Jermaine Dupri

Fun Facts: Jermaine Dupri’s father is a former president of Columbia Records. As a teenager, Dupri dropped his last name and began breakdancing for artist such as Diana Ross, Cameo and Whoodini.

Claim to Fame: Dupri has worked with a number of stars including Usher, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, TLC, Ludacris, etc. He is known for saying, “Y’all know what this is!� on almost every track he produces.

Jermaine Dupri Maulidin, better known by his stage name Jermaine Dupri or J.D., is an American record producer, rapper and Grammy-winning songwriter.



Dupri discovered the child rap duo Kris Kross in 1991 at a mall in Atlanta, Georgia, and was responsible for their debut album, Totally Krossed Out which sold 4 million copies.According to All Music Guide, Dupri "provided a steady head to many of the most high-profile R&B albums" of the 1990s, such as TLC's CrazySexyCool and Mariah Carey's Daydream. He continues to work with artists including Jay-Z, Overnight Classic, Ludacris, and Warren G. He has released Daz Dillinger's album, So So Gangsta, in 2006. It includes production by Dupri, Scott Storch, and Daz. Dupri also worked with Jackson on her album titled 20 Y.O., released September 26, 2006, which was not as successful as much as Jackson's previous albums. The album's commercial underperformance led Dupri, who accused Virgin of improperly handling its urban releases, to leave his position at Virgin Urban Music. He became the head of Island Records' urban division instead; So So Def releases are now issued through Island Urban Music. Janet Jackson followed Dupri from Virgin to Island as well. As of March 2008, his So So Def/Island Urban roster includes himself, Jagged Edge, Johntá Austin, and Rocko. He left Island Def Jam in early 2009. He stated the reason for leaving as:
Singer Monica's album, The Makings of Me, features production from Jermaine Dupri with the lead single "Everytime tha Beat Drop". He has also produced multiple tracks on Jay-Z's concept album American Gangster. On October 16, 2007, The Making of a Music Mogul, an autobiography that charts his career as a producer was released. The book was co-written with Samantha Marshall and released in hardcover by Simon & Schuster's Atria imprint. The New York Post reported on February 28, 2008 that Dupri proposed to Janet Jackson, and that the couple are busy planning their wedding as well as recording a handful of songs for her new album Discipline. He was featured on Nelly's "Stepped On My J'z", which features himself and Ciara. The single's video debuted on June 11, 2008 on Access Granted. He also produced Ashanti's up-tempo single, "Good Good", which had heavy rotation on BET & MTV. More recently, he has been involved with a hip-hop/R&B supergroup, Oceans 7. He has also co-written two songs on Weezer's upcoming album, Raditude. US Weekly has reported that Jermaine has split from long time girlfriend, Janet Jackson, after seven years.

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