Jermaine Dupri calls his new autobiography, ‘Young, Rich, and Dangerous: The Making of a Music Mogul.’ It may be an apt title, at least for today’s very tame and media-controlled music industry, because one thing that’s clear when talking with Dupri is he doesn’t hold back his opinion. From his long history of collaborations with the likes of Jay-Z, Usher and Mariah Carey, to his views on what’s lacking with today’s stars, why Britney isn’t crazy and his supposed beef with Justin Timberlake (there isn’t one), Dupri is full of insight and opinions.

Are you a big reader in general?

I’m so much part of the Generation X-box, right, and I believe I understand why this generation doesn’t really read as much as they do, and I understand what they read. They read car magazines, Vibe, The Source, a lot of online stuff that’s going on with the people they like. They don’t really read what the older generation wants them to read; they read what they want to read.

Do you find you’re getting people who don’t normally read interested in this book?

I think the exciting part for me is that I’m going to show an older person that don’t really understand what’s going on in today’s world what you have to write in order for these kids to read, basically. When I talked to the publisher, I told her that was one of the important things about me doing my book, ’cause they wanted me to change the title. They thought ‘Young, Rich, And Dangerous’ was too long. [But] not only is this the X-box generation, it’s the bling-ling generation, too, which they have to see titles to excite them to pick the book up. It can’t just be “Jermaine Dupri, the music mogul, blah, blah.” That sounds too corporate for them.

With all of the focus now on behind-the-scenes stuff, via reality shows and online, it would make sense that kids today would want to be producers. Does that mean that the producers today are the stars?
Not really. The stars today aren’t as bright as the stars that we grew up on. And this goes into the Justin Timberlake part that’s in my book that everybody keeps complaining about and saying that I have a beef with him. I don’t have a beef with him. It’s unfortunate that I had to point the finger at him, but he’s one of the people that everybody looks at as one of today’s stars. And they’re comparing him to yesterday’s stars so much, and my opinion of that is he doesn’t have the appeal of the people they compare him to. And I think that’s where people get misconstrued.

If you were to compare Justin to, say, Stevie Wonder, who was one of the biggest stars of the ’70s, there’s no comparison.

I saw somebody compare him to Stevie Wonder because he played instruments, he played the piano, and I understand that. Believe me, I’m not knocking [Justin], but I just don’t understand how you can easily do that. And I say I give my opinion because I’m a record man and I create artists from scratch, and I don’t think people understand that about me. When I created TLC, we sat around in a room for, like, a whole day — me, Left Eye and T-Boz — and we thought about every little thing we could do that was gonna make that group successful, whether it was the condoms over the eyes, the cross-colored clothes. Even with Kris Kross, and I give you this on the inside of the book, when I told Kris to wear his clothes backwards I was thinking about image as well as music. Every superstar that I ever thought about, whether it even be Pat Benatar, they still had an image. If you was gonna dress up for Halloween and be Pat Benatar, there’s a certain way you’d dress up. [size=5]If somebody they said they was gonna dress up as Justin for Halloween, I don’t know what they would go buy.
For you growing up, who were the people you paid attention to?

Teddy Riley was my hero when I was growing up because what he was doing, to a degree, was the most incredible thing in the world. He had more records on the radio at one time than anybody I’d ever heard. Then you had Hurby “Luv Bug” [Azor], who had Salt-n-Pepa and Kid ‘n’ Play. Teddy Riley was a self-contained producer that produced anybody, and what Hurby did was he created a team of people where they were all part of his team. So I decided to put those two people together. That’s when I said So So Def would become like a team, and all the artists were home under that.Then I looked at Berry Gordy as a record owner. I read his book … because I was interested to know how one man created Motown. As far as artists, all of the early MTV artists was all appealing to me because they had style: Prince, Michael, Stevie, Mick Jagger, Sting. Madonna took a lot of the hip-hop style and incorporated it with downtown Philly, New York, and came up with a style that was even more style than she has now. I believe that Britney Spears is headed in that direction, though. I don’t believe that Britney Spears is as crazy as people think she is. I believe that what she’s doing is creating an image for herself so that she can be the new Madonna of today’s world.

What makes you say that?

I don’t believe she’s that crazy to put on super-red wigs and get in her car and let the paparazzi film her. I believe she understands the power of who she is right now, and every time she’s out she’s giving us a different look, whether it’s a different wig, bald head, whatever it is. People that are crazy they don’t think about stuff like that. They just move and go on with their life. And to me she’s walking the line of what I would probably be telling her to do, because that’s artist development, because you are trying to find yourself. You’re not just looking like Jessica Simpson or Christina Aguilera. She is her own person now and she’s breaking away from everybody. When you see her, that’s Britney Spears, that’s what you automatically say. It seems like what she is doing is she believes she has to become bigger than what she’s been in the past and have more image and have [something] more Madonna-ish about her. I could be giving her a bit more credit than she deserves, but I believe she’s thinking about what’s going on.

Which three tracks do you feel represent you best?

Well, ‘Money Ain’t a Thang’ is one. Me and Jay-Z really clicked on that record, and I believe when two people that are of like minds come together in the studio, certain records hit you, and the flow of the record lets you and that person know that you’re on the same level mentally. ‘Always Be My Baby,’ me and Mariah, was the other one because it didn’t really feel like we were working, and we created one of her biggest records of all time. And then on the Usher standpoint it would’ve been ‘You Make Me Wanna.’ Or I would say ‘Nice & Slow.’ It really was the record that showed me and him that we were gonna have those songs later on in life.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 11th, 2008 at 6:34 pm and is filed under On The Net. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
[Edited 1/11/08 23:55pm]

I agree with the smurf,,,,,for ONCE.

Cue The Org's Annual We Hate Justin Thread.

All I'll say is I watched his Futuresex/Loveshow yesterday and was amazed.

It's not that we -- or, at least, I -- hate Justin.

It's just that American pop culture and media have a tendency to put a title on someone who hasn't earned it... who hasn't come close to earning it ... all because of the fuzzy process of evocation and implication.

To some critics, Justin evokes Stevie Wonder by singing from behind a keyboard while playing an easy, two-chord progression on a Wonderesque song. Then, they take the implication to an illogical conclusion: Justin could be the next Stevie...

To his credit, Justin is a good performer who connects really well with his audience. But I have never seen in him a freestanding artist. Instead, I see someone who leans heavily on producers.

But, I also think the industry has changed drastically since Stevie hit. Would a Stevie even get the time of day today?

ThreadBare said:

Then what is your opinion of Janet Jackson -- an old school artist? Some would argue that she also "leans heavily on producers." But like Timberlake, she connects well with her audience and has had great commerical success.

To purplesweat: I can understand your frustration, so I am curious: What do orgers think of artists who are similar to Justin Timberlake talent-wise but who are from a different generation? While I am not a fan of Timberlake, I wonder if generational difference influences how a number of orgers perceive him.

Rodya24 said:

What does Janet have to do with it? It's not as if anyone has ever compared her to Aretha Franklin. This comment relates to undue critical praise.
[Edited 1/12/08 6:51am]

VoicesCarry said:

Janet came to mind because ThreadBare is a fan of hers, and the Jermaine Dupri and Justin Timberlake connection, of course. It was not an attempt to drag her name through the mud.

I am curious: Justin Timberlake is enjoying great critical praise and commercial success like Janet Jackson did in her prime. Does generational difference influence how a number of orgers perceive him? Or any other artists who "lean heavily on producers" for that matter. When these orgers were in their teens, how did they feel about such artists like Timberlake and Jackson?

And no, this is not a "Why be so cruel on Timberlake" post. I dislike him, but one cannot deny the success he has had in the past several years -- and when people are successful, often others heap them with praise -- too much so sometimes.
[Edited 1/12/08 6:55am]

Rodya24 said:

I'm not sure where you find a Janet comparison. This is about finding the difference between artistry and -- like VoicesCarry said -- undue critical praise.

If Janet shaved her head, started playing very, very simple basslines on an electric bass and had a video shoot at a D.C. go-go club -- all to successfully garner praise as being just as artistically gifted as Meshell, it would be a fair comparison.

Maybe reread my post, particularly about evocation and implication and the roles they play in comparing disparate artists.

ThreadBare said:

Alright ONE person compared him to Stevie and that one person has to be on drugs.

I don't know of anyone else in their right minds who would make that comparison.

People respect JT for at least trying to branch out and away from the boyband label and sound.

As for the producer thing, I think him and Timbo were more of a team. JT wrote 99% of the songs on FS/LS whereas Tim did the overall sound. Judging from the interview on FS/LS DVD, JT had a LOT of input on FS/LS album.

It's interesting to note, his band includes 4-5 guys that have all worked for Prince before and all of them love Justin and can't deny he has talent and have a deep respect for him. Some of these guys are very well known in the industry and do you really think they'd take up a job with him if he didn't posess "something"?

ThreadBare said:

Please refer to my above post. I perfectly understood your post.

Rodya24 said:

No, I know, I was just wondering why her name came up

To answer your question, it has nothing to do with generational differences and everything to do with the critical reception the artist receives. Justin is touted as some uber-talented wunderkind, which he is not. This is not to say Justin is not talented, but when the Stevie Wonder comparisons start coming up, it ruffles the feathers of people who know exactly what Stevie Wonder is about.

It's the same reason I can't bring myself to listen to Alicia Keys or Joss Stone.
[Edited 1/12/08 6:58am]

purplesweat said:

Hence my question: does a generational difference influence how a number of older orgers perceive Timberlake?

EDIT: While I think comparisons with Stevie Wonder are ridiculous, it is common when one is popular ("cool") to be heaped with praise. When these orgers were in their teens, how did they feel about artists like Timberlake then? I am asking because there are orgers like purplesweat who are in their teens who like Timberlake.
[Edited 1/12/08 7:01am]

Rodya24 said:

Oh my god a WORLD AND A HALF of YES!!!!!

Rodya24 said:

Whoa, whoa... Easy there. I'm much more of a fan of her production than I am of hers. My praise of hers -- which has been brief -- has been about the versatility and production mastery on her "Janet" album and how it served as a prototype for much of her product that succeeded that release. I haven't thought about buying anything since "All for You," because her production underwhelms me now.

Rodya24 said:

No, there's no way you could have. because I'm an old-school Orger...




I'm joking.

Rodya24 said:

Except...those artists were never heaped with critical praise 20 years ago. They were viewed as the pop stars they were.

purplesweat said:

Yes, he possesses deep pockets and being in his band is a guarantee of good $$$ and visibility. Heck, I'd be in JT's band, too. I'd be sure to listen to Sly, Stevie, Prince, Jimi, James and Gladys between gigs, just to keep up my musical immune system. But, I'd recognize a good career move when it came up.

VC,
[Edited 1/12/08 7:07am]

VoicesCarry said:

Really? I am not so sure.

It seems that the music industry is incredibly hypocritical with talent or its perception of it. When an artist is commercially successful, often (not all the time) he or she is hailed as the next best thing, "brillant, innovative". And when he or she is not...

It should be interesting how Timberlake is perceived in the mainstream a decade from now.

Rodya24 said:

I suggest you go back and read original reviews of albums by Madonna and Janet. I'm sure you also know how few Grammys the two have between them, and how easy it is for similar stars to win them today. Artists like that were never viewed as auteurs or anything that they really weren't in the 80's.

There was no pretension of genius.
[Edited 1/12/08 7:15am]

VoicesCarry said:

Wait. I thought Janet Jackson did extremely well during the award season for both her Control and RN 1814 albums -- if not at the Grammy Awards, in particular.

I think, 10 years from now, Justin will be what he was 10 years ago: leaning on producers, aping the sounds of great black artists who preceded him and being hailed as groundbreaking because the styles will have been updated with contemporary musical sounds.

Rodya24 said:

Well the AMA's and Billboard awards are determined more by sales than anything else. It's not quite the same. They are awards for success and not necessarily quality.
[Edited 1/12/08 7:18am]

ThreadBare said:

God, I hope not. I hope he retires soon and continues to star in straight to DVD films.
[Edited 1/12/08 7:19am]

VoicesCarry said:

Ah, I see. Thank you for clairifying that.

Justin Timberlake and Rihanna put out an album and get nominated in the major Grammy categories. Like a Prayer and Rhythm Nation are shut out. That pretty much tells you all you need to know.
[Edited 1/12/08 7:21am]

VoicesCarry said:

I think it is also quite revealing of the state of modern popular music right now.

purplesweat said:

I understand your frustration, hence all my questioning in this thread. But I can also see where the older orgers come from as well and those like VoicesCarry who are fans of old school artists.

Rodya24 said:

That's also true. I consider Like a Prayer and Rhythm Nation masterpieces of pop music, and also much more worthy of praise than the pop music of today, but they just didn't get it. Probably because the artists were viewed in the context of entertainers. Certainly not because of lack of quality, though.
[Edited 1/12/08 7:33am]

VoicesCarry said:

Well thats true, the Grammys always turned a deaf hear back then to the "mainstream" artists pretty much, i mean even Prince was lucky to get what he got back in the 80's but that was mostly from Purple Rain, they couldnt ignore him, i mean but just think, Alicia Keys though i like her, has already received twice as many grammys as the Beatles were even nominated for! Back in the day Madonna was "hated" by the industry, she was viewed as a "problem" therefore it took awhile just to even get her to a grammy show, and it was far past alot of her best work.

As far as the Justin thing, i think the issue at least on my part is the bragging, and this goes for Kanye too, i really wouldnt have issues with either if they shut up and just made music, but they talk, they tell us who they are and who they should be compared too, thats why i can respect Alicia Keys 1000times more, because even if she is replicating a style, she isnt saying "im the new Stevie Wonder", for Kanye and Justin they have said things like that, so i cant even look or listen to them.