Jermaine Dupri talks about top-secret new Mariah track
|  | | Jermaine Dupri | | Jermaine Dupri hosted a monstrous private party in Atlanta on Wednesday night, but it wasn't his usual patented JD throwdown. Sure, some of his closest friends and collaborators came out - Nelly, Usher, Lil Jon, Monica, Jagged Edge, T-Boz, Chris Webber and of course Janet Jackson - but this one was a little more special for JD. The party was the grand opening of his club, Studio 72.
For a music mogul whose party-throwing is almost as legendary as his nearly two decades of hit records, it seems like JD would have been in the nightclub business years ago. But believe it or not, he never really thought about opening his own party spot until about seven months ago, when the proverbial opportunity came knocking at his door.
Of course, Dupri certainly has other ventures to keep him busy. As president of Island Records' urban music division, he's overseeing the September 25 release of Jagged Edge's Baby Makin' Project, and during the Magic Convention in Las Vegas, he debuted the clothing line he has with Travis Barker, So So Famous. His autobiography, "Young, Rich, and Dangerous", comes out in October. And although he won't be working on Bow Wow and Omarion's Face Off LP, he's still locked in with Usher, Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey.
"I'm mixing one of Mariah's records today," JD said. "I don't know if it's her first single, but I'm mixing one of the records that I think L.A. [Reid, head of Island Def Jam] is thinking about as one of her first singles." The song is so top-secret, Dupri said he hasn't even heard it yet.
"I don't even know," he answered when questioned about the record's specifics. "You know what's crazy about the Mariah records? When I work on a Mariah record, she always goes home and records her vocals without me. I ain't heard the song! She calls and tells me, 'I finished, let's go and do it.' "
"She's a person that you have to respect her for doing her job," he added. "She respects me for doing my job. When I'm in the studio, she don't question what kick [drum sound] I use. She don't question if I'm using the right snare. She might say, 'I ain't feeling it.' I could say the same thing. There's been plenty of times when I've said, 'Mariah, I think you need to sing this part over.' But after the last album, we got a pretty good understanding. She knows what I'm looking for from her now. We're hoping we have the same formula this time." (MTV News)
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