Jermaine Dupri has discovered some young stars in his day -- giving both Kriss Kross and Bow Wow their first forays into the music industry -- and now, the legendary producer is set to bring his penchance for A&R to TV with a new show, The Rap Game, which will the careers of young artists.
The premise of The Rap Game is tried and true. Young artists compete for a record deal and trying to impress the likes of Dupri and other industry heavyweights, such as Usher, T.I. and Da Brat, for a prized recording contract with So So Def Records.
The first season is set to follow some younger acts including Miss Mulatto, Supa Peach, Lil Niqo and Young Lyric as they navigate their way through workshops that test their talent. The workshops will involve the young rappers working on their lyrical flows and later performing them in front of an audience.
In an interview with Billboard about the show, Durpi opened up about why he chose to develop musicians on TV. “That’s always been my direction. Following in the footsteps of Berry Gordy, I always admire what he did. Launching the careers of Kris Kross and then Bow Wow, I think those two things together made this be like, ‘Oh this is a perfect fit for me," he said.
Dupri further said, “That’s why I started putting artists on there ‘cause at first it was sketched out to be a TV show, like a reality show. We didn’t have artists coming by like Usher, Silento, T.I. and Ludacris. None of the stuff was written in. Most of these shows, they can’t get celebrities on the show. I just took it and made it into The Jermaine Dupri Show.”
Earlier this fall it was announced that Dupri would be joining Snoop Dogg, Damon Dash and Birdman for a BET reality show that follows their personal and professional lives in the music industry. According to Business Insider filming of the show began this past November in Los Angeles. The producer behind Preachers of Atlanta and Preachers of L.A., Lemuel Plummer, was behind the project.
