(AllHipHop News) Jermaine Dupri is one of the most successful producers and executives in music history.
His work with Mariah Carey, Jay Z, Usher, Destiny’s Child, Da Brat, Monica, and others has led to countless hit records.
Dupri also established himself as an effective maestro for guiding the careers of young talent such as Kris Kross and Lil Bow Wow.
In addition, the So So Def founder is currently the executive producer and star of Lifetime’s The Rap Game, a reality television series aimed at discovering emerging acts under the age of 18.
So having a legacy of creating music with both established artists and newcomers, Dupri is in a position to speak on the growing generation gap taking place in the culture.
“The education level in Hip Hop is extremely light. It’s almost probably minute at this point. That’s what it is,” says Durpi an interview with AllHipHop.com.
He adds, “You take Lil Yachty saying he never listened to Biggie… A lot of people were like, ‘Oh God, Why?!’ I didn’t take it like that. I’m taking it like, ‘Yo, I understand he’s a kid that probably was not listening to that.'”
Yachty caught backlash from some rap fans when he referred to the late The Notorious B.I.G. as “overrated.”
The 19-year-old Atlanta rapper attempted to explain his comments about Biggie by saying he did not grow up listening to the New York legend’s music.
While stating he understands Yachty’s youthful musical preferences, Dupri suggests anyone that enters the record business should learn about its history.
“Once you step into the music industry, you should educate yourself on who was the greatest,” offers Dupri.
He later expresses, “You should listen to stuff that came before you that was great and find out why. Especially somebody that people continue to keep talking about in 2017 that came out in the 90’s. If you keep hearing these names in 2017, it must be something incredible about them.”