Jermaine Dupri Missed Out On Signing Usher and Bruno Mars

Jermaine Dupri missed out on signing Usher and Bruno Mars early in their careers, and he still feels some type of way about it. He shared a video of the superstar singers and recalled how he dropped the ball with them.  

In the clip, Jermaine Dupri claims, “this is an artist I should have signed,” before pointing the camera at Usher. “But we made history,” replied Usher, although Dupri said he should have sealed the deal “from the jump.”  

“( Fun Fact )” he begins in the caption to the post. “@usher came to the krisKross concert in ATL at the Fox with his manager at the time AJ to get me to sign him, this was before he signed to LAFace.” Dupri continued, “I wanted to do it but I didn’t have the bandwidth nor was my vision clear that I have a gift with working with younger artist.” 

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Jermaine Dupri failing to sign Bruno Mars is something of a running joke between them. “@brunomars he reminds me of this every time we’re together 🤣 I was so young and I didn’t have all the resources and I was true to my self in knowing that.” 

Bruno Mars told Dupri, “Let them know you had your shot,” when the famed producer pointed out he also missed out on him.  

Jermaine Dupri Tells The Story Of “Confessions” 

Jermaine Dupri may not have signed Usher but the pair have made hit songs together, including “Confessions” and “Confessions Part II.” Dupri explained to Billboard how the songs from Usher’s 2004 album, Confessions, came to be. 

He revealed that “Confessions” was initially called “All Bad” and told the story of a guy fessing up to his girlfriend. However, when Usher heard it, he was convinced there was more of the story to tell.  

“As soon as Usher said there’s a part two, my brain clicked and every word of “Confessions Part II” flew out of my mouth. Those lyrics for part two were something that I had actually gone through in my life; they were a reliving of a situation. I just had to put it in the right words that would make it fit for being Usher’s story.