Jermaine Dupri

Jermaine Dupri
Dupri in 2005
Background information
Birth name	Jermaine Dupri Mauldin
Also known as	JD
Born	September 23, 1972 (1972-09-23) (age 39) Asheville, North Carolina, United States
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Record producer, songwriter, rapper
Years active	1984–present
Labels	So So Def Recordings, Island Records, TAG Records[1]
Associated acts	Janet Jackson, Bow Wow, Usher, Xscape, Nelly, Da Brat, Mariah Carey

Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972), known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.^[2][3]

Early life and career

Before continuing his artistic career, Dupri opened a small store, "Rap Corna Guuds". He later formed the teen duo Kris Kross (Chris Kelly and Chris Smith) after meeting the boys at a local mall in 1991. The group's first album, Totally Krossed Out, was released in 1992 and went multi-platinum due to their singles "Jump" and "It's a Shame". He established his own record label called So So Def Recordings in 1993. Shortly after he discovered female R&B group Xscape at a festival in Atlanta and signed them to the newly minted label. Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha and went platinum. During the same year, on Yo! MTV Raps he met Chicago rapper Shawntae Harris, A.K.A Da Brat through Kris Kross, signed her to his label So So Def Recordings, and released her debut Funkdafied (1994) which went Platinum. His finances were not hindered by a distribution deal made with Columbia Records in 1993.

In 1998, Jermaine Dupri surpassed all of his prior commercial ventures with his involvement in the release of Destiny's Child's eponymous debut album. Dupri renewed the focus on his own music career and released The Party Continues, the lead single from his debut studio album Jermaine Dupri Presents Life In 1472: The Original Soundtrack. Also that year he met Lil Bow Wow and signed him to So So Def Recordings. The two would later part ways but continued to collaborate on later projects. The deal with Columbia was terminated in 2002, and in 2003 Dupri switched to Arista Records. Jermaine worked on Mariah Carey's Christmas album, Merry Christmas II You, as well as with Weezer and Lil Wayne on the song "Can't Stop Partying." He also collaborated with DJ Chuckie to make a vocal version of the song Let The Bass Kick.

He contributed to most of Mariah Carey's albums, including her career comeback album, 2005's The Emancipation Of Mimi with the smash hit "We Belong Together", which stayed at number one for fourteen non-consecutive weeks, becoming the second longest running number one song in US chart history, behind Carey's 1996 collaboration with Boyz II Men on "One Sweet Day". He has also been a big contribution to R&B Pop singer Usher's career, producing most of his top hits on his albums My Way and 8701.

Personal life

Dupri has one child, a daughter, named Shaniah Mauldin (b.1998), with ex-girlfriend, Pam Sweat. He dated R&B/Pop Singer, Janet Jackson on-and-off, from August 2001 to March 2009.

Discography

Main articles: Jermaine Dupri discography, Jermaine Dupri production discography, and Jermaine Dupri videography

• Life in 1472 (1998)
• Instructions (2001)

References

1. ^ Jermaine Dupri Tagged Prez Of New Hp-Hop Label
2. ^ http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,284174,00.html Jermaine Dupri Presents Life in 1472 | Music | EW.com. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
3. ^ Jermaine Dupri : Black Entrepreneurs, Black CEO, Black Executive, Black Billionaires, Entrepreneur Profile. Retrieved July 30, 2010.

External links

• Official website
• Jermaine Dupri's channel on YouTube
• Jermaine Dupri on Twitter
• Jermaine Dupri at the Internet Movie Database
• Jermaine Dupri at Beatbuggy
• (French) SoulRnB.com group dedicated to Jermaine Dupri

Persondata
Name	Dupri, Jermaine
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 23, 1972
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death