JD On MC

Dupri on Mariah in New Book
Jermaine Dupri reveals some behind-the-scenes stories about Mariah in his autobiographical book, "Young, Rich, and Dangerous: The Making of a Music Mogul" [now available at Amazon.com], excerpts are below.

Always Be My Baby [Working with Mariah for the First Time]
In 1995, I got a call from Sony's boss Tommy Mottola to come to New York, to do some producing for his wife at the time, Mariah Carey. I never worked with a pop diva before, so I was kinda surprised they wanted me there. I thought my style would be too street for her. But it turns out that having me up there was all her idea.

We first met at a Grammy party with Kris Kross a few years before. We talked about some kid she and her manager were thinking about signing but it never worked out. One of the Kris Kross guys was crushin' on her at the time and was all excited about meeting her, but that period was a blur for me. Or maybe I just wasn't all that impressed back then.

For a minute Mariah - or MC as I like to call her - had been itching to do something different from the usual safe stuff that her label wanted her to stick with. But every time she suggested some hip-hop guy to work with Tommy said, "No Way." He didn't trust some rapper/producer being around his girl. I guess it was part jealousy and part fear that an association like that might hurt her image with her fan base.

Even though Mariah always considered herself to be first and foremost a black woman, everyone at the label was scared of her being too urban. She's far from some 'hood rat', but she's definitely a lil' ghetto and she was tired of being called the "ballad queen."

Whatever reservations he had about his girl going hip hop, for some reason Tommy was okay with me. It probably helped that I was already part of Columbia and he was the CEO of Sony. That basically made him my boss's boss. He already knew from Xscape that I could do crossover R&B stuff, so he was comfortable with my style. He figured I could give his girl a vibe that was new and fresh, but not too off the charts. Or maybe he was fine with it because in his mind I was just a quiet lil' country boy from Atlanta who didn't seem like too much of a threat.

Me and MC knocked out our first song, "Always Be My Baby," at the Hit Factory in New York. At first I didn't even want to speak up when I had an idea about how a song should go. I was way out of my comfort zone. Most of my artist had no idea what to do and were looking to me to tell them, but Mariah sold tens of millions of records and I didn't think she'd take kindly to being bossed by me. On top of it all, our work schedules weren't really meshing.

I'm used to starting late and working through the night. My creative juices usually don't get flowing until after midnight, but on her clock we had to start before noon. When Tommy came by the studio to pick her up and take her to diner around six we wouldn't see her for the rest of the day. No matter what we were into at the studio, even if I was in the middle of working on some crucial hook, the work had to stop for dinner. It went like that for the whole week we were recording together.

Being a collaborator with someone as big and talented as Mariah was something totally new to me. I couldn't find my voice in that situation because my confidence still had to kick in. Then Mariah kinda corrected me. She told me my silence was bugging her out. She needed me to be me and assert myself.

"Look, I didn't ask you up here to nod and smile and say 'yeah' all the time," she said. "If you've got something to say, say it!"

That girl expanded my mind. Once I knew what she wanted from me, it was nothing less than a full partnership. We bounced ideas back and forth. When we were exploring an idea together and something really clicked, we'd both look up at each other at the same time. We just knew.

MC knew exactly what she wanted and what she needed to take from me, and she worked fast. Once we were ready to record, it almost never took more than one take to get it right, and if I needed a redo I didn't even have to tell her. She just fixed it right away.

The following year that first record went on to be one of her biggest of all time. If anything, the joint is even hotter these days. All the pop singers, from Nelly Furtado to Christina Aguilera, are trying on some variation of an R&B/hip-hop crossover, but back then she was the first. Her audience was ready for her to mix it up.

A hit like that usually leads to a remix, so a few months later Mariah had us come to her house to try out a few things. When me, Manuel and Phil Tan flew up to New York and made the long car ride up to their estate we really didn't know what to expect. Tommy had a scary reputation. There were all these rumors floating around that he was connected to the mob somehow. I didn't know about that stuff, but I did know that everyone was afraid of him. I doubt anyone's ever been whacked, but he had the power to kill careers if somebody was stupid enough to piss him off.

Her place blew my mind. It was the biggest house I'd ever seen, except for the sultan of Brunei's crib. Ralph Lauren's mansion was right up the street, but I bet Tommy and Mariah's place was bigger. The studio was as large as the Hit Factory, and everything in it, all that cutting-edge equipment, was exactly what they had at Sony's studio in Manhattan. The only difference was this one looked out on an Olympic-size indoor pool with a painted blue sky. It was amazing. It was every bit of a house you would want. When I first saw it I said to myself, "Man, I'd love to get me a place like this some day."

Tommy was nice to us despite his scary reputation. We were his guests so he made a point of being the gracious host. We were only there for the day, but he gave us the grand tour. But Mariah only started relaxing when Tommy and his people weren't around. She had household staff, security people, and assistants running around all over the place watching her every move. You couldn't even go to the bathroom without someone coming in right afterward to wipe everything down. It was like they were waiting outside the door listening when you were doing your do!

We weren't really free to just chill and let the music flow like it would back home in Atlanta. I didn't have all my equipment and toys to work with. It was just me, Phil, Manuel, Mariah, her piano, and about a dozen assistants hovering close by. The expectation was on us to get it done, fast.

The tension got even worse when Brat flew up to record her piece in the remix later that day. In that hushed, uptight environment my lil' sis was like some Tasmanian devil on crack. Tommy had no idea what he signed up for.

When Brat arrived at the mansion she was all nervous. At first she couldn't even write her verse because she was so star-struck over meeting Mariah. MC was just as taken with my lil' sister. Even though Mariah was all girlie with her Hello Kitty obsession and sexy clothes, Brat's tomboy style was like her flip side. Brat acted out the way Mariah wished she could if only she didn't have Tommy's people always watching her.

Brat couldn't handle how clean and perfect the whole place was. Even the food bothered her. She was hungry, but she didn't want to touch all the fancy caterer stuff like bagels, cut fruit, and cheeses that were laid out in the studio. "This is video shoot food," she said, stamping her feet. Then she did her Brat thing and stirred up some major trouble.

"I'm hungry! Let's go get a cheeseburger," she said to Mariah.

It was the excuse Mariah was looking for to get out of there and go for a joy ride in one of the dozen sports cars she was never allowed to drive. Brat made her feel real bold. Finally Mariah had a partner in crime. She was only too happy to give Brat a ride to McDonald's, so the two of them split without telling anyone where they were going.

People kept asking me, "Where's Mariah, where'd she go?"

I didn't know what to tell them. I knew they were probably going out to get some food, but knowing Brat anything could happen.

"O !%*$," I thought. "Tommy's gonna be pissed."

I called Brat. Mariah's cell phone had already rung a dozen times. Brat saw it was me on the caller ID so she picked up. "Yeah J.D., what's goin' on?" she said, all innocent. I could hear Mariah laughing in the background.

"Brat, are you crazy? Where the hell are y'all going?" I said.

"J.D., we're just going to Mickey D's for some burgers, I don't know why everyone keeps calling, it's no big deal," she said.

"Brat, please don't get in the middle of this. Stay outta this !%*$. Tommy's having a fit. I don't want you to get into any trouble with him. Get back here now!"

"J.D. I'm not the one driving okay," she said. "Mariah's not turning around. We're just going to McDonald's. It's only half a mile up the road!"

The girls weren't gone long, maybe half an hour. But you'd think by everyone's reaction that Mariah was being kidnapped at gunpoint, not getting a cheeseburger and fries. After the incident nothing more was said, but Brat and Mariah have been the best of friends ever since that lil' joyride together.

Seeing Mariah's life was an awakening for Brat. She was always obsessed with having stuff, ever since that tantrum over the Mickey Mouse watch in the mall. She was just starting to come into her money and thought her platinum album meant she'd be able to buy all that stuff and her life would be happy.

But meeting Mariah, who had all the toys and clothes Brat could ever dream of, and coming to understand how sad and lonely her life was at the time, was just the thing to give Brat some perspective.

Even though she never let it affect her grind as an artist, I'm sure it was tough for Mariah living like some caged canary and being watched all the time. But that's her story to tell in her own book!

The Emancipation of Mimi [Making the Hit Songs]
The recognition really started to kick in after I wrote and produced song on Mariah's big comeback album, The Emancipation of Mimi. One song in particular, "We Belong Together," made music history with more radio play than any other record since Elvis and The Beatles.

That hookup came through L.A. Reid. After Virgin paid Mariah off for $28 million, Kevin Liles signed her to Def Jam, but then he left for Warner Music Group. Except for Charmbracelet in 2002, an album I produced that did pretty well, she was left to drift for a minute. People figured it was all over for her after the "Glitter" disaster. But you don't write off talent like that.

L.A. knew it. Mariah's next big album was high on his list the second he moved over to Def Jam. He was one of the few people who could still see what she was capable of. He remembered what me and Mariah did together almost a decade earlier on "Always Be My Baby," and loved it. Even though I'd already moved on to Virgin, L.A. wanted me to work on her next album.

From the first beats to the final demo version we had just a few hours to get the whole record done. Mariah came to me this time, but she was the one on the night shift. She was scheduled to show up at 10:30 but she didn't get to Atlanta until 1 a.m. When she walked into SouthSide, she was all laid back, happy, and cracking jokes. People don't realize how much fun she is.

The whole thing went so fast. First the two of us sat down and discussed a couple of ideas. Then I brought in Johnta Austin into the conversation. That was a small feat. Mariah doesn't like working with writers she doesn't know, but I sorta snuck him in. As soon as she realized how good he is, she was cool.

Johnta's a songwriter who I produce now as an artist. But I wasn't feeling Johnta when I first met him. I wasn't down with having another songwriter around me. I wanted to be the only one. But not only was he persistent, he was good. I grew to like him out of respect. Musically we're so on the same page that having him as a permanent fixture at So So Def has allowed me to branch out and do even more.

The songwriting went smoothly, but, musically, me and Mariah had some back-and-forth. At first Mariah was pushing for something more ghetto.

"No it's too out there, too urban," I said. "Lean it more towards the middle." I didn't want her doing all the syrupy ballad stuff her pas label executives tried to push her into. She also needed to hold herself back from trilling up and down the scales. I wanted to keep the power of her voice inside the framework of a great song. We finally agreed on what she called a "thugged out ballad."

People say Mariah's a diva, all bossy and controlling, but I never noticed that side of her inside the studio. We have different styles of working. If a TV's on in a room she has to turn it off, and other artists, their crews, and their girlfriends are all banned from SouthSide when she's in the building. I respect her wishes. But musically she always meets me halfway. She wants the right record and so do I.

The song ended up being completely different from our original idea. By 5:30 a.m. we knew we had our hit single. I had to sing half of the end of the song because she wouldn't get on the plane without me finishing the lyric. I told her I didn't want to - like I said I hate singing in front of my artists - but she wouldn't leave until I did it.

When it was time for her to go home and record, I gave her my pep talk, "You've gotta sing the song full voice. Just do you and sing. People are gonna love you!" But she didn't even need me to say it. She was outta there by 6 a.m.

Mariah's a career artist. She'll be cranking out hits long after the pop tarts' careers finish up. When that whole album came out with all its hits - "We Belong Together," "Get Your Number," "Shake It Off," "What It Look Like," "Don't Forget About Us" - people were looking at her like, " Yo, she came back!" But she just did what she's always done. She had a good song and sang her heart out. She can't tell me, "J.D. you're a lifesaver." I don't look at it like that. I just helped her remember who she was.

The 2006 Grammy's ["Best R&B Song" Means the Most to Mariah]
People were screaming even louder for me to get best producer in 2006 and I didn't even get a nomination. But it matters more to me how my artists are viewed, and whether they are having a good time. Then again, it might've been reverse psychology - a case of me psyching myself so that if I didn't win I wouldn't be going out of my mind!

But for Mariah's sake I was nervous. I really did hope this album would win something. We were nominated eight times and she'd been through so much since her last Grammy win. A few nods for her from the an industry that wrote her off would've been cool.

(..) Our three awards were announced before the televised part of the show. Just as I pulled up I found out me and Johnta got one for best R&B song. To this day Mariah swears the Grammy for best R&B song means the most to her, because it's the first time she's been recognized more as an urban singer than a pop star and it was the category she always wanted to win.

"J.D., I'm satisfied," she said. "That's exactly what I was trying to do on this record."

We left the show when it was obvious the best song award was going to U2. It was crazy to me that the show's producers wouldn't let Mariah have her lil' moment up on stage. It was like she got all decked up for nothing. A lot of people were unhappy she didn't get her shine. In my opinion, it was just a bad decision made.

Mariah's the queen. She went to a lot of trouble and invested in all these dresses for the occasion. This woman sold more records than anybody, more than 200 million worldwide, and the viewers didn't get to see her give her acceptance speech. That's why the Grammy show's ratings are down. People are turning into American Idol instead because they know they're not gonna get to see what they want to see at the Grammy's. But through it all, MC kept on smiling.

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