Jermaine Dupri knows about diversity. As an executive producer, the Atlanta-based music mogul oversaw Usher’s blockbuster Confessions album, which has sold nearly 9 million copies and in 2005 earned the Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B album.  As CEO of So So Def Recordings, he’s helmed the release of dozens of platinum and gold albums.  As a producer and songwriter, Dupri has helped shape hits for Usher, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey and others.  He’s also crafted platinum albums for himself.

In 1992, when he was just 19, an age when most people are trying to figure out what to do with their lives, Dupri founded So So Def.  He struck multi-platinum with Kriss Kross and soon established himself as a premier R&B, rap and pop hitmaker.  Artists and labels alike knew they could call on him when they needed a hit record or album and Dupri set his sights on establishing So So Def as a universally recognized brand.  Since then, he has launched the careers of Da Brat, Bow Wow, Jagged Edge, Anthony Hamilton, J-Kwon and many more through the label and his direction. 

This tremendous track record set the stage for Dupri’s most recent accomplishment.  On April 1, 2005, Dupri assumed the position of President of Black Music at Virgin Records.  All of the urban acts on the legendary label’s roster will be under Dupri’s direction.  He hopes to make Virgin a major player in the urban music world.

“My plans are to really open the company up and take it to a place that they’ve never been,” Dupri says.  “This is a company that is used to selling 50,000 to 60,000 records and waiting on a Janet Jackson album to come and pick up all the rest of the slack.  With me, I’m used to having damn near every record go platinum or gold.  It’s been so long since Virgin had a Top 10 Record or a No. 1 Rap Record.  That’s not their game.  That’s my goal, to take them there.”

....more

1 of 3