Mariah Carey has been pulling double duty as a doting wife and loving mother — but it’s time she reclaim her spot as pop’s leading diva. The songbird was snapped working in the studio in Atlanta last night with longtime collaborator Jermaine Dupri (“We Belong Together”). We know for a fact that Mimi looked absolutely smokin’ (thanks, Jenny!) — time will tell just how hot her new music will be. Hop below for more pics of the singer posing with Dupri.

“I said MC they don’t expect you to be camera ready, she said Yes they do LOL!!” tweeted Dupri, who snapped these pics from their studio session together.

[Via Rap-Up]

Mariah Carey and producer/rapper Jermaine Dupri have collaborated on some pretty solid jams over the years — “We Belong Together,” “Shake It Off” and “Don’t Forget About Us” in 2005 marking a pretty solid golden period for the two. So consider us pleased over the pics the pair tweeted out last night. “so happy to be back in the studio with the one & only @Mr_Dupri aka Jermash!” new mom Mariah wrote. Dupri added, “ME AND MC IN THE STUDIO RIGHT NOW, (WE ARE BACK TOGETHER)” Let out a whistle register squeal, Mimi fans! Another pic below.

For its 7th annual Hip Hop Honors broadcast, VH1 cast a spotlight on the Dirty South — a loosely defined but creatively verdant chunk of geography that has blessed us with talents from T.I. to Lil Wayne to OutKast. The show paid musical tribute to artists from Texas to Georgia, Louisiana to Florida (home of perhaps the dirtiest of them all, Luther “Luke” Campbell and 2 Live Crew). See Drake, Missy Elliott, Keri Hilson, and a roster of fellow talents celebrate the biggest hip-hop legends from below the Mason-Dixon line. Who recevied the best tribute of the night?

Tribute to J Prince/Rap-A-Lot Records:

The Tribute to Jermaine Dupri included Kris Kross’ “Jump”. If you recall, Dupri discovered the “We Wear Our Clothes Backwards” duo in a shopping mall when was just 18-years-old and produced their album Totally Krossed Out.

Tribute to Master P, the man who made us say “UGH!”:

Tibute to Atlanta aka Hotlanta:

The Tribute to Timbaland  kicked off with “Big Pimpin’”. Keri Hilson came on stage to sing her part in “The Way I Are”. And the crowd went insane when Missy Elliott came on to sing “Get Ur Freak On” and “Work It”.

Tribute To Luther “Luke” Campbell including “Scarred” “It’s Your Birthday” and “I Wanna Rock”

Never let it be said that Mariah Carey isn’t afraid to make the grand gestures in order to assert her chart supremacy: She’s already released a Jermaine Dupri-produced remix of her third single from the sales disappointment Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel, “H.A.T.E. U,” that completely reconfigures the track around a bite of the Ghost Town DJs’ 1996 classic “My Boo.” It also features verses by Gucci Mane, Big Boi, and OJ Da Juiceman. Can you say “Hail Mary pass”? I guess since biting from the ’80s didn’t work out all that well, she decided to move her nostalgia up by a few years, and ride the coattails of a song that’s pretty much unassailable. Oh Mariah. Clip after the jump.

I guess it would be OK if it weren’t so… transparent. You know? For purposes of comparison, here’s the original:



What’s next? A reworking of “I Want To Know What Love Is” that interpolates “Toxic”? Don’t laugh.


hate u remix – Mariah Carey [imeem]
ghost town dj’s – my boo (Video Quality A++) [YouTube]

Part of me always suspected a Baltimore club track would cross over to the mainstream at some point, but when I heard DJ Class‘ “I’m The Ish” on the urban station here in Tucson yesterday (a station about six or seven months behind most breaking records), I was surprised. When I saw the track had jumped to the 30th-most-played track on urban radio in just two weeks, I was shocked.

If you’ve ever heard Baltimore club spun by a DJ, odds are you’ve heard DJ Class, considering he and the legendary Scottie B were responsible for possibly the genre’s biggest club.

“Tear Da Club Up”:

Unfortunately, “Tear Da Club Up” is one of those tracks most people have as an unlabeled MP3 somewhere on their hard drive, so outside of Baltimore and the genre’s informed fans, it’s not like DJ Class received much recognition. Now that his record is being worked by Universal, however, the label is going to do whatever it takes to get DJ Class some fame, even if it means pairing the track with any rapper they could get into the studio.

DJ Class with Kanye West, “I’m The Ish (remix)”

DJ Class with Lil Jon, “I’m The Shit (remix)”

DJ Class with Jermaine Dupri and Trey Songz, “I’m The Ish (remix)”:

I don’t know if Jermaine’s recent employment issues allow him to tell people that he’s the shit, but then again, I’m probably not the arbiter of such things. Either way, at the rate that the song is being added at radio and the number of times the song has been played here, I look forward to that day in the near future when one of the kids in my son’s second-grade class informs me he’s the ish. Should be good times.

DJ Class [MySpace]

It’s hard to find a job these days, and after Jermaine Dupri‘s up and down relationship with his former employer, you might be concerned that money, at some point, might become a “thang,” resulting in him purchasing fewer new whips and such. Thankfully, the CBS Early Show has decided to help out, tapping him to judge its “Singing Family Showdown“—and he’s not going to be a pushover. When host Harry Smith asked how “psyched” he was for the forthcoming competition, Dupri answered, “I mean, I want to see it. I work with kids all the time. I’ll be the one that’s a little tough on them.” At very least, Dupri will be able to tell the contestants that if the choice is between backwards and inside-out clothes, it’s easy to see which one is “wiggida wiggida wack.” [CBS]

A New York Post source snipes on Jermaine Dupri’s exit from Island Def Jam, where he served as president of urban music until earlier this week: “After [his girlfriend] Janet Jackson’s album and tour bombed, he basically didn’t come back to work. He still collected a paycheck, but didn’t bother to do anything that he was supposed to do, like find artists, release records or actually show up. Executives tried to talk to him, but he just lost heart.” This source also places the suckiness of Jackson’s 2008 album Discipline on his shoulders, claiming that he allowed his paramour a little too much creative freedom in lieu of trying to make the songs halfway listenable. [Page Six]

Jermaine Dupri’s tenure as president of urban music at Island Def Jam has reportedly ended. [AllHipHop]

And we have another reason to post this classic Idolator-crafted image one more time! [Business Sheet / Previously]

SOHH is floating the rumor that Jermaine Dupri will be removed from his position as head of the urban department at Island Def Jam, thanks in large part to a recent string of high-profile flops that includes Janet Jackson’s Discipline and Mariah Carey’s E=MC², which still is having problems getting traction for a follow-up single for “Touch My Body.” What this means for the Dupri-helmed joint venture between Island Def Jam and TAG Body Spray is uncertain, but Dupri isn’t having the best week either way: He shuttered his Atlanta restaurant Cafe Dupri earlier this week, thanks to the crappy economy driving down profits. “Bottom line: if it doesn’t make money, it doesn’t make sense,” he told AllHipHop.com about the restaurant’s closure, although one suspects that statement could be easily translated to other subjects. [SOHH]

Khia, disqualified Miss Rap Supreme contestant and author of “My Neck, My Back,” has launched a busload of blog beef, occasioned in part by her leaving Big Cat Records two weeks before the release of her new album, Nasti Muzik 08. She claims that the label wrote her a bad check and gave her nothing in the way of promotion. “So guess what????? Say hello to my little Jewish friend…….. You know dat Im gonna laugh all the way to the bank dontcha??? Yall betta have all yall receipts, invoices and budgets together…. Cuz Im bout to sue the hell out yall assess!!!!!!” Khia also takes issue with those who haven’t signed her, like Jermaine Dupri, who claimed on Hot 97 that Khia was “ungrateful” for the attention she received from being on Janet Jackson’s 2006 flop “So Excited.” Khia, unsurprisingly, thinks the real problem is that Dupri’s gay and Jackson’s menopausal. “Now run and tell dat!!!!!! Nasti Muzik 08!!!!!”

Nowwwwwwww…… Jermaine Dupri…… I hear you was on Hot 97 in New York… Talking bout how I was ungrateful…………. And Miss Jones was FIRED right after dat!!!!!! If I’m ungrateful about anything its about the fact of how I SAVED the day for JANET….. And I couldn’t even be in the VIDEO…..But dats old news so why are we even still talking about it????? Janet’s album Flopped and DATS dat!!!!! I’m sorry……. Janet…..I hear you been going thru the CHANGE…. So maybe dats why you were MOODY and didn’t want me in the VIDEO dat day!!!! I guess 40 is not the new 20????

If I am disappointed about anything……… Its because you DIDN’T sign me, after I had already proven to you that I can sell records!!!! Is it because I am not little like BOW WOW??? Is it because I don’t wear my pants backwards with my boxers showing like Kriss-Kross??????….. You are Michael Jackson’s little sister’s boyfriend!!!!!! Is Chris Stokes your cousin??? Now dats the REAL disappointment!!!!! Are you gonna join Janet at the Jungle dis weekend, the hot GAY bar in Atlanta?? If so, I will see you then!!!! SOUND OFF……. And Noooooooo…… I don’t wanna buy no DAMN BOY SCOUT COOKIES!!!! It’s something funny bout GROWN men running around with little boys in uniforms….. Tell Janet to lay off the HUSTLER and COCO DORM SEX Tapes!!!!! Another man is beating YOUR TIME!!! Give it to em raw and RINSE dat strap off………Now run and tell dat!!!!!! Nasti Muzik 08!!!!!

While Khia may be “sick and tired of FUCK Niggas claiming to produce albums and take credit for shit dat dey wish dey could do,” she does still dream that someday her prince may come.

50 cent where you at??????? At least then I couda got a DAMN VIDEO!!!!!! GGGGGGG-UNIT!!!!!!!! Im da BITCH ya need… But dats okay cuz after Nasti Muzik drop on July 22nd, I aint gone need nann nigga for shit!!! If I make it……. We all make it…. Nasti Muzik 08!!!!!!

Hell, her prince may have already came.

…All yall dats leakin the album…. Thank you…. Cuz all yall leakin is dat straight fye………. Yall haterz leaked my baby’s album too and he sold a 1Million copies the first week!!!! Yall heard what my baby Weezy said……… Yo neck, Yo back….. It’s funny how dat song aint got old yet????? To us……It’s only just begun……. Thank you for the plug…. DADDY!!! I love licking the RAPPER……. Forward and backwards…….Nasti Muzik 08!!!!!!!!

Trina has yet to comment on that one.

Big Cat BROKE ASS RECORDS, Jermaine Dupri and Wacky Hoe done tried the QUEEN!!! [Khia's MySpace]

There are two types of raps about sneakers: labors of love like “My Adidas” and corporate shilling, like The Game making sure to mention Nike on almost every track on The Documentary. “Stepped On My J’s” is probably the latter. Nelly’s rap (which rhymes “what now?” with “what now?” and “crib” with “crib” and “crib”) is mere filler before he can awkwardly segue to the Do The Right Thing-quoting chorus, and Ciara (who sounds the best of the three) focuses on her beauty, but Jermanie Dupri plays the good spokesperson, describing the joy a young man feels when he dons his first pair of Jordans, and how one should collect them all. In the video, he even dresses up like Mars Blackmon. Ah, when ads were ads. [YouTube]

Jermaine Dupri’s latest hair-brained scheme: He’s bringing together the collective power of Island Def Jam and Procter and Gamble to start Tag Records, a label that is branded with the name of the body spray and the delightful countenance of the pint-sized president. Dupri claims that Tag is where he’ll find new artists and “market [them] 10 times more” than they might normally be, unless they’re, say, Leona Lewis. It seems like kind of a raw deal for the artists, to be honest; they’re basically contracted out to be spokesmodels for Tag and active music artists with recording and touring careers simultaneously. Of course, the IDJ suits are calling this “a non-traditional approach that blends our most valuable assets: the artist and their music, with the power of brand marketing.” That’s almost as sexy as Tag’s nausea-inducing scents! The first artist contracted to this partnership will be announced in May, if Dupri’s charisma can convince anyone to actually go down this road. After the jump, he chats about the new venture while standing in front of a very expensive car.

Jermaine Dupri and Island Def Jam Music Group Launch New Hip-Hop Label in Partnership with TAG Body Sprays
JD tag announcement [YouTube]

Every year pop critics await the coming of January with a sense of trepidation and a healthy amount of schadenfreude, because it’s time for our own year-end analysis, Jason Gross’ annual rundown of year’s worst music writing. (Gross’ long-running look at the dregs of rock scribbling is actually part of a package of the worst and best music writing of the year. But c’mon, we all know which part we really care about.) And now that our trepidation has passed (nothing we wrote in ’07 made it to Gross’ “Bottom Of The Barrel” category!), we can get to the schadenfreude (which of our peers did make it to Gross’ “Bottom Of The Barrel” category?).

The funny thing is that not many of our “peers” actually made it to this year’s list, unless that peer group now consists of Jermaine Dupri and Ted Nugent. There are two limp attacks on funk and post-bebop jazz by crit folks writing for Slate and the Guardian. But the bulk of Gross’ worst list is made up of bonehead industry types and equally boneheaded musicians. And that’s gotta be more of a sign that the corporate flunkies are cranking out more awful propaganda than ever as the industry collapses than a sign that the quality of music criticism is on the rise. What’s really disheartening, if that’s the word for it, is the total lack of blog entries in the “Bottom Of The Barrel” category, which probably just proves that most bloggers’ “bad” writing is as forgettable and bland as their recycled PR stuff “good.” (Step up your crappiness game, MoveableType jockeys! You’re getting beaten by the Nuge!)

The top spot (though the entries aren’t ranked) rightly goes to Sasha Frere-Jones’ much-dissected New Yorker essay on indie rock’s de-blackening, but since the fallout from said essay proved that SFJ enjoys bad attention regardless of the effect it has on his writing or rep, I’m not sure if this accolade will necessarily be healthy for him or his productivity. We wouldn’t want to distract him from his hard work profiling all those funky indie rocking white people he’s covered since “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” ran in late October.

Best Music Scribing Awards 2007 [Popmatters]

Thanks to soulbounce for reminding us of Jermaine Dupri’s assertion that the Jackson 5 would show up at his Atlanta club Studio 72 on New Year’s Eve. The footage of what happened is above, and you will probably not be surprised to know that while Michael couldn’t clear his calendar, Jermaine was there. And yet the DJ–who, as it turns out, was Dupri himself–still dropped “Billie Jean” into the set heralding the other Jacksons’ meeting and greeting the crowd! What, he couldn’t have spun a sped-up version of “Do What You Do” to give one of the Jacksons who actually showed up a reason to smile?

“Live” Blog This YouTube: The Jackson Five NYE Bash [soulbounce.com]

At least, that’s what he claimed on his radio show the other night, in typically understated fashion. The hip-hop impresario counts among his holdings the Atlanta club Studio 72, and he’s throwing a Jackson 5-themed New Year’s Eve party this year. And the theme is so driving the party, Michael, Marlon, Jermaine, Tito, and Jackie–and maybe, just for good measure, Dupri’s girlfriend Janet–are all going to be there! (Maybe.)

Island president of Urban music Jermaine Dupri plans to bring the newly reunited Jackson 5 (Michael, Marlon, Jermaine, Tito and Jackie) to Atlanta for his big New Year’s bash at Studio 72. This means nothing to anyone under the age of 35 who don’t have a clue how huge the Jackson were to young black kids growing up in the 70s. If Jermaine can make it happen he will be the king – bigger than Jay Z, bigger than Kanye West, bigger than God.

Jermaine made the surprise announcement on his radio show on V-103 over the weekend. He plans to empty out the club as the Jackson 5 descend from the sky in a helicopter. The Jackson 5 will then join sister Janet Jackson and Jermaine as they enter the club.

Hmm. Well, it’s not as if every band that was ever even popular for a licketysplit isn’t reuniting in the current climate, but why do I get the feeling that the Jackson 5 who are going to “descend from the sky” are really going to just be cardboard cutouts of the boys’ cartoon versions? Perhaps the $50 advance ticket price for “A Jackson 5 New Year’s Eve” is one of the reasons I’m so skeptical.

A Jackson 5 New Year’s Eve [ticketannex.com]
Audio: Jermaine Dupri Brings The Jackson 5 To Atlanta [sandrarose.com]
Jackson 5 Announcement [ZShare]

“Is that Mickey fucking Avalon?” Maura asked when I showed her this photo. Why, yes it is! It seems the way-past-his-15 novelty “sleazeball” “rapper” has been tapped by Boost Mobile to irritate us on a variety of media platforms, along with his new friends the Snowman and some guy who hates iTunes.

The new campaign features “music tycoon Jermaine Dupri, hip-hop mogul Young Jeezy and crossover rock star Mickey Avalon” [crossover rock star?] together in an “innovative 3D animated music-video-style commercial. The spot also features an original track produced by Dupri with vocals from all three artists, which will begin airing Nov. 26 on MTV, BET, ESPN, COMEDY CENTRAL and other youth-oriented national networks.”

Clyde from ProHipHop worries that the campaign is doomed because he can’t imagine that “the often homophobic fans of such acts as The Game and Young Jeezy are going to warm up to a Hollywood street hustler,” while we’re guessing it’s going to fail because Avalon is completely friggin’ awful. Making Jermaine Dupri and and Young Jeezy look masterful by comparison is a tough job, but that’s our Mickey.

Boost Mobile’s Anthem 2.0 Starring Young Jeezy, Jermaine Dupri & Mickey Avalon [ProHipHop]

Did you know shrimpy hip-hop mogul Jermaine Durpri was a blogger on The Huffington Post? Neither did we! Yet there he was yesterday with his second post already, wherein he praises Jay-Z for his “decision not to let iTunes break up his American Gangster album and sell it as single tracks.” And it seems JD is already taking swimmingly to the blog format, penning an impassioned (and totally bullshit) 1,300 word rant-cum-manifesto about how the record labels can (and should!) take back control of the industry from both evil Steve Jobs and his hypnotized minion, the music consumer.

Jay made everyone realize that iTunes taking what we give them and doing what they want with it isn’t the way it has to be. He put the light on and made other people realize, “Oh these guys are just selling our music, they ain’t making it.” If anything, WE made iTunes. It’s like how we spent $300,000 to $500,000 each on our videos and MTV and BET went ahead and built an entire video television industry off of our backs. We can’t let that happen again. These businesses exist solely because of our music. So if we as artists, producers and label executives stand up, those guys at Apple can either cooperate, or have nothing for people to buy and download on their iPods.

Apple thinks that’s never gonna happen. They think that we as the record industry will never stick together. But Universal sells one out of every three records. All it’ll take is for Warner Music to say, “You know what, I’m with you,” for us to shut ‘em down. No more iPods! They won’t have nothin’ to play on their players! We can take back the power if we’re willing to sacrifice some sales to make our point.

Well thank God someone finally made that argument. Apple may hold the copyrights and be cashing the checks, but a first-year business student (or blogger) knows it’s consumers who power iTunes, where full albums are also available 99 percent of the time, determining what format sells in Steve Jobs’ store. And it’s long been obvious to everyone with head removed from ass (i.e. not invested in selling albums) that said consumers have voted in favor of singles, and laughable to argue that if labels suddenly yank all product from iTunes there will be a brief period of grumbling followed by consumers returning to the full album with tails tucked. But you all already know this. So why does a man who has spent most of his adult life in the record industry find it so hard to understand? The problem might be that, like most multi-kazillionaires, JD has lost touch with the people.

We’d cut the single off a few weeks before the album came out to get people to wait and let the excitement build. When I put out Kris Kross we did that. We sold two million singles, then we stopped. Eventually we sold eight million albums!
Did consumer complain? Maybe so. But at what point does any business care when consumer complains about the money? Why do people not care how we – the people who make music – eat? If they just want the single, they gotta get the album. That was how life was.

“These peasants will take what we give them and like it! Why do they not think of the health of their king before their own?” Man, you can’t teach the nouveau riche anything.

A Good Album Is More Than Just A Collection Of Singles [Huffington Post]

You just started a new gig at a company that has had its share of problems lately–including underperforming releases, executive squabbling, and reported layoffs. So what do you do to really make your mark? Why, bring your girlfriend over to drop a record or two, even though her last album was an expensive failure:

In February, Island Def Jam Chairman L.A. Reid brought Jermaine Dupri over to Island to be president of urban music, and now it looks as if JD’s girlfriend, Janet Jackson, is not too far behind. The longtime Virgin Records artist has been in talks to switch label homes.

“Definitely Janet will end up at Island,” Dupri told MTV News recently. “That’s without a doubt. L.A. always wanted to sign her regardless [of whether] I was there or not. I don’t know where that deal is — I left that in the hands of L.A. and Janet’s people — but more than likely, he’ll get what he wants.”

Ah, well. At least there won’t be much of a wardrobe budget, right?

Jermaine Dupri Says Janet Will Switch Labels, Be On ‘Rush Hour 3′ LP [MTV]
Earlier: Is Def Jam Making Cuts To Its Staff?

Mini-mogul Jermaine Dupri’s exit from Virgin is now official, and he’s taken to his MySpace blog to let everyone know how he’s doing (stick a huge sic over the next few grafs):

what up yall long time no talk as you probly herd i been goin to war with virgin over the lack of there paticipation and promotion on 20yo
at the sametime workin on the new bowwow album if you go to his my space you can see the makin
for all of you askin ?s about the rumors jus no i dont play games when it comes to my music
i did’nt get in the buisness for the bullshit and politics
nore do i ever wanna be in the company of people that dont no what there doin

Ah, blogging. It’s such a handy way to cut through all the “I made a decision that it was in my best interest to leave” spin, isn’t it?

NEW MESSAGE FROM JD [SoSoDef's MySpace blog, via Four Four]
Previously: What Wacky Predicament Will Jermaine Dupri Find Himself In Next?