Jermaine Dupri says Wu-Tang Clan influenced one of Mariah Carey’s biggest hits.
In a new interview with the R&B Money Podcast, the rapper and producer recalled the first time he worked with Carey on “Always Be My Baby,” which marked the beginning of their creative relationship.
At the one-hour, 22-minute mark in the video linked above, Dupri said his production on Xscape’s 1993 hit "Just Kickin’ It” caught Carey’s attention and led to a phone call with the opportunity to work with her in the studio.
“She wanted a record that felt like that on her album. I got the call to go in the studio with Mariah," said Dupri, 52. "I didn't know that that's what she wanted, but that's what she was looking for."
Dupri recalled feeling nervous and out of his element as he headed to New York with collaborator Manuel Seal to work on his first project outside of his Atlanta studio without any of his personal equipment.
“I’m like, ‘She’s a superstar, and I’m little n***a,’ I don’t know why I’m here … I’m thinking they use all different chords, they got different keyboards,” he said.
“She came in the studio and she was like, ‘I want to make a record like this.’ And I'm like, ‘What do you want me to do with this?’ She said, ‘I want to sing over this.’ And it was ‘C.R.E.A.M.’ Wu-Tang Clan,” Dupri said.
At first, Dupri said he wasn’t convinced and didn’t want to be “the person who fuck this shit up." But Carey was determined and clear about her vision.
“I started following her lead and she was like, ‘You know, I need something like 'Just Kickin’ It.' But I want it to be pretty, but I wanted to have that ghetto shit on it that y'all got on 'Just Kickin’ It.’”
From there, Dupri recalled Seal playing some chords and Carey suggesting key changes to suit her vocal range before he added 808s for the finishing touches. The result of that session became Carey’s “Always Be My Baby” from her 1995 album Daydream.
“Always Be My Baby” reached the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100 in May 1996, according to Billboard. The track followed the record-breaking success of “One Sweet Day” with Boyz II Men, which spent 16 weeks at the top of the chart.
“Baby” also became Carey’s 11th No. 1, tying her at the time with Whitney Houston and Madonna for the most by a woman, before later breaking that tie with “Honey” in 1997.
The song sampling Wu-Tang’s “C.R.E.A.M.” did not materialize with Dupri explaining, “I was also not completely dialed into Mariah yet as far as putting her over top of ‘C.R.E.A.M.,’ It didn't make sense to me.”
“I'm not gonna be the guy to do that, not realizing that she basically was creating hip-pop music,” he added. “She's actually the creator of that, like, Ariana Grande singing over something, Katy Perry singing over something, Christina Aguilera. She's the person who created that sound in her mind—she did this. And she's still that person to this day.
“She wants to sing over street shit, [the] hoodest shit going, whatever it is, hood New York shit. That's when she comes to the studio like she's the rapper, ‘Here’s what I want to sing over.'"
Dupri and Carey went on to work on megahits like "We Belong Together," "It's Like That," "Shake it Off," and "Don't Forget About Us.”
