His promising musical career began before he was even ten years old. His father, Atlanta manager Michael Mauldin, had coordinated a Diana Ross show in 1982; to the delight of concert-goers, Dupri managed to get on-stage and dance along with Ross. He began performing around the country, appearing with Herbie Hancock and Cameo before he opened the New York Fresh Festival, with Run DMC, Whodini, and Grandmaster Flash. Dupri's production career began in 1987, when at the age of 14 he produced and secured a record contract for the trio Silk Tymes Leather. Two years later, he formed So So Def Productions in Atlanta; by 1991 Dupri had found his first platinum act.
After seeing the pint-size rap duo Kris Kross performing in a local mall, he signed them and prepared their debut album. Totally Krossed Out spent two weeks at number one, and quickly sold four million copies. The pair's lack of staying power was somewhat obvious, and Dupri kept working, producing tracks on TLC's first two albums, which sold over 15 million copies between the two of them.
During 1993-94, Dupri debuted two of his new So So Def acts, Xscape and Da Brat. Both debut albums hit platinum, thanks in large part to Dupri, and by the end of 1994, he had become one of the most respected R&B producers in the business. He worked with superstar Mariah Carey and old-school rap acts like Run DMC and Whodini. Dupri's next major success came in 1997, when he took over the production for a sophomore album by a suave teenage R&B singer named Usher. The album, My Way, became one of the biggest of the year, selling over two-million copies in its first three months of release.
Taking a page from the book of fellow super producer Sean "Puffy" Combs (who debuted a solo project in mid-1997), Dupri returned to performing in early 1998 with a single, "The Party Continues". After collaborating with Snoop Dogg, Slick Rick, and Nas, he released his debut solo album, Life in 1472, in July 1998. Instructions followed in 2001. And then in 2005, Dupri released a So So Def compilation, titled Young, Fly & Flashy, Vol.1.
Sound Files (MP3)
Gotta Getcha (w/Missy Elliott) - from the album Young, Fly & Flashy, Vol.1
Welcome To Atlanta (w/Ludacris) - from the album Instructions
Ballin' Out Of Control (w/Nate Dogg) - from the album Instructions
Money Ain't A Thang (w/Jay-Z) - from the album Life in 1472
Sweetheart (w/Mariah Carey) - from the album Life in 1472
The Party Continues (w/Usher & Da Brat) - from the album Life in 1472
Going Home With Me (w/Keith Sweat) - from the album Life in 1472
*Welcome To Atlanta (Remix)(w/Ludacris, P.Diddy, Murphy Lee & Snoop Dogg)
NB: MP3s with a * next to it indicates that it is located on another server. Reason being is because these MP3s exceed 5 MB and Geocities (the web host for this site) will not accept MP3s over 5 MB. These MP3s are located under the server Angelfire. So in order to download MP3s that are under this server, you must left click once on the name of the MP3 that you want to download, which will take you onto a different page (because it is on a different server, and Geocities do not allow direct links to files located on other servers) and then either left click (if you want to download the MP3 but do not want to save it) or right click, then "Save Target As..." (if you want to the save the MP3) on the name of the MP3 that you want to listen to. Easy as...
