Jermaine Dupri has a huge number of accolades to his name, and he’s now laid claim to being the originator of the action of “making it rain.”
In an all-encompassing interview with The Estelle Show on Apple Music which dropped on Thursday (September 21), the So So Def executive claimed that he pioneered the famous money motion at the Magic City strip club back in the 1990s, when “Money Ain’t A Thing” first started hitting the airwaves.
AD LOADING...
“Talib Kweli talks about the first time that he ever came to Atlanta,” he said in the interview. “He went to Magic City with me and Janet. They’re throwing the money in the air and people seeing that, ‘Make it rain.’ I actually was the person who created this because I did this first in the ‘Money Ain’t A Thing’ video, me and JAY-Z are in the car throwing money throughout the whole video.”
He went on to explain that the strippers in Magic City were a bit confused by the action at the time.
AD LOADING...
“That became my thing with that song, that became my thing going into these strip clubs. And I remember going to the club throwing the money,” he said. “The first time I ever threw the money in the air, I probably threw a thousand dollars on the floor. And the girl at the strip club said, ‘You want me to get down on the floor and get my money?’ She didn’t understand what was happening.
“I tried this a couple of places where I was out throwing money and people weren’t… It wasn’t a thing for them, they didn’t understand what was happening. And this is just my confirmation of me saying, ‘I know that I was the first person doing this.'”
“Money Ain’t A Thing” was released in 1998, and Dupri and JAY-Z did indeed throw money all around in the video, though they don’t ever say the term in the lyrics. (The closest they come is to say, “Drop a little paper/ Baby toss it up.“)
Dictionary.com actually credits Lil Wayne and Fat Joe with popularizing the term “make it rain” in 2006 thanks to their hit song of the same name.
Dupri, however, didn’t give any updates on his upcoming Magic City docuseries, for which Drake has also signed on as an executive producer.
According to Deadline, JD and Drake’s DreamCrew Entertainment are among the producers on the doc capturing the mystique of Atlanta’s famous strip club that has long been a staple of the intersection of Hip Hop and culture in the city.
AD LOADING...
“Magic City is a second home for me. It’s the one place where celebrities, hustlers, politicians, and Atlanta locals all come together,” Dupri said. “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.”
The three-part series has wrapped production and is directed by Charles Todd. Fans can expect interviews with 2 Chainz, Nelly, former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, Quavo, Killer Mike, Big Boi, and more.
