Veteran producer and music mogul Jermaine Dupri posted a statement on his website about the genius of Frank Ocean’s new album “Channel Orange” that wound up being much more a diatribe about the sorry state of current R&B.
Dupri takes the industry to task on a number of fronts and says he is hoping that Ocean’s new release will do big numbers so that maybe other artists and record companies will try to copy him—thus vastly improving the music that’s being put out.
Clearly, Dupri doesn’t have a copy editor or a speech writer on staff, but it’s easy to see the passion and the frustration behind his words. The statement was released on Dupri’s website, global14.com, which is a site that J.D. uses to tell the world about his passions, his projects and his feelings about what’s going on in the industry.
“When I saw the # that Frank Ocean is suppose to hit next week, I got extremely Happy,I said I need to get in my car and and listen to this album,by the time I got to “Sweet Life” I was even more happy,finally!! a RnB album that’s hip,with out having the same 5 rappers on every song,I actually hope he hits 200k,for the sake of RnB,it’s in the worst position it’s ever been since I started making music,The Record company’s don’t believe in it,Radio won’t play it if it don’t have a rapper,and a majority of the artist that are labeled RnB,are confused and lost,so I repeat,I hope Ocean sells more than the 125k that he’s on pace for,maybe these executives u’llwake the fuck up,or at least try to copy what he’s doing,like they always do, by the way,the end of “Pyramids”jammin like a mufucka.”
The words of this music industry veteran should be seen as the viewpoint of an insider—someone who has seen a slew of artists and trends come and go. Dupri said R&B is in the worst shape that he’s ever seen, with artists who are “confused and lost.”
