Jermaine Dupri Shuts Down Critics Who Say He Isn’t Relevant Anymore

Jermain Durpi is a legend, in both the hip-hop and R&B world, and should be treated as such. However, it seems as if he’s heard enough of people disputing his relevancy. The legendary producer recently went on the I Am Athlete podcast where he shut down critics who doubt his relevancy in 2023.

“I done heard niggas say, ‘JD ain’t relevant no more.’ I’ve had a hit record every year that you can think of – you just don’t even really realize it,” JD said. He then went on to list the songs he put out in 2021 and 2020.

“DVSN – ‘If I Get Caught.’ Ari Lennox, ‘Pressure,” he said. “2020 was Usher and Ella Mai. By the way, if you from the rap world and you listening to only trap music, then you gon’ be like, ‘JD ain’t made no music.’ Cause you ain’t listening to R&B music. You don’t know. Matter fact – I left something out. I put out Anthony Hamilton album last year.”

He added: “So I’m saying, if you not really into what’s going on, you might have missed it. So you can say what you want to say, but that’s a reckless statement for you to put it out there unless you know what’s happening.”

Dupri’s focus in R&B instead of hip-hop might be the reason some people are disputing his relevancy in 2023. However, Dupri has been vocal about his critique of current rap music. About a month ago, Dupri said in an interview that hip hop is “hurting” and needs reviving. He went on to say how Atlanta, who has been at the top of rap for two decades, used to have 5 or 6 artists popping at the same time. However, over time that number has dwindled to two, those rappers being Lil Baby and Future.

“I feel like Hip-Hop is definitely hurting and needs reviving,” JD said. “I have to go ahead and say this: For the last 20 years Atlanta’s always had at least five to six top rappers at one time. Right now, Atlanta’s dropped down to two top artists: Lil Baby and Future.

“There’s a lot of talent in the city still,” he continued. “I don’t want anybody to screw what I’m saying, but that top tier where you have Ludacris, Jeezy, 2 Chainz, Migos, Future, Lil Baby – I mean, at one point, all of this was Atlanta. This was where all the top-tier rap artists came from.”

However, Dupri clarified his statement, saying that its more about just making records, but that rap artists need to be making number 1 songs and need to be people that define the genre.

“I’m not talking about artists that just make records, but No. 1 songs. Artists that people feel like define the game. Rap to me became a little stale, but I’ve never stopped making rap records. As a producer, people continue to want me to produce R&B records.”

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