It seems that music artist Latto, formerly known as Mulatto, lives by the Malcolm X popularized mantra “By Any Means Necessary.” Not for civil rights or anything of significant importance to the edification, advancement, or upward mobility of the greater good, but moreso for her rap career — and Jermaine Dupri takes issue with it.
The Atlanta-based rapper producer sat down in an astounding interview with Rory & Mal, beside his longtime prodigy and compadre Shad “Bow Wow” Moss, to talk about his ascension in hip hop and its current state. The 49-year-old music mogul had a lot to say about So So Def, a record label he founded in 1993 that had a dynamic roster headlined by Da Brat, Jagged Edge, Xscape, Kris Kross, Dem Franchise Boyz, Anthony Hamilton, and the late Leah LaBelle.
Both J.D. and Bow Wow shared the sentiment that they were not getting their flowers — in other words, the industry and music listeners have failed to properly credit the So So Def empire for the impact the conglomerate has had on music, period.
“I’ve been fighting this forever,” said Dupri. “It’s just a thing. It’s a thing because like I said you want to, you just want people to know. I just want people to know. I don’t care, they can say whatever they want to say about the situation. I’m not asking you to even give me your review on the concert. They’re not saying nothing. They’re acting like it doesn’t even exist.”
Aside from Dupri and Bow Wow expressing their resentment towards the hip hop world for not being held in higher esteem, Dupri specifically had a cross to bear for “Big Energy” rapper Big Latto, who sampled Dupri’s friend Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy.”
“I had a little TV show called The Rap Game, right? The first person who won was Ms. Mulatto,” said Dupri. “If you watched on my show, she wasn’t the girl that you see now. She went from Ms. Mulatto, to Latto, to Big Latto. When you watch it, nobody speaks on what they’re seeing.”
Dupri continues, “I’m watching people watch people do this and don’t care. You basically watched [Latto] grow up on that TV show. That’s what I’m saying. You do realize like, the first season when she won, I brought her back on the second season to rock with the second winner. So, therefore, did you hear her talking the way she was talking at that time. I’m not writing the raps. This is a new year by the way. The third year, I brought her back again and we started having all three winners. Did you hear her rap like that then?”
In so many words, Dupri implies that Big Latto has gone as far as to transform to fit the current zeitgeist of female rappers, equipped with the traditional raunchy language and sexualization of an otherwise talented poet, all for the clout. Although Dupri insists that there’s nothing wrong with Big Latto essentially selling her soul, it’s obvious to hip hop fans that he just can’t seem to let Big Latto’s transformation into a grown woman with body confidence and a rebel attitude live. In turn, it does bring in the question of her authenticity, and how much of a fantasy she’s really selling.
As far as hip hop’s fickle loyalty, it’s true that Dupri and Bow Wow have been severely overlooked, and perhaps it’s because of the general snubbing of the South. The stats are there, but L.A. and New York executives behind the major music institutions that have the power to catapult artists’ careers with accolades and awards are just late to the party. For instance, Atlanta, Detroit, and the Bay Area are rocking right now with trailblazing artists who have not been widely recognized by the industry. So what are Dupri and Bow Wow’s stats?
Dupri’s storied career comes with 12 Grammy nominations, obtaining many of them for his work on Usher’s fourth studio album Confessions, released in 2004, and Mariah Carey’s 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi, which won the producer a Grammy for “Best R&B Song” for her hit “We Belong Together.”
Besides his work with other artists, J.D. has sold over 1,050,000 albums worldwide as an artist. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018 for contributing to songs “Funkdified” by Da Brat, “Let Me Hold You” by Bow Wow, “Always Be My Baby” by Mariah Carey, “Not Tonight” by Lil Kim, and “Just Kickin’ It” by Xscape.
Bow Wow, on the other hand, was more of a fan-favorite proving his impact at sold-out arenas in the 1990s and early 2000s. He’s been a headliner on a total of 75 tours and festivals, including the recent Millennium Tour 2021, 2011’s Supafest, the My World Tour, and the infamous Chris Brown and Soulja Boy headlining tour of 2008.
The “Like You” rapper released a total of six studio albums, delivering three Billboard Top Ten hits, and selling more than 10 million albums worldwide. He was one of the first to spearhead the digital music wave, setting the standard at a whopping 14 million digital downloads at a time when many were skeptical of the digital revolution.
Surprisingly, he has never been nominated for a Grammy, but has been recognized by Billboard Music Awards, BET Awards, NAACP Image Awards, Teen Choice Awards, and many more. All this, before Bow Wow transitioned into acting, hosting, and his own business ventures.
The rapper recently took to Twitter to confirm that he’s working on his final studio album, tentatively titled Before 30.
So, what do you think? Is So So Def Recordings long overdue for flowers?
Watch the Rory & Mal episode “Talk Ya Sh*t” below:
