Jermaine Dupri quotes:

In the Ferrari or Jaguar, switchin' four lanes Wit' the top down screaming out money ain't a thang

My father was a promoter of Fresh Fest, and they needed an opening act. He got me a slot as a dancer. We tried it out the first time in Atlanta and the crowd went crazy. I was the opening clown.

People always ask me how long somebody can last as long as I've been lasting and continue to keep doing it, so I figured that people didn't really know how to do that.

I'd go dance at talent shows, and because I was young I had the upper hand on a lot of other crews. People thought it was cute. I used that to my advantage.

Because I was in Atlanta, people didn't realize I'm one of the real forefathers in the game.

I go to clubs and if I notice the DJs are playing the records faster, then I'll push the beats a little on the next record I make. A lot of people don't know how to watch out for things like that.

All the records I've made have pretty much been big club turntable records. You need to feel the rhythm.

People know me, and want to know me, as a baller more than anything else.

When I came out rapping on my record, a lot of people said, Oh, you just want to be like Puff.

If you don't know by now, you're never going to know.

They keep the song as street as it needs to be. It's got a good catchy hook where it can do what it needs to do on the radio, but they keep the song street where it will keep credibility in the hood.

So So Def has been one of the most successful and consistent labels in the game in the last 10 years.

Before I was not in the television cameras every 5 minutes, I wasn't as visible, but this year I plan on being more visible to ensure that Virgin Rap Division does not lose. Although I am a very low key person, I am competitive, and with every ounce of my spirit, I will ensure that this label is taken seriously.

People are just really overreacting. It's just feel good music. We at Virgin are in no way promoting sex or whatever these media outlets continue to print.

The thing I'm going through is probably like the same thing that Little Richard and all these other artists go through, that I hear about them, saying, 'Oh damn, you ain't gonna give me nothing till I die,' ... I feel like I'm one of those type of great people that just going to have to wait till it's all over with for people to really sit around and talk about it.

I wanted to feel like an artist for once in my life. I wanted to use other producers for respect, to let them know that I listen to other people's music and that I'm just not out here on my own page.

I'm one of those guys a lot of people watch, imitate, and then make it seem like they were the ones who did it first.