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Lexa Gates is ready to leave her “normal life” behind, and the 23-year-old’s not stopping until she’s sleeping in a mansion and hitting the “Lexa jig” on private jets across the globe.
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It’s been just over six years since her breakthrough “I Can Fly” fittingly pushed her to fully pursue music, after an ex-boyfriend taught her it was possible to record at home and upload songs to the SoundCloud matrix. The Queens native has quickly garnered a fanbase — which she says doesn’t have a name just yet — and established herself as part of the next crop of rap stars coming out of New York City.
Gates’ dexterity allows her to puncture beats with burly flows as refined as her signature Black winged eyeliner, and squeeze every last drop out of brutally honest takes on romance and failed relationships that leave a hole in listeners’ collective hearts.
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She’s also hoping to deliver her Elite Vessel follow-up at some point this year, as Gates promises she has a project done that’s currently in the clearing process. However, for her next act, she refuses to be boxed in and wants to veer into the pop lane.
Gates says she’s doing “more singing and melody” while crafting a “more universally digestible” product. “Less niche, Queens native rapper,” she tells Billboard. “More true artist, global.”
Down the line, Gates — who was co-signed by SZA last year — wants to form the pop avengers and lock in with the genre’s A-list architects like Sabrina Carpenter’s secret weapon Amy Allen and Grammy Award winner Jack Antonoff. “I need to get in there with them,” she adds. “I still bring what I have to the table. We need that.”
Even outside of the music world, Gates has lofty goals to eventually lock down her own Erewhon smoothie and a Puma deal. Learn more about our Hip-Hop Rookie of the Month for March in the interview below.
Billboard: When you look back at your musical upbringing, what are some moments that stand out in changing your life?
Lexa Gates: I was dating a white rapper from Harlem who was enrolled in SUNY Purchase. He taught me that you can record yourself at home and put it on SoundCloud. Something could happen with that. [This was] when I was like 17.
Is that when you started to take music seriously?
Yeah, that’s when I started learning how to engineer myself and create a product.
How long did it take to reach the level where you felt, “I can kinda do this?”
Well, not that long. Nowadays, you can download Garageband on your phone and just make a song with a pair of headphones.
Is “I Can Fly” from around that time?
Yes, exactly — and everyone really loved that song. That boyfriend ended up being a hater about it. It happens.
Would you say that was a breakthrough moment for you?
Yeah, it really was. It would’ve had like 10,000 plays on SoundCloud, and I was like, “Whoa, who would’ve thought that people would actually like it?” It was fully organic. That’s how it was back then with SoundCloud. It wasn’t about any marketing or any schemes. No TikTok; Instagram was just your friends on there.
How would you summarize this last year for yourself? It’s been quite the elevation.
It’s been a lot, but I still feel like it’s nothing yet. I’m just getting started.
How has been dealing with fame for you?
Some girl just recognized me outside. No makeup, on my way to get my eyebrows done. She like, “Are you Lexi?” I’m outside my house, so that’s a little scary.
So you’re starting to get recognized outside a bit? At least in New York.
Yeah, that’s a good thing, and it’s what I want. Eventually, I just want to be constrained to the back of a car or a private jet and never get to live a normal life again.
Some people try to keep it as normal as they can be, and you’re on the other end of getting to this point and not having to deal with any of this.
It’s gonna be a nightmare either way. That’s not necessarily a positive. I’ll be like, “D–n, I wish I could go grocery shopping.”
The dating scene has gotta be crazy.
Oh, that’s already out the window. That’s already gone.
The days of swiping on Hinge are over.
Yeah, actually, I met that dude on Tinder — the boyfriend. Yeah, and we dated for a long time. You never know.
How’s performing been? I went to your show in Brooklyn last June.
Oh, the Elsewhere show? That one was pretty a–. The shows are great. I’m a lot more comfortable now. I remember in that concert, I was super nervous, and my mom was there and I barely moved on stage. I was just standing there with my arms crossed.
It was cool to see your fans bringing your flowers. Where did that relationship start to become a thing?
That’s just from begging a bum-a– dude to buy me flowers, to just having so much fruition in my career. People bringing me flowers that I don’t even know — but they love me. And I don’t have to be like, “Why didn’t you get me this?” Also, I heard that flowers raise a woman’s vibration. It’s like a natural thing. You can smell ’em.
How did your signature winged eyeliner come to be?
It was just like, me not going to school. I’m doing my makeup and trying to make the liner even on one side and the other side until it just became a giant Black block on my eyes. It gets to the point where you just get tired of washing it off and trying again, so you kinda just work with what you got. Now it’s more intentional. I get it perfect almost every single time.
What’s next on the music front? What are our plans this year?
I have a whole album done that we are in the process of clearing. I have like 20 songs done. I want to drop another album.
Did you do any work with Conductor Williams?
No, I didn’t, but I’m in conversation with him. We just haven’t gotten together. It’s crazy because I want to make pop music.
Is this something that feels natural to you, or you wanted to change it up and keep it fresh?
It was still natural for me. I had to be in L.A., of course. It’s still true to me, it’s just what I like now.
Yeah, you gotta pull up [to the office] and play that… You got some fans over here.
I’m really happy to hear that. I never even knew about all this ranking and status within the artist community until I got signed and spoke to [a media trainer], and she pulled up the Billboard [Hot] 100 and I realized, “This is like a sport.” [It’s a] pro athlete vibe. That’s also something I took with me into my new work. That’s why it has to be more structured and intentional.
How has being signed to a label influenced your creativity? Is it different being at a studio than at home?
They put a positive pressure on me. It’s still very personal. I work usually work one-on-one, just me and the producer so it’s not a whole organization in the studio yet, but I’m not closed out to the idea if I find the right people.
How was linking up with Jadakiss and Fabolous for “New York to the World”?
Brought me back to my roots. Just like the energy they bring — intimidating, smoking, but still down to earth and true to themselves. I had to be the girl with the hair did and my legs crossed, and just spit some s–t. They’re mad cool and super loving. Especially the producer, Scott Storch. Yeah, he’s a legend, so inspirational. He seems a little bit like an insane guy.
When did you start doing your dances across the city?
It was just an accident. I had to make content, so I was like, “Record me.” Then I just dance. It was never like supposed to be what it is. People just made it a thing. They love anything. They f–king told me. I was spinning around in circles and trying different things, but the dance is what stuck with me. They be calling it the Lexa jig. It’s actually kind of embarrassing now because that’s just how I dance in general so when I do it, it’s not the same anymore. I hear some music and I start dancing and I gotta stop myself.
What does your mom think about your music career taking off? I know she was an aspiring musician and put you in lessons and things growing up.
She’s really happy and is really proud of me. She loves everything I’m doing and supports me fully, but except for financially. Just emotionally.
I feel like on records you touch on romance, relationships and love. What do you think makes a perfect record for that kind of song?
I guess just capturing the moment of time that you’re in. Whatever is going on you just gotta get the last drop from it.
Do you hold certain things back on it or let it rip?
I don’t hold back, I let it rip. Sometimes it be just about even anybody in the room. I don’t really care. If I have to say it, I have to.
How was the experience of staying in the box for 10 hours? I feel like that broke through and saw it everywhere. It was kind of refreshing. For lack of a better term, I feel like we see a lot of bulls–t promo tactics that artists go through.
It was never supposed to be like a promotional thing. I think the label showed me that was the case when they were telling me, “Oh, we should do a halal truck outside and sell food to them.” I’m like, “What? No, it’s supposed to be art.”
How was it getting the SZA co-sign?
That was really surreal. All these things you feel like you want, then you get it — and then you’re still a human being in a body that’s rotting and digesting food and bleeding and breathing. You never float through the air and explode into sparkles. It’s all the same. She’s the GOAT. Very talented and beautiful woman.
How do you look at this next generation of New York City? We had Laila! up here and she showed you love.
I don’t know a lot of [artists]. I know a lot of people coming up, like Sailorrr. I know she got this [Rookie of the Month] spot last month. There’s so many people. Every day, something’s breaking. I like Molly [Santana] too.
I was watching an interview you did a couple of months ago and you said you were bordering on a spiritual psychosis, but being aware, in control. What does that mean?
I don’t even know what the f–k that means. It was very surreal to be on tour and be on a bus and have the shows selling out. It’s a beautiful thing, but also it’s nothing. You can only feel so much in a natural state where you just become disassociated to what’s happening so you can get the work done. If I thought, “Oh my God. This is amazing.” Then I wouldn’t work as hard as I do to do more.
I look at it from a sports sense: what would be your version of winning the NBA Finals or a Super Bowl? What’s your goal? What’s the top thing? What would I do after that?
I guess having that unethical, ungodly f–k you money out of art would probably be the end goal, or really winning to where anything is possible. That’s why people stop doing art — like, “All right, I don’t have to give it to people anymore. “Maybe they still do it behind closed doors. Even like Frank Ocean or Aminé. He just followed me, and I look at his page, and there’s nothing. If you really love art, you probably weren’t doing it for that in the first place, or for any type of outside validation or streams. It would be a luxury to be back at that point.
Does the fan base have a nickname yet?
No. I don’t know. Maybe we just call them my Flowers. It’s cute. Little Flowers. Like a Little Monster. I like Ice Spice, too. They should be my Beans.
Do you have any brand partnerships or business endeavors outside of music that you think would be dope for you?
Yeah, I want an Erewhon smoothie. I want to work with Puma. I love Margiela and Acne. Something fire. I really love coffee, too. It would be cool to a coffee-related thing. I like Blue Bottle Coffee.
Where’s Lexa Gates in 10 years?
Hopefully, in the best shape of my life. Financially free. I want a house and I want to own a bunch of houses. Is that a good answer? Where should I be? I want to be on Billboard. No. 1, I don’t see why not.
Shyne has lost his bid for re-election in Belize. The former Bad Boy conceded defeat in a press conference on Wednesday night (March 12).
According to Channel 5 Belize, Shyne (born Moses Barrow) was unseated by fellow United Democratic Party member and businessman Lee Mark Chang in the general election.
Shyne was elected to the Mesopotamia seat in Belize City for the House of Representatives in 2020, and he eventually served as the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives and the leader of the Belize United Democratic Party.
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According to Channel 5 Belize, Shyne secured only 318 votes in the constituency of Mesopotamia, while Chang earned 601.
“The people have spoken. Congratulations to Lee Mark Chang — he’s now the new area representative of Mesopotamia, and I wish him well,” Shyne said, according to the local news outlet. “I was confident; that was the interaction I was having with the people, but they made a decision to go in another direction, and I respect that.”
With Shyne losing his House of Representatives seat, he’s planning to resign as the leader of the Belize UDP once a new official is elected.
“I certainly will resign effective once we have a national convention to elect a new leader,” he added. “Obviously you can’t be a leader of the United Democratic Party once you’re not a member of the House, and I would not want to be appointed as a senator or anything to hold on to the leadership.”
Chang was very critical of Shyne leading up to the election, reportedly referring to him as a “cancer” in the government. “The people are realizing they have been bamboozled,” he reportedly said on national TV in Belize.
It’s unclear if the loss marks the end of Shyne’s run in Belizean politics.
Shyne rose to fame in the late ’90s as a rapper under Diddy’s Bad Boy Records label. He was sentenced to 10 years behind bars in 2001 on assault, gun possession and reckless endangerment charges for his role in a 1999 NYC nightclub shooting that left two people wounded. He was released in 2009 after eight years behind bars and deported to Belize.
For everyone who was begging to hear more new music from Lil Nas X over the last year, consider your wish well and truly granted as he drops his fourth single of the week. On Thursday (March 13), Lil Nas unveiled his latest track titled “Right There!” Over a simple club beat and some brassy […]
Awards season might be over, but a number of A-list stars are ready to keep the celebrations going on Saturday at the 2025 Truth Awards. On Thursday (March 13), the show’s organizers Better Brothers Los Angeles and The DIVA Foundation announced the official slate of performers and presenters for the annual awards ceremony celebrating Black LGBTQ+ […]
The following story contains spoilers about the celebrity revealed on Wednesday night’s (March 12) episode of The Masked Singer.
Space Ranger made his debut on last week’s Masked Singer, bounding out with his neon-tinged swagger and a silver space suit topped by a glowing, planet be-decked cowboy hat. It was a fitting ‘fit for what came next: an electrifying performance in which he bounced around, dropped to his knees and flashed finger guns with so much rizz that judge Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg was convinced he must be a famous comedian.
If you were paying any attention at all, the clues (and his one-of-a-kind voice) made it pretty obvious: He’s futuristic, lives on his own planet and a childhood report card included an A+ in, ahem, “PE.” Oh, also, sometimes, he said, you have to show them all that you’re “worth the hype,” as he showed off a belt that appeared to have a clock face on it.
His debut performance, of a track by his “bestie,” was a spirited run through Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” that left judge Ken Jeong dumbstruck, while host Nick Cannon knew right away that it was one of his “favorite people” on the planet.
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Both Robin Thicke and Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg agreed that it could be comedian/actor Tracy Morgan, while always-wrong Jeong — who said he’s opened for Morgan on the road — thought the space case was retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Rita Ora suggested a showman like actor/comedian Marlon Wayans.
Wednesday night’s Ghostbusters-themed episode was back with more super obvious clues, including one about his gig “schlepping furniture” in New York as a young man before he and his partner came up with a crazy idea for a career change with help from a “beastly band of boys” who boosted their career.
For his second song, he went in another direction with the swinging Busboys’ Ghostbusters soundtrack album tune “Cleanin’ Up the Town,” which further showcased his showmanship and vocal dexterity. The second performance made Jeong think it was DJ Jazzy Jeff, even as Thicke doubled down on his Morgan guess, while Ora and McCarthy-Wahlberg totally figured out that it was none other than Public Enemy hype man rapper Flavor Flav.
Before his elimination, Billboard spoke with Flav, who described the joy of getting the special dispensation to cover Swift, his shock at the judges’ guesses, and why he wanted to hang around just a bit longer.
You said being on the show has been on your bucket list for years. Why? What took you so long?
I don’t know what took it so long ’cause I’ve been wanting to do this show for years! So when I was asked to be on the show, I said, “Wow! Finally? OK, let’s go!” One thing about me is I love surprising people, I love amusing people, and I love keeping people in suspense. So this show put me on that platform to do all of these things.
People know you as the hype man from PE, but were you nervous to try singing on national TV, especially a Taylor Swift song?
One thing about Flav — Flav is never, ever nervous. I always love being the center of attention. I love being the most positive, talked-about. I’m the biggest hype man, I’m the original hype man, so I could not wait to get out there on that stage and hype up the world.
You are the self-proclaimed “King Swiftie” and there’s never been a Taylor song on Masked Singer. Was that an extra layer of pressure?
Nah, I wasn’t nervous at all, and I was honored that Taylor Swift and them did clear the song for me to do. Because Masked Singer been trying to get a Taylor Swift song cleared for years and they could not get one cleared, until Flavor Flav, King Swiftie, came on their show. [A spokesperson for the show confirmed that it was the first-ever Swift cover on the series.] They cleared it for King Swiftie. I’m honored and proud that Taylor Swift and them cleared me to do “Bad Blood.” I said, “I’m gonna have fun with this song and I know I’m gonna do a good job with it.” I ain’t gonna lie, I am my biggest fan and I do amuse myself and I love watching me on TV.
Did she approve it because she knew you were going to do it?
They knew I was going to do it, that’s why the song got cleared. They only cleared it because of me! They weren’t clearing it for nobody else! And you know what? I don’t think they’re gonna get another Taylor Swift song after this.
You have an iconic, signature look. So how did it feel to be in that ridiculous costume? Did it help you relax to be covered up?
It was real fun jumping in and out of that costume. When I first seen the costume, I was like, “Wow, how am I gonna pull this off?” But, you know, I can make anything work, I can pull this off. I really had fun… but it was a little hot and muggy up in there and I was running out of fresh air. But I said, “Keep it going. KIM — keep it movin’ Flav, you got this!”
Not gonna lie, I’ve been covering you for 30 years and so this was the easiest mystery to guess in the history of the show. From the way you walked out , to the super obvious clues and your one-of-a-kind voice it seemed almost too easy.
What do we say when we pick up the phone? “Heloooooooo?” C’mon now, it was the biggest, easiest giveaway! My voice is distinctive like James Earl Jones, like Samuel L. Jackson, like Morgan Freeman. I have the most sampled voice in the history of music and my voice is very, very recognizable. So when you take my voice and match it up with them easy-ass clues… the easiest clues! The first one was “PE.” C’mon now, everybody knows Flavor Flav is Public Enemy! Everybody knows that I’m famous for my hardware that I wear around my neck [holds up giant clock pendant]. It’s clocks. And also the other easy giveaways was the clock belt and they showed the belt twice! I’m like, “C’mon man, everybody knows that’s Flav!” I was trending number 3 on Twitter [after his first episode] and everybody on Twitter was like, “Man, that was the most easiest giveaway ever!” I think they should have did me better.
Be honest: Did you want to win?
I didn’t go on that show to win. I went on that show to have fun. Did I expect to win? No. But I did want to last a little longer than I did and last as long as I can. At least I could say I had fun. At least I could say I was onstage with one of my favorite people on the planet too, Nick Cannon. I’ve always been a Nick Cannon fan and when Nick said “I know who this is! This is one of my favorite people on the planet!” When he said that, you don’t know how honored I was and how proud I was to hear those words come out of his mouth. ‘Cause before Nick Cannon was Wildin’ Out, I was wildin’ out first, since 1986! The surprising thing was when the judges were trying to guess me… where the hell did they get Tracy Morgan from? [Laughs] The weirdest one was Floyd Mayweather. What in the world is Floyd Mayweather going to be doing in a costume?
“Conductor, we have a problem!” Wiz Khalifa, who went from the rap blogs to mainstream superstardom, has gone back to the basics these past few weeks as he’s been randomly releasing freestyles and linking back up with old friends like Curren$y and now fellow Taylor Gang member Ty Dolla $ign. Produced by current underground darling […]
No need to panic, but there’s a double dose of “Anxiety” for Doechii on the Billboard charts (dated March 15), as the rapper/singer appears on two different, but related, versions of the similarly named track, thanks to a saga that also involves Will Smith, Gotye and Detroit rapper Sleepy Hallow.
Rewind to 2019, when Doechii recorded the song “Anxiety” and shot a video of the recording in her bedroom for her Coven Music Session, Vol .1 mixtape. “Anxiety” prominently samples Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” featuring Kimbra, a 2012 hit that topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks, was that year’s No. 1 Hot 100 song and won two Grammy Awards, including record of the year, in February 2013.
At the time, when Doechii’s “Anxiety” was only available via YouTube, Sleepy Hallow lifted the song’s hook for the chorus of his own “A N X I E T Y” track. Billed to Sleepy Hallow featuring Doechii, it arrived in 2023, and upon release, reached No. 44 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and No. 3 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.
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After a year of dormancy, the song experienced a TikTok-led revival in recent weeks, as users soundtracked the “A N X I E T Y” chorus to a famous scene of Will Smith and Tatyana Ali dancing from an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the Smith-led sitcom that aired on NBC from 1990-96. User @mimeemzyy posted on Feb. 21 what appears to be the trend’s kick-off clip, which has swelled to 2.8 million views on TikTok through March 12.
Growing virality fueled “A N X I E T Y” streams to new highs. While the song hovered between roughly 600,000-700,000 U.S. official on-demand streams each week for the last six months, the total cracked new levels in the last four frames: 890,000 streams in the week ending Feb. 13; 882,000 (Feb. 20), 2.8 million (Feb. 27) and 10.5 million (March 6), according to Luminate. The latest week’s viral-backed surge prompted “A N X I E T Y” to debut on several charts this week, including a No. 45 launch on the Hot 100, at No. 11 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No. 8 on Hot Rap Songs.
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But that wasn’t the only impact: New attention for “A N X I E T Y” sent fans scrambling to Doechii’s solo, YouTube-only version, prompting Doechii to release her track to all digital and streaming retailers on March 4. After the midweek expansion, “Anxiety” spiked to 5.3 million U.S. streams and 2,000 downloads in the latest tracking week (Feb. 28-March 6), sparking a push to No. 3 on the Hot 100’s Bubbling Under chart.
Early signs point to an impending “Anxiety” explosion after its full tracking week. According to preliminary reports submitted to Luminate, the song registered 11.2 million official on-demand U.S. streams for March 7-10. (Next week’s charts, dated March 22, will reflect activity from the tracking week of March 7-13.) Should “Anxiety” reach the Hot 100, it will give Doechii her seventh entry on the list, and with at least a No. 44 start, become her best debut.
The “Anxiety” blowup adds to Doechii’s latest string of triumphs. The rapper won a Grammy Award for best rap album on Feb. 2, for her Alligator Bites Never Heal mixtape. Between the victory and Doechii’s performance on the telecast, the mixtape surged to No. 14 on the Billboard 200. Two singles have also gained traction in recent weeks: “Denial Is a River” cruised to a No. 21 Hot 100 peak in February, while “Nissan Altima” reached No. 73. And Doechii’s already lined up her next big honor: Later this month, the newly minted Grammy winner will be crowned 2025 Woman of the Year at Billboard‘s Women in Music celebration in Los Angeles.
A$AP Rocky has once again addressed his long-awaited project Don’t Be Dumb. This time, he was stopped by Instagram fashion account The People Gallery and asked directly when he was planning to finally drop the album. “Don’t do me like that,” he replied with a smirk on his face. “A$AP. Listen, don’t make me do […]
Ice Spice has been eating her oats, and now she’s teasing her first single of 2025 with a snippet of a track touting her curves that appears to be titled “Thick Again.”
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The Bronx native, who was in the City of Lights for Paris Fashion Week, carved out some time to dance to her upcoming hard-hitting track in front of the Eiffel Tower on Tuesday (March 11). “She got thin but she went and got thick again/ Shorty eating her oats/ He stay on my body, it’s hard to get rid of him/ You know that I like him the most,” she raps.
The viral clip sees Ice twerking in a short camouflage dress while giving fans and tourists walking around the Eiffel Tower a glimpse of her bare behind. Her X post currently boasts over 200,000 likes.
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Fans were hyped to see Ice regain her voluptuous figure and showed her love in the replies. “Everyone that switched up betta stay in that side,” one person wrote, while another Munchkin added: “Ice Spice finally returned!”
Diplo chimed in on Instagram, hilariously pleading with Ice to “start an oats company.”
Over the summer, Ice Spice pushed back against rumors she was taking Ozempic and sniped at those talking about her weight. “I actually came on here to talk about that real quick. I wish y’all never learned the word Ozempic,” she said in an August Twitter Spaces. “That’s one thing I wish. Oh my God! Like, what even is Ozempic? What the f–k is that? Genuinely, what is that?”
Ice continued: “You lazy-a– b—–s never heard of a gym? It’s called the gym, it’s called eating healthy, it’s called being on tour,” she added. “Like, what the hell? Maybe if I was sitting at home all f–king day, it’d be easier to stay big.”
The “Thick Again” teaser wasn’t the only time fans saw Ice’s backside in the last week as she showed off a wardrobe malfunction featuring a tight Black dress split down the middle. “It was cute too,” Ice Spice wrote to her Instagram Story in disappointment.
Jermaine Dupri found himself in some hot water with fans on social media last week.
The So So Def founder went viral for asking why some artists choose to stay independent while trying to “chase” the same benefits and resources that major label artists have at their disposal. “I’m a little lost,” he wrote. “Can somebody tell me what the goal of being an independent artist is today because all of the things that people are chasing is sh—t major artist do, what’s the thing that indie artist do that make it special?”
Due to his experience in the music business, some felt as if he was downplaying independent artistry and disregarding how much the game has changed over the past decade. However, Dupri felt like his tweet was misconstrued and decided to address it a week later on the New Rory and Mal podcast.
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“As more and more people call me and the pods talk about it,” Dupri wrote in a caption over a clip from his appearance on the podcast. “I can see how people would think I was taking a shot at the independent community, I decided to address it with information I’m sure most y’all don’t have about me in that space, so you can clearly see that wasn’t my intent.”
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On the show, Dupri pointed out that his first foray in the independent market was in 2010 when he discovered singer Dondria on YouTube and paid for her music videos, got her to tour with Trey Songz, and wrote and produced songs on her debut album Dondria vs. Phatfffat. He also brought up the For Motivational Use Only, Vol. 1 EP he produced with Curren$y in 2023, which they released independently, and addressed allegations that he “fumbled Latto” after she won the first season of the reality show The Rap Game.
“The deal with Latto and The Rap Game was that if you win on the show, what you win is a So So Def chain and a contract with So So Def for Jermaine to produce one song for you and put it out on So So Def,” he explained. “I did that independently. So, a lot of people was like if they didn’t feel that push that they felt on a lot of my other records is because it was independent and it was all funded by me.”
He continued by breaking down what an independent artist can expect when they venture down that road. “These are the things that come in the Happy Meal independent box: owning your masters, getting your publishing, doing the royalties and you having to pay the royalties to people that you worked with, and the freedom,” he said. “These are things that are standard to me in an independent deal.”
He continued, admitting that even with his experience in the industry, he still might be missing something. “You never know everything. People believe that you do because you become successful, but I know in my heart of hearts that I don’t know everything,” he said. “If I ask a question, I know that’s what y’all jump to like, ‘Jermaine, he should know better than this.’ That’s what Joe Budden said, but I’m just asking a question.”
Dupri recently made headlines courtesy of Nelly, who declared that the record executive would beat Diddy in a Verzuz fairly easily.
As more and more people call me and the pods talk about it, I can see how people would think I was taking a shot at the independent community, I decided to address it with information I’m sure most y’all don’t have about me in that space, so you can clearly see that wasn’t my… pic.twitter.com/CMPNaxujBZ— Jermaine Dupri (@jermainedupri) March 11, 2025
