Da Brat and Jermaine Dupri have developed a close-knit relationship over the past 27 years. After Kriss Kross introduced Brat to the So So Def label head in the early ’90s, she was signed to the imprint and the rest is history.
So it’s really no surprise Brat is defending Dupri’s controversial comment about “strippers rapping” — but she has her reasons.
TMZ caught the veteran Hip Hop artist at the Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday (July 16) and asked her what she thought about his statement.
“Anything Jermaine Dupri does is done strategically,” she said. “He knows what he’s doing. He’s a genius. You should be thankful that the conversation has even started on female rappers because now the focus is absolutely on us female rappers — new, seasoned, legends, all that. Everybody’s coming.”
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Brat also made it clear Dupri’s statement was taken out of context. She says Dupri was asked if he prefers Nicki Minaj or Cardi B, but the question was edited out.
“Go back and look at the whole interview,” she insisted. “You didn’t hear the part where they asked him to choose between Nicki and Cardi.”
In terms of getting any more details, Brat refused to comment further.
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“I said what I had to say,” she said. “I love Jermaine Dupri. He’s very smart at what he does. There’s always a method to his madness. His comment was taken out of context. But that’s ok, it’s a good thing. Now we talkin’ about everybody and it’s awesome. Everybody’s coming. It’s awesome. I love it. This conversation needed to be a had a long time ago.”
Durpi enraged former Bronx stripper-turned rap superstar Cardi with his People Magazine interview.
“They all rapping about the same thing,” he said. “I don’t think they’re showing us who is the best rapper. For me, it’s like strippers rapping. As far as rap goes, I’m not getting ‘who is the best rapper.’ I’m getting, like, you got a story about you dancing in the club, YOU got a story about you dancing in the club, you got a story…OK. Who’s gonna be the rapper?”
Cardi quickly fired back via Instagram and defended her music.
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“First of all, I rap about my pussy because she’s my best friend,” she said. “And second of all, it seems like that’s what people wanna hear.
“When I did ‘Be Careful,’ people was talking mad shit in the beginning, like, ‘What the fuck is this? This is not what I expected. I expected this, I expected that.’ So it’s like, if that’s what people ain’t tryna hear, then I’ma start rapping about my pussy again.”
