Feb 17 2010 3:06 PM EST
Jermaine Dupri Remakes 'Secret Garden' With Usher, Trey Songz, Robin Thicke


JD keeps Barry White's original verse on the Quincy Jones cover: 'I had to leave him.'

By Shaheem Reid


DALLAS — It's apparently the season to remake the classics. Mary J. Blige recently recorded a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" and we all know about the remake of "We Are the World." Now, Jermaine Dupri is spearheading a new version of a classic song, and just like "We Are the World," it's another Quincy Jones tune.

JD has called on Usher, Robin Thicke, Tyrese and Trey Songz to cover Jones' 1989 hit "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)." The original version starred seductive vocalists James Ingram, Al B. Sure, El DeBarge and the incomparable Barry White.

Right before the NBA All-Star Game, Dupri talked about his and his team's rendition.

"It took a minute for me to even think about touching it," JD admitted. "It's a couple of components in that record that you don't wanna touch — Barry White being one of the main components. I had to leave him [on the song]. There's nobody out there in the world that's got a voice like his or even sounded the way he sounded. So I had to make sure I could leave that. It's gonna be interesting for y'all to hear how these young guys sound mixed in with him."

In 1989, "Secret Garden" was one of the highlights of Quincy Jones' Grammy-winning Back on the Block LP. Each vocalist had a verse and an opportunity to sing to the ladies.

"Luckily, it's a record that hip-hop really embraced as a ballad," JD said. "It was a record I lived with so much. I kinda felt it was a record that was a part of my life. So it wasn't that hard for me to get into it. But I just had to figure out all the ways and who to put on the song. I feel that at the time [Quincy] made the record, each one of the guys had a certain thing for the ladies."

Jermaine said his version will woo the females all over again. "I think Robin Thicke got something for the ladies," Dupri said. "Usher, definitely. Trey, definitely. And Barry White. That was hard, because I wanted to put Anthony Hamilton on there, Maxwell on there. But it's hard, because it's only a four- or five-man [song]. That was the hardest part for me."

Jermaine said the "Secret Garden" remake will appear on a new Quincy Jones album; no release date has been announced.

http://http//www.mtv.com/...aine.jhtml


-Well I'm glad they're leaving Barry's part on this song, but reallly "The Secret Garden" does NOT need to be remade. I've always loved the song and have always been especially fond of Barry and El's parts. The remake wont be half as good.

Some thangs should just be left alone .
[Edited 2/17/10 18:44pm]

I thought R. Kelly did this already

oh, is he gonna fuck up Barry White's career now too?

Quincy why are you letting these punks ruin your rep? I'm disgusted with you.

errant said:

omg ihatechu

Timmy84 said:

Quincy's always been a starfucker. More talented than most, but a starfucker all the same.

errant said:

Pretty much.

They need to stop with these remakes. smh

errant said:

Look, don't be dragging Peggy Lipton into this discussion. She ain't done nothing to any of us.

sosgemini said:

She refuses to a Mod Squad reunion

Timmy84 said:

He ruined his rep with Q's Jook Joint

midiscover said:

he did?

bboy87 said:

not a remake but he made a song similar to it. His words, not mine.

bboy87 said:

U reminded me lol

bboy87 said:

I take it you didn't like Brandy's rendition of
Rock With You.

phunkdaddy said:

phunkdaddy said:

Excuse me while I go vomit on Brandy's rendition...

Timmy84 said:

She can be excused for that cuz of her track record.
[Edited 2/17/10 20:36pm]

The older Quincy gets the more of an asshole he becomes, noticed this about a decade ago, and just hearing him talk about certain things the last couple of years i realized, as talented a producer he may be, hes a jerkoff for the most part.

lastdecember said:

You said it, not me

I can picture Usher doing the entire Al B. Sure verse verbatim from the original, Robin Thicke on the second verse and Try Songz getting the sloppy seconds...

lastdecember said:

Hahaha

Timmy84 said:

Didn't I say the same thing back in July?!

Another bad idea from Quincy Jones

why is he always so determined to ruin his own classic songs? I remmeber his last CD 'Q's Jook Joint' was filled with several crappy remakes ("Rock With You","Stomp",etc)....I mean,what's the point?! Some songs don't NEED to be re-made.

bboy87 said:

and why the hell is Quincy (one of the greatest producers ever) allowing Jermaine Dupri to produce the damn song?

They need 2 STOP with the remakes!!!!!

SHOCKADELICA1 said:

I agree! It's getting ridiculous.What's Quincy gonna do next...remake "Billie Jean" with vocals by Ray J.??

Cinnamon234 said:

Why? Why remake this song with these inferior singers? Inferior, that is, to the original voices. Yes, forget substituting Barry's voice and FORGET substituting El Debarge. He puts the "steam" in that song, making it super sexy. Don't jack the classics!