Jermaine Dupri doesn’t make a move without strategy, according to Da Brat who defended the So So Def founder’s recent comments about female rappers.
Speaking to a paparazzi at LAX airport Tuesday (July 17), Brat called Dupri a “genius” and detailed how his critique of female rappers ended up being a “good thing” because it helped start a conversation surrounding the lyrical diversity among women in rap.
“Everything Jermaine Dupri does, he does strategically,” she said. “You should be thankful that the conversation is even started now, because now the focus in on us [female rappers]. New [rappers], seasoned [rappers], legends…everybody’s commenting.”
Brat also pointed out that Dupri’s remark calling today’s mainstream rapper’s “strippers” was in response to the interviewer asking for his thoughts on Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, and Megan Thee Stallion.
“I love Jermaine Dupri, he’s very smart at what he does and there’s always a method to his madness,” Brat added before noting that Dupri’s words were “absolutely taken out of context.”
Reactions to Dupri’s comments were mixed. Several rappers refuted his assessment and others agreeing with him, but thanks to all of the negative and positive attention, Dupri announced that he will be hosting a So So Def Female Cypher.
After all the calls,DMs, angry tweets and other messages saying “I am a major gatekeeper in the hip hop world,why don’t I invest in a female who is out here hustling and making a name for herself?” I decided to create the #SoSoDefFemalecypher, details coming soon pic.twitter.com/Nyxl5KpPXZ
— Jermaine Dupri (@jermainedupri) July 12, 2019