Hip-Hop legend Jermaine Dupri joined The Big Tigger Morning Show on Atlanta's V-103 to share some thoughts on the continuing celebration of Hip-Hop's 50th anniversary, the origins of BET's 106 & Park, Verzuz rumors, and more.
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Jermaine Dupri stepped right into the notable disagreement surrounding the creation of BET's popular music video countdown show 106 & Park. Rapper Bow Wow and former programming head at the network Stephen Hill refute Dupri's claim that he was the one who created the series, but Jermaine stands by his original assertion. "It's a thing where I discussed plans like this in private. If I called you and said, 'Tigger let's make something,' and then it happens... but you don't tell everybody here and it just looks like you did it, and then somebody just says it, you might want to try to protect the way you look out of the situation."
"I feel like there's a lot of that going on," he adds. "The only person who knows this is me and Stephen Hill... I never said this for me to get the credit for creating ‘106 & Park.’ I never cared about that in the first place from day one. I throw people ideas all the time that I don’t care to take credit, that’s not my thing." Regarding his relationship now with Bow Wow, Jermaine deferred. "I don't know; we don't speak on that," he says. "It's a waste of time to talk about."
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The recent Xscape drama was also brought up, member LaTocha Scott believing that her solo project got shelved because of Dupri and Kandi Burruss being involved at the time, although Kandi found it hard to believe she “had that much power” over him. "I was thinking about this, because I saw it, and I was like, 'I don't actually remember.' But I do know that it was moving forward. When I did 'Bounce With Me,' that's actually LaTocha singing by herself on that song... there was a lot going on at the time."
LISTEN NOW: Jermaine Dupri on Verzuz, 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop
They also got into some of the rumors surrounding a So So Def/Bad Boy Verzuz battle -- or concert, or concerts -- that have been in the planning stages. "We know exactly where we want to do it, it's just a lot of moving pieces," Jermaine admits. "I've heard so many different things... it's like, what is going on? People want to make up things just so they have something to talk about." Adding some clarity, Dupri adds, “It’s a concert, ultimately, and it’s not even a battle, it’s just us showing who we are for the most part."
Regarding the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop being celebrated this year, highlighted on Audacy's Hip-Hop Made, Jermaine says he feels like people "need to do something -- I don't know if people are going through the motions and saying it just for the hell of it... doing it the same way we celebrate everything. Hip-Hop has done too much for it to just be a concert, for it to just be a flyer."
"Whatever it is," he continues, "Hip-Hop has done way more for people of color than anything on this earth as far as I'm concerned. It's given out more jobs than anybody, it's made people believe they could do other things... So, I feel like the acknowledgment of Hip-Hop should be a little bit louder,” Dupri contends. “It’s the 50th anniversary. It should be as loud as Hip-Hop was in the beginning.” Finally, while a tall order, Jermaine was asked to name the Top 5 Hip-Hop artists that impacted him, Dupri offered up Run DMC, Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G., Ice Cube, and Slick Rick.
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Lastly, Jermaine spoke about his involvement in Atlanta's '404 Day' celebrations, his new collaboration with Curren$y on their joint EP For Motivational Use Only and new single "Never Fall Off," nerves about their upcoming show on Friday, April 7 in Atlanta, and more.
Listen to the full talk with Jermaine Dupri above and stay tuned for more conversations with your favorite artists here on Audacy.
Stay tuned as Audacy continues to celebrate the birth and trailblazing influence of Hip-Hop. Check out audacy.com/hiphopmade all through 2023 for more, and listen to your favorite music on Audacy's Hip Hop Made suite of stations, as well as Conscious Hip Hop, Hip Hop Uncut, Women of Hip Hop, and more -- plus check out our talent-hosted Ed Lover's Timeless Throwbacks and Greg Street's Dirty South Hip Hop.
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