Virgin Records Chairman and CEO Matt Serletic announced today that hip-hop mogul Jermaine Dupri has been hired on as President of their new Urban Music Division.
Dupri will oversee the entire division as well as produce for the EMI family of record labels. Under terms of the new deal, Jermaine will also bring his So So Def label over to Virgin.
“As the new President of Urban Music for Virgin Records, I’m up for the challenge,” Dupri said. “My strengths as a producer and hit-maker were magnified this year with the success of my work with Usher. By joining So So Def and Virgin, I plan to do for Virgin what Russell Simmons did 10 years ago, when he moved Def Jam to Island Records. I will catapult Virgin into a young, hip label with chart-topping success in both R&B and rap music. I also hope to change the whole look of the company so when up-and-coming R&B and hip-hop artists are looking for a home, Virgin will be the first stop.”
Based in Atlanta and New York, Dupri will report to Virgin Chairman Serletic and COO/GM Larry Mestel.
Most recently, Jermaine Dupri received two Grammy nominations for his co-writing credits on Usher’s chart topping hits “Burn” and “My Boo.”
“Jermaine Dupri’s outstanding work has extended in every direction since the mid-Nineties: as a producer and songwriter, as an entrepreneur, as a label executive and as a recording artist,” Matt Serletic said. “All of us at Virgin are thrilled to welcome Jermaine to the company. We know that his remarkable ability to identify and develop talent will continue to build great careers in the years to come, while bringing innovative and refreshing ideas to well- established acts.”
Dupri established his So So Def label in 1993, after scoring a five-million-plus seller with Kris Kross’ album, Totally Krossed Out.
Dupri had massive success with such acts as Da Brat, Jagged Edge, Bow Wow, J-Kwon and others.
He has produced for a who’s-who in music, including Mariah Carey, Usher, Alicia Keys , Whitney Houston, Jay-Z, Chingy, Ludacris, Toni Braxton and many others.
Sources told AllHipHop.com that a contributing factor in Dupri taking the helm at Virgin was because of his girlfriend, Janet Jackson. Jackson is also an artist on the Virgin label.
“L.A. Reid and Jermaine Dupri obviously go way back,” a source close to the deal told AllHipHop.com. “Jermaine and L.A. are both from Atlanta. L.A. wanted Jermaine to stay within the Universal fold, but J.D. wanted to go run the Virgin division and help guide the career of Janet Jackson.”
Other artists on Virgin include Lenny Kravitz, N.E.R.D., Ben Harper, Gorillaz, Guerilla Black and others.
credit: daveyd.com
