Jermaine Dupri Talks Working With Mariah Carey, Jay-Z & More | Billboard Music Awards 2023

Datwon Thomas:

First and foremost, man, congrats on all the love you’ve been getting lately, man, These flowers are coming in. They come in by the boatloads, man.

Jermaine Dupri:

Thank you.

Datwon Thomas:

How’s it been just being able to get all this love?

Jermaine Dupri:

This was a real true era of life that I would have hated to miss it.

Datwon Thomas:

Exactly. But it’s so funny you helped start it.

Jermaine Dupri:

Yeah.

Datwon Thomas:

You know, the endpoint is there. You’ve had your hand in over eighty Hot 100 hits. Twenty-eight top 10 hits on the Hot 100. It’s either you producing or writing. Your first album Life In 1472 man.

Jermaine Dupri:

Yeah.

Datwon Thomas:

Now, you’re stepping out, you’re like, “Yo, look, this is me. Here I am, I could rap. I can make beats and I make stars.”

Jermaine Dupri:

Yeah. It’s crazy because when I did “Money Ain’t A Thang,” the company, Columbia, they didn’t have really any idea what Jay-Z meant to the culture.

Datwon Thomas:

Right?

Jermaine Dupri:

Right. They were actually asking me like, why did I want the song to be my first single when I had “Sweetheart” with Mariah? And they thought they could do more with “Sweetheart” than they could do with “Money Ain’t A Thang.” And it’s crazy. Because like, that’s just this era and this time of these 30 years was such a learning period for so many people.