Songoftheday 3/18/21 - While y'all drive match box I push the hot wheels, Don Chichi wit' da mass appeal...
"The Party Continues" - JD (Jermaine Dupri) & Da Brat
from the album Life In 1472 - The Original Soundtrack (1998)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29 (three weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 9
Today's song of the day comes from producer and sometimes rap artist Jermaine Dupri. As opposed to many in the hip-hop field who came from meager beginnings, Dupri's dad was a successful producer and executive at Columbia Records. That "in" helped his career greatly, as his first big hitmakers, the teen rap duo Kris Kross, was signed to that label, and their out-of-the-box success gave him enough momentum to bring in more rap acts like Da Brat, as well as R&B singers like Usher and Xscape. He even was involved with Mariah Carey's work in the mid-90s, along with cuts from the first disc from Destiny's Child. Jermaine was even given his own label, So So Def Records, where he had hits with Miami Bass singles from Ghostown DJ's and INOJ. All that led up to 1998, when Dupri put himself in the artist role and recorded his debut album Life In 1472 - The Orignal Soundtrack (mind you, there was no movie). Chock full of star cameos like Mariah, Jay-Z, Usher, Keith Sweat, and Snoop Dogg, the disc has him pulling in all his favors. The lead single released from the record would be "The Party Continues", which paired him up with Da Brat on verses, while an uncredited Usher sang the melodic hook. But with all of his groundbreaking work in hip-hop that established his sound, this debut try seemed so much to emulate a Puff Daddy record. From the prominent sample of Cameo's "She's Strange" to the cribbing of lyrics from Kool & The Gang's "Get Down On It", the record's content was nothing but a standard boast track trying to hype his own brand. Da Brat clearly outshines him as a rapper, while Usher is a formidable presence that should've gotten on the single label. And the music video looks like a cocaine-fueled emulation of a Diddy clip as well. Still, with the power of Columbia still behind his label, and the clout of his name, Dupri, just going by JD at this point, found himself on the charts as a lead for the first time...
"The Party Continues" became Dupri's first top-40 pop hit, and Da Brat's eighth, in March of 1998. The song also climbed to #14 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, while making it to #6 on their Rap Singles list. The Life In 1472 album, released later that year in July, came in at #3 on the Billboard 200 sales list in America, and topped the R&B specific chart for two weeks, going on to sell over a million copies. At the Grammy Awards in 1999, the album was nominated for Best Rap Album, losing out to Jay-Z's Vol. 2...Hard Knock Life set.
The next single from the record paired JD with Jay-Z on "Money Ain't A Thing", which rolled on a Steve Arrington beat with Dupri miming Mase and Jay-Z again far above his level in delivery. It came in at #10 on Billboard's R&B chart, but stalled down at #52 on the pop Hot 100 in the U.S.. But than again, it garnered Jermaine a second Grammy nomination for Best Duo/Group Rap Performance, which the Beastie Boys took home for "Intergalactic". A third release seemed to be the "ringer", with Dupri bringing in Mariah Carey herself for a cover of the Rainy Davis nugget from 1986, "Sweetheart". With the song not released as a commercial single, and the radio reception poor, while it probably goosed sales of Life In 1472, the track itself missed the R&B top-40 at #45, and didn't even make the Hot 100 tally (it ended up "bubbling under" the list later in the year at #125, the lowest position even on that one). Finally, a fourth offering to radio, "Going Home With Me" featuring new jack swing king Keith Sweat, got to #57 on the R&B chart in the beginning of 1999.
(3/10)
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Up tomorrow: This boyband has romantic conditions.
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