So So Def CEO Jermaine Dupri has continued to appear on a string of podcasts throughout his latest press run. In December, the esteemed label head visited The Goats And Underdogs show to speak on his longtime career when Bow Wow was brought up. Dupri, who was an essential component in Bow’s rise to fame, alleged he created the legendary 106 & Park show for the young rhymer. BET’s popular 2000’s music video countdown series was originally hosted by personalities A.J. Calloway and Free Marie. Bow Wow began hosting after a search for A.J. and Free’s replacements in October 2012.
The VERZUZ performer doubled down on the statement in his latest interview with the I Am Athlete podcast. The goated musician retold the story of how he went to BET’s now-former Music Programming lead to discuss a new show. “106 & Park was created by me,” Jermaine Dupri reminds the cast. “I went to Stephen Hill at BET and told him, ‘Listen. MTV has a TV show called TRL. They let the Backstreet Boys, and N’SYNC, and all these boys come on there and that’s they[‘re] show. I said ‘Yo, we need this in Black music.’” When asked by Hill who he thought would be up for the task, Dupri didn’t hesitate to throw Lil Bow Wow’s name in the hat.
Jermaine Dupri Stands On 106 & Park Comments
”He ain’t know what Bow Wow was gonna be. We put out ‘Bounce With Me’ and they created 106 & Park,” Jermaine Dupri continues. “That’s why I named Bow Wow ‘Mr. 106 & Park,’ because I created the show. I basically told them ‘You gotta do this.’” Upon hearing the news, Bow Wow denied Dupri’s involvement completely, which sparked outrage from former label mate Da Brat. The rapper blasted Bow “for being so rude and disrespectful” towards the man who made him a “complete star.”
Towards the end of the clip, Jermaine Dupri adds that he ”brought young n***as to Hip-Hop.” “I brought that energy to Hip-Hop. There has never been anybody younger than Kris Kross and Bow Wow, that sold more records than Kris’s Kross and Bow Wow.” Despite their back and forth, Dupri still believes Bow doesn’t receive enough recognition for kicking off “lil” artists. His list cites Chris Brown, Omarion, and even Lil Uzi Very. “There was no ‘lil’s’ before Bow Wow,” he ends.
[Via]