Jermaine Durpi Clarifies His Question About Independent Artists: ‘You Never Know Everything’
Artistes
The hitmaker found himself in hot water after asking the question on X last week.
Jermaine Dupri attends the 2024 Imperial Crown of Excellence Medal of Honor celebration at Bank of America Plaza on June 02, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Derek White/Getty Images
Jermaine Dupri found himself in some hot water with fans on social media last week.
The So So Def founder went viral for asking why some artists choose to stay independent while trying to “chase” the same benefits and resources that major label artists have at their disposal. “I’m a little lost,” he wrote. “Can somebody tell me what the goal of being an independent artist is today because all of the things that people are chasing is sh—t major artist do, what’s the thing that indie artist do that make it special?”
Due to his experience in the music business, some felt as if he was downplaying independent artistry and disregarding how much the game has changed over the past decade. However, Dupri felt like his tweet was misconstrued and decided to address it a week later on the New Rory and Mal podcast.
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“As more and more people call me and the pods talk about it,” Dupri wrote in a caption over a clip from his appearance on the podcast. “I can see how people would think I was taking a shot at the independent community, I decided to address it with information I’m sure most y’all don’t have about me in that space, so you can clearly see that wasn’t my intent.”
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On the show, Dupri pointed out that his first foray in the independent market was in 2010 when he discovered singer Dondria on YouTube and paid for her music videos, got her to tour with Trey Songz, and wrote and produced songs on her debut album Dondria vs. Phatfffat. He also brought up the For Motivational Use Only, Vol. 1 EP he produced with Curren$y in 2023, which they released independently, and addressed allegations that he “fumbled Latto” after she won the first season of the reality show The Rap Game.
“The deal with Latto and The Rap Game was that if you win on the show, what you win is a So So Def chain and a contract with So So Def for Jermaine to produce one song for you and put it out on So So Def,” he explained. “I did that independently. So, a lot of people was like if they didn’t feel that push that they felt on a lot of my other records is because it was independent and it was all funded by me.”
He continued by breaking down what an independent artist can expect when they venture down that road. “These are the things that come in the Happy Meal independent box: owning your masters, getting your publishing, doing the royalties and you having to pay the royalties to people that you worked with, and the freedom,” he said. “These are things that are standard to me in an independent deal.”
He continued, admitting that even with his experience in the industry, he still might be missing something. “You never know everything. People believe that you do because you become successful, but I know in my heart of hearts that I don’t know everything,” he said. “If I ask a question, I know that’s what y’all jump to like, ‘Jermaine, he should know better than this.’ That’s what Joe Budden said, but I’m just asking a question.”
Dupri recently made headlines courtesy of Nelly, who declared that the record executive would beat Diddy in a Verzuz fairly easily.
As more and more people call me and the pods talk about it, I can see how people would think I was taking a shot at the independent community, I decided to address it with information Im sure most yall dont have about me in that space, so you can clearly see that wasnt my pic.twitter.com/CMPNaxujBZ
— Jermaine Dupri (@jermainedupri) March 11, 2025
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