. Machine". In the last verse of this track, Eminem greatly insults Dupri. Since this track was released, Dupri has not commented in a song.

Accolades and Recognition

JD was named as one of the top 25 greatest southern artists by Ozone Magazine in a piece written by Rohit Loomba. A segment was run on MTV Jamz in conjunction with the issue of the magazine as well.

Net Worth

It was recently confirmed that Dupri was in the top 10 of the wealthiest hiphop entertainers. He and Nelly tied at 10th place both grossing $60 Million

Albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Songs listed here are chart singles on which Dupri was namechecked, either as the main or featured performer.

External links

• Jermaine Dupri Official Site
• Jermaine Dupri Lyrics

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