Jermaine Dupri seemed to rub folks the wrong way with his tweet about brands not honoring Atlanta’s contributions during Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary. “no brands have done any dinners or get-togethers in Atlanta celebrating the 50 anniversary of Hip Hop,” he wrote on Friday (August 18). His comments sparked a firestorm of controversy as his tweet made its rounds on social media.
However, not a ton of folks seemed to agree with Jermaine Dupri. Since the post, he’s received an onslaught of criticism, with fans asking why doesn’t he do it himself. “Nigga ain’t YOU a brand from Atlanta?! Why YOU ain’t do nothing,” one person commented. Another fan wrote: “I’m not even trying to be rude. I consider you a legend. So I’m wondering why don’t you do one?'” Conversely, on Monday (August 21), Dupri returned to Twitter to address the negative feedback.
Dupri also made it clear that he has no beef with New York and that his sentiments were regarding business. “I see someone is trying to take my tweet and create the narrative that [I’m] mad about what’s been happening in NY for #HipHop50 compared to what’s been happening in Atlanta, lol that’s completely false,” he tweeted. “My statement was all [business] related.”
In other related news, Jermaine Dupri and Drake have teamed up for a docu-series about the iconic Atlanta club, Magic City. The series will detail the back story of the famous venue and its decades-long influence on rap. Charles Todd will serve as the director of Magic City: An American Fantasy. 2 Chainz, Nelly, Shaquille O’Neal, Quavo, Killer Mike, and Big Boi, among others, will all be making appearances. “Magic City is a second home for me. It’s the one place where celebrities, hustlers, politicians, and Atlanta locals all come together. I’ve watched it evolve over the years from a local joint to an internationally recognized spot. It’s about time we tell this story the right way,” executive producer Dupri said in a statement.
NEWS
Taylor Swift is encouraging rising artists to stay away from reading social media comments too closely.
During a conversation with The New York Times about songwriting, the “Shake It Off” singer explained that although criticism can sometimes become a “creative writing prompt,” constantly checking comments online can leave artists overwhelmed by negativity.
“My favourite thing when I sit down with new artists or songwriters, I'm like, ‘Why are you reading your comments?’ Like, that's too much of it,” she said. “You're inundating yourself with too much criticism that doesn't really have a focus. But a little bit of it, you've got to just be like, this is part of (the job). Like, don't make this make you stop writing or make you edit yourself or whatever.”
Swift, 36, also shared that she often tells other musicians to channel criticism into music instead of firing back at people online or posting long responses in the Notes app.
“If it's an interesting point to you to kind of respond to, then that's a gift for you to be able to write something. Maybe you wouldn't have written something that day,” she continued. “But don't go to the Notes app and post it, like write (a song) about it. Make art about this. Don't respond to trolls in your comments. That's not what we want from you. We want your art.”
The global superstar went on to say that criticism has inspired some of the biggest songs throughout her career. She pointed to her 2014 hit “Blank Space,” saying it likely would not have happened without people constantly focusing on her dating life and creating “slideshow” style narratives about her relationships.
Speaking about her 2022 track “Anti-Hero,” Swift added, “That song doesn't exist if I don't get criticised for every aspect of my personality that people have a problem with or whatever.”
