On the night of February 23, 2013, Jermaine Dupri cemented his name in not just rap, but music’s hall of fame with an epic show at Atlanta’s Fox Theater for what was So So Def Recordings’ 20th Anniversary concert. “Out of all the labels, my 20th anniversary was the only one where all the artists performed,” he remembers, before elaborating, “Every artist that was actually on the label, every artist that I worked with closely like that was at my 20th anniversary.”
That special night welcomed Dupri’s longtime friends, like Mariah Carey, Usher and Jay Z, as well as So So Def alumni like Bow Wow, Kriss Kross, Jagged Edge and Da Brat all to the stage. While one night was needed to bring all this talent together, the label itself has over two decades of history featuring the star-studded roster.
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Since its inception in 1993, So So Def has been the house of hits for everyone from its own cast of stars (Xscape, Jagged Edge, Bow Wow, Da Brat) to, well, pretty much the rest of the music world, spanning pop (Jessica Simpson, Mariah Carey), R&B (Mary J. Blige, Dru Hill) and of course hip-hop (the list is far too many). While Dupri’s production was never as distinctive as The Neptunes’ and Dr. Dre’s of the world, the elasticity of his sounds were able to span generations and achieve a longevity far unmatched from most others in music. Others made the hits, but JD and So So Def created long-standing movements with their records and not to mention reinventing the remix the altogether.
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“The thing that I’m most proud of is the fact that people know the company,” he tells REVOLT. “That makes me feel like we did something as a company. Or myself as a visionary to create the company, it makes me feel like I really touched on something that is really hard for people to do.” Over 20 years later, it still is.