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Jermaine Dupri Opens A So So Def Exhibit at Grammy Museum

Posted on September 22nd, 2018
by
Staff Editor


So So Def is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and while celebrating, they’ve also checked off another milestone. The label, which was founded by the one and only Jermaine Dupri, is now the first R&B/hip-hop label to have an exhibit at the Grammy Museum.

The Los Angeles-based museum officially opened Jermaine Dupri & So So Def: 25 Years of Elevating Culture this week. The exhibit features colorful stage outfits, photos and additional memorabilia from Kris Kross, Xscape and other So So Def artists, according to Billboard. The exhibit will run through March 2019.

During the grand opening of the exhibit, the Grammy Museum hosted a conversation with Dupri, who also brought a few of his friends, including Anthony Hamilton, Da Brat, Jagged Edge and Dem Franchize Boyz.

Dupri was presented with a proclamation sent by L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and then talked with Grammy Museum artistic director Scott Goldman. Dupri talked about colorful anecdotes from his comrades, his career and So So Def’s “pivotal role in Atlanta’s emergence as a cultural and creative force,” according to Billboard.

“I started the label because of what Russell Simmons did [with Def Jam]… Plus Atlanta just had something different; it was a city that didn’t close. I didn’t care about established artists that much. I wanted to find the next one,” he says.

Some of the most memorable parts of the  conversation was how Dupri discovered Kris Kross.

“I saw something in Kris Kross that I still haven’t seen to this day,” said Dupri. “They were swag before the word was being used. Their favorite artist was Ice Cube and they played his AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted to death. I watched them rap lyrics like Ice Cube. As soon as I saw that, I thought, if I can write a song that they halfway like, this might be something. I wasn’t going to be satisfied until I could take a song and make it theirs.”

The Grammy award-winning producer and songwriter also touched on working with Jagged Edge.

“Kandi [Xscape member] brought a demo of the group to me,” he recalled. “Then I invited these church boys to my house. I thought I could break this male group off this female group. When they came, I was trying to have them sing over [The Honey Drippers’] “Impeach the President.” They’re like no, we don’t do that s–t.”

Brian Casey from JE mentioned that he remembered Dupri saying, “I see you all as being like the male Xscape.” “We’re like hold up,” he said. “We’re not really on the hip-hop thing. But he convinced us to start merging hip-hop with R&B because we were strait-laced R&B, period.”

Dupri even talked about dropping Anthony Hamilton’s first platinum album and signing on Da Brat, among other legacy’s. Check out the full conversation with Jermaine Dupri and friends here.

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