He's been a music industry fixture since his teens, having produced a string of No. 1 hits for artists he's plucked from obscurity and launched to stardom. He heads a multimillion-dollar recording company with plans to branch out into music and film. He's popped up on his artists' albums and videos. Now he's a rapper himself, with an album that's backed by an all-star cast. And no, he's not Puff Daddy. |

He's Atlanta hit-maker Jermaine Dupri, whose label, So So Def, has banked millions by producing acts like Usher, Da Brat and Kriss Kross. But last week, he released his own debut, Life in 1472. If all goes well, Life will do for him what No Way Out did for Puff: catapult him from behind the mixing board barracks into the front lines, much like Dr. Dre, Timbaland, Teddy Riley and Master P.

In it's first week, Life entered the charts at No. 3, with a decent showing of 182,000 copies sold. But never mind week one, because for Dupri, this debut is a long-range statement. He's letting y'all know that he's been a Cristal-swigging, Cartier-watch-wearing, Ferrari-driving player for 14 years, who's never gotten the props he deserves. And why have hip-hop and R&B loyalists slept on Mr. Dupri? Maybe it's because he's never worked with a hard-edged male superstar rapper, maybe it's because his sound lacks regional distinction. Whatever the case, on songs such as "Three the Hard Way," which features lines like "For a long time y'all niggas have been taking So So Def as a joke," Dupri makes it clear he's got something to prove.

"A lot of Jermaine's accomplishments have definitely been overlooked," says DeAndre "Free" Maiden, VP of operations at So So Def. "Him being from Atlanta has something to do with it, and also that JD is a nice humble guy, almost to a fault. He stayed out of the limelight, and in this age where image means everything, you really have to go after it. He vented a little bit on this album, he really wanted to come to the table and say this is what So So Def's done, this is what I've done, and this is what I'm doing."

Lyrically, Life is a concept album, touting the fruits of Dupri's success -- money, parties, women, and more money. He's strategically assembled a cast of high-cred guests from a variety of camps, including Jay-Z, Slick Rick, Snoop, Mase, Mariah Carey and Usher in a not-so-subtle display of his high-powered connections -- and a keen way to include something, if not somebody, for everyone on the album.

Dupri didn't amass his millions for nothing, after all, so expect Life, with its streetwise sound, superstar guests, crisp production and intricately woven bass lines to have legs -- even if they're slow to hit their stride. (Tiara Mukherjee)