My father was a promoter of Fresh Fest, and they needed an opening act. He got me a slot as a dancer. We tried it out the first time in Atlanta and the crowd went crazy. I was the opening clown.

He contributed to Lil' Kim's 1996 album Hard Core on the track "Not Tonight". He made an appearance in their music video for the song "Freaks Come Out At Night". It stayed at number one for fourteen non-consecutive weeks becoming the second longest running number one song in US chart history behind Carey's 1996 collaboration with Boyz II Men on "One Sweet Day".

Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23 1972) known as Jermaine Dupri or JD is an American record producer songwriter and rapper.