Jermaine Dupri Says No One Makes Music for Teens Anymore: ‘I Can’t Do Everything’

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Jermaine Dupri has noticed the lack of music tailored towards teenagers and has spoken up about it in a recent interview.

During his appearance on the Joe Budden Podcast, the music executive touched on the state of the music business and how it no longer makes an effort to develop acts appropriate for teens, like what he did with Bow Wow in the late ’90s.

“When have you seen a person like me grab an artist like Bow and take the artist for two years and try to get them to become who he became, right?” Dupri asked around the 2:07:45 hour mark in the video below.

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“If somebody did that right now and they gave little Black girls — ’cause I got a 14-year-old daughter that basically has nobody to listen to,” he explained. “She’s out here listening to s**tthat she ain’t supposed to be listening to on TikTok, right? She’s dancing to s**tshe ain’t supposed to be dancing to on TikTok.

“It’s our responsibility to deliver artists for this group of people, but ain’t nobody doing it,” he continued. “I can’t do everything, but I’m just saying it’s our responsibility to even pay attention to them. That audience from 12 to 16, n***as don’t give a f**ksabout them.”

Joe Budden agreed with Dupri, saying there’s a “void,” and pointed to his 11-year-old sister who’s a huge Tyler, The Creator fan.

“Nobody’s trying to give them New Edition. Nobody’s trying to give them Bow. Nobody’s trying to give them Kris Kross,” Dupri responded. “They don’t care.”

Dupri mentored several successful artists under So So Def Recordings. In addition to Bow Wow and Kris Kross, he worked with Xscape, Da Brat, Jagged Edge, Dem Franchize Boyz and YoungBloodZ, and produced multiple hit records with Mariah Carey, Usher, Monica, and Nelly.

He also co-created the reality show, The Rap Game, with Queen Latifah, from which Latto got her start.

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