(Photo Credit: Edward Wright)

Jermaine Dupri was born in Asheville, North Carolina, son of fellow 2020 inductee, Michael Mauldin. Dupri has established a prolific career as a hip-hop artist, producer, songwriter, author, DJ and CEO of So So Def Recordings, which he founded in 1993. He has collaborated with artists such as Usher, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Jay-Z, Nelly, Ludacris, Nas, Kanye West, Notorious B.I.G., Lil’ Kim, TLC, Bono, Bow Wow,  Run DMC, Diddy, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Monica, MC Lyte and Snoop Dogg to name a few.

With over 400 million records sold to date, Dupri, a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame is one of most successful producers in the music industry. His career milestones include the release of several platinum recordings, winning a Grammy for Best R&B Song, and being honored with an ASCAP Golden Note Award, given to composers and songwriters who have achieved extraordinary milestones. He is one of only a few producers in music history to garner four positions in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart at one time and have the Song of the Decade as one of his credits. He is also the first recipient of the Billboard Otis Redding Excellence Award for his achievements both in and outside the studio.

In addition to his music career, Jermaine launched his own social network Global 14 in 2011, which consists of more than 1,100 groups who share common interests such as fashion, hip-hop, and R&B. Jermaine has been steadily building Global 14’s international presence including expansion into Europe and Latin America. He announced Global 14’s Latin American presence at the 2012 Portada Latin American Advertising and Media Summit.

The now Atlanta native has also entered the television industry as Executive producer of the unscripted series “The Rap Game,” which debuted January 1, 2016 on Lifetime and delivered over 1.1 million viewers.  “The Rap Game” ran for 6 successful seasons on Lifetime.

JD starred in the docu-series “Music Moguls,” alongside Snoop Dogg, Birdman and Damon Dash. The show, which follows the lives of these hip hop icons, premiered June 2016 on BET.

Jermaine stars and serves as Music Supervisor on Growing Up Hip Hop Atlanta on WeTV. 

Jermaine regularly DJs around the world and one of the first hip hop DJs to hold a five-year residency at Wynn Las Vegas. 

Jermaine recently partnered with the Beet.com as their Creative Director for all things vegan and in 2021 launched his first vegan product Strawberry Sweetheart Dairy Free Frozen Dessert under his JDs Vegan umbrella.