Jermaine Dupri and Usher go way back, and according to the North Carolina-born songwriter, he's not willing to do anything that might put that relationship in jeopardy. During a recent appearance on The Joe Budden Podcast, he was asked about a potential Verzuz battle between his longtime collaborator and Chris Brown. He made it clear that it's something he'd definitely like to see happen, but if it did, he'd be siding with Usher without a doubt.
“I know everybody — you know people — have this thing about Usher and Chris Brown,” he began, as seen in a clip shared by The Neighborhood Talk. “I’m never gonna say Chris Brown, and I f*ck with Chris Brown, but I wrote half of the Usher songs. Y’all want me to go against myself? Like, I’m not doing that.”
Jermaine Dupri & Usher
“Like, however you feel going to happen in the Verzuz, that’s how y’all feel," Dupri continued. "These my songs. I wrote these songs, I’m going for my songs. I’m never going to go against myself, but at the same time, like I said, with being competitive, I’m also saying, I want Usher to stay Usher. I want Chris Brown to stay Chris Brown. Let’s fight it out.”
Dupri went on to explain that both Usher and Breezy have their own styles, and that he doesn't ever want to see either one of them try to be someone they're not. “Be who you got to be,” he insisted. “Like, don’t do his dance ... That’s like Prince doing 'Smooth Criminal.' I would have been mad as f*ck by seeing him with his a** out in his little high heels on trying to move like Michael.”
As for whether or not he'd consider working with Brown if the opportunity arose, he claimed he'd think twice. “It’s dangerous at this point,” he said. “I don’t go to the studio thinking about, ‘let me hold this, hold some other sh*t, hold this, let me keep this.’ I might f*ck around and make Thriller. Usher will hate me for the rest of my life.”
