The relationship between Da Brat and Jermaine Durpi has been cultivated for decades and the pair consider themselves to be like close siblings. During a recent interview with PEOPLE, Dupri shared that Brat helped pave the way for other female rappers in the industry as a solo, top-selling artist. He was then asked who is favorite woman in rap is currently, and after taking a few moments to think, Dupri said he couldn't come up with one on the spot.
"I can't really say," the So So Def founder stated. "The only reason I can't say [is because] I feel like they all rapping about the same thing and I don't think they're showing us who's the best rapper. I think they're trying to show—for me—um, it’s like strippers rapping. As far as rap goes, I’m not getting who is the best rapper. I'm getting, like, okay, you got a story about you dancing in the club, you got a story about you dancing in the club, you got a story about you dancing in the club. OK, all right. [But] who's gonna be the rapper?"
Dupri also shared what he thinks needs to happen in order for a shift to occur. "At some point, somebody's gonna have to break out of that mold and show us...talk about other things," he said. "Just rap about other things besides that." His remarks incited backlash on social media from women in the rap game who accused Dupri of sexism and being out of touch, and while there were few who stood up for the Grammy Award-winning producer. However, when TMZ caught up with Da Brat recently, she did just that.
"Everything Jermain Dupri does is done strategically," Da Brat told the publication. "He knows what he's doing. He's a genius. You should be thankful that the conversation is even started now, all female rappers, because now the focus is absolutely on us...new, seasoned, legends. All that." Then, the cameraman tried to manipulate the conversation by telling Brat that Dupri claimed that he couldn't understand what these new female rappers were saying and that the music executive called the genre "stripper rap."
"That's not what he said," Brat asserted. "Go back and look at the whole interview." The cameraman told her that he did, to which she replied, "Apparently you didn't hear the question before when they asked him to choose between Nicki and Cardi." The paparazzo asked Brat to help him out because he didn't remember when that question was asked. "I'm not helping you out," a perturbed Brat stated. "I said what I had to say."
She added, "I love Jermaine Dupri. He's very smart at what he does and there's always a method to his madness." Brat also said that Dupri's comment was "absolutely" taken out of context, but she's fine with that because it's about time that there was a global discussion about women in rap.
