Jermaine Dupri has been inducted into the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame along with members of funk band Kool & the Gang as part of its 2018 class today.
The SHOF announced this year’s inductees via a statement on its website. With JD getting in, he becomes the second Hip-Hop act inducted into the organization, following Jay-Z in 2017. The Kool & The Gang honorees include bassist Robert “Kool” Bell, saxophonist Ronald Bell, drummer George Brown and singer James “JT” Taylor.
Dupri gets the well deserved spot for sure. He has co-written No. 1 hits like Mariah Carey’s ‘We Belong Together’ and ‘Always Be My Baby’, Usher’s ‘Burn’ and and many more. Apart from that, he’s one of the successful producers out of Atlanta where he launched the record label So So Def, establishing careers for artists like Jagged Edge, Kriss Kross, Bow Wow, Xscape and more. He also released two solo albums, Life in 1472 (1998) and Instructions (2001).
Songwriters are eligible for induction after writing hit songs for at least 20 years. Congrats to JD for the huge achievement!