Jermain Dupri Presents: So So Def 25 (Various Artists) on LP

Thus far 2018 has seen So So Def founder (Jermaine Dupri) being honored with the 2018 Trumpet Awards Music Innovation Award, the 2018 Global Spin Awards Breaking Barriers Award, the 2018 Legendary Awards Trailblazer Award, and being the second hip-hop act ever to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame!

The visionary producer/musician/entrepreneur launched So So Def Recordings in 1993, following the success of Kris Kross's hit song "Jump," which was written and produced by Dupri and just celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. So So Def brought together strains of Southern hip-hop, R&B, soul, and new club sounds to create an ongoing catalog of music that continues to transform the culture. So So Def's first act, the female R&B vocal quartet Xscape struck platinum with three albums in a row beginning with their 1993 debut Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha continuing through Off the Hook (1995) and Traces of My Lipstick (1998). A creative wellspring for some of contemporary hip-hop's most innovative artists, So So Def released Da Brat's historic 1994 debut Funkdafied, the first album by a female solo rapper to achieve platinum status, and, in 1997, introduced the R&B hitmakers Jagged Edge to the world with the group's debut album, A Jagged Era.

In 2000, So So Def released Beware of Dog, the debut album from (then) 13-year-old hip-hop prodigy Lil Bow Wow. Supported by four smash singles--"Bounce with Me" featuring Xscape, "Bow Wow (That's My Name)" featuring Snoop Dogg, "Puppy Love" featuring Jagged Edge, and "Ghetto Girls"--Beware of Dog went triple platinum, propelling Bow Wow into the hip-hop stratosphere.