Source: Shareif Ziyadat / Getty
During a recent podcast appearance, legendary producer Jermaine Dupri opened up a little about his relationship with Janet Jackson, which lasted from 2002 to 2009, according to Complex.
Apparently, Dupri’s reluctance to produce for Janet caused issues in their dating life, which is wild because, of all the win-wins in the world, being able to date Janet Jackson and say you’re responsible for some of her music has to be among the win-winningest.
But during the episode of the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast, Dupri was asked how he was able to “pull” Jackson, which, frankly, a lot of people were asking throughout their relationship.
From Complex:
It was suggested that he got her in the studio to produce music, but he clarified that he didn’t want her to think he had some sort of agenda.
“It wasn’t about no music sh*t,” he explained. “I was just on some like hang out. I wasn’t on no music sh*t, though. I never wanted to produce her. We got in an argument about me not producing her because she was around me watching everybody else get hit records. I never wanted her to think that’s what my agenda was. ’Cause so many people was saying that… When Janet met me she got picked up from the airport in a [Bentley] Continental T. … It wasn’t never no situation where I wanted her to believe that I was trying to do this.”
Dupri admitted that he didn’t really know how to talk about the situation with her, and said he didn’t want to “be the person to mess it up.” At the time Janet Jackson was working with the likes of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, so ultimately Dupri believed that she didn’t even need him to work on great records to begin with. “You don’t need me, but in her eyes… It didn’t sound right,” he said. It caused “a little bit” of a rift throughout their relationship.
OK, I get Dupri wanting to make it clear that he wasn’t trying to finesse a studio session into a courtship with the Queen of Pop. But if you’re already in the relationship men all over the world are bound to be envious of—and Janet is clearly more offended by you not producing for her than any “agenda” one might perceive—I’m just saying, maybe the “Welcome to Atlanta” producer was trying to be a little to chivalrous for his own good.
Anyway, Dupri ultimately did end up putting in a lot of work on Jackson’s 2006 album 20 Y.O., but the relationship was still a wrap a few years later. So obviously, his initial refusal to produce for her wasn’t the only issue. It’s still weird that he allowed that to be an issue at all.
I mean, it’s Janet Jackson.
