In a recent appearance on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast, rapper and producer Jermaine Dupri opened up about his relationship with Janet Jackson.
At around the 48-minute mark of the episode, Dupri was asked how he “pull” Jackson, whom he dated from 2002 until 2009. 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 shit,” he explained. “I was just on some like hang out. I wasn't on no music shit, 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.
Despite his wish to not work on records with her, he ultimately contributed heavily to her 2006 album 20 Y.O. alongside Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
Watch the interview with Dupri and Currensy above.
