Since the early '90s, Jermaine Dupri has never been out of business. Whether dancing, rapping, producing or running boutique labels to the most powerful imprints of the past and future, JD remains at the top of his game with an inventive ear and a groundbreaking business acumen.

Now with his TAG Records shattering the status-quo, the face of So So Def takes it one step further. HipHopDX pauses to revisit the makings of a man that made so many classics both in the background and foreground. With corporations investing in urban music at a crippling time too, Dupri provides the answers to keep the culture forward-moving, and remind us to be patient. The game don't wait, but as he carries the torch, Jermaine Dupri reminds us that he hasn't forgot where it comes from, and you can trust him.

HipHopDX: I read that your first big performance was dancing with Diana Ross when you were nine years old. How crazy was that?
Jermaine Dupri: Yeah, I guess that’s what people wanna call my first big performance, but it wasn’t planned so I don’t look at it like that. It was like my discovery of what I wanted to do in life. It was my first taste of what stardom would be like, because I went onstage and the Omni was packed. When I danced, the audience went crazy, so hearing people cheer for me was like, “I think I like this!”

DX: As a producer you've obviously influenced a lot of Hip Hop artists. Who were the artists who inspired you to get into music in the first place?
JD: There were no artists; it was mostly producers. I was very intrigued by what Teddy Riley and Herbie Luv Bug were doing before me, and those were the guys that actually got me into it and put me in the position of wanting to have a crew to create an album with. I learned the craft of sound through Teddy Riley, and I learned how to create a crew through Herbie, who had Kid ‘n’ Play and Kwame on his team of artists. I created what’s now called So So Def based on the model of what he did.

DX: You got a record contract for Silk Tymes Leather when you were just 14. What advice would you give today's young people hoping to make it in the music business?
JD: First I’d let them know that it’s not everything it seems to be, and second I’d tell them to let the love of music be their motivating factor. If money is your motivating factor, the music business isn’t the place you wanna be. If anything besides the music is motivating you, this business will destroy you. If you’re young and really in focus, you need to be willing to do things without getting paid. It’s one of the hardest tests of being in this business, and only the strong survive it. When I first started I wasn’t even thinking amount money or trying to pay a bill, I was just doing my thing. If you’re not prepared to work hard, you should do something else, and that’s a hard thing for young people to hear.

DX: By the time you turned 20, you'd already produced several multi-platinum artists, not to mention starting your own successful label. What were the best and worst things about achieving that kind of success so early in life?
JD: The worst thing is still the same today: I’m still the youngest label CEO/president in the music business, and there’s still people who don’t wanna listen to me even though I’ve made all these hits and all that. There’s always people who wanna challenge you based on the fact that you’re still a young dude. I don’t carry myself like these old-ass men out here who think you only get a chance to see them once you make it big. I’m still out there in the strip clubs and in the streets, remaining as vital as anyone else out there. It puts me in the strange position of being a boss amongst other bosses who don’t act like me, which can make it hard to function as effectively as I want to. But I came into this business believing in handling myself a certain way, and nobody has shown me a better way so far.

DX: As one of the early architects of the ATL's urban music scene, how do you feel about the state of the dirty south sound today?
JD: I think it’s still incredible today, but a lot of these younger artists are only in it for the quick dollar. They need to understand that they’ve gotta create artists, whether within themselves or with the people they work with. You can’t have a record as big as “Party Like a Rock Star” and not have people remember the group’s name [Shop Boyz]. If we’re gonna keep leading the way in music, we have to change and create artists, not one-hit wonders. People blame me for putting out Snap music with Dem Franchise Boys, but I broke that sound and expected that people would take it and make it bigger and better. But they didn’t: They just kept doing what I was doing, and it became stagnant. For me, it feels like that’s where we are right now, with a lot of artists having potential they’re not really living up to yet. In order for Atlanta to remain a music mecca, we’ve got to prove that we’re more than bubblegum music. We need more OutKasts. Continued on page 2 »