With the loss of several celebrities over the past few months, Jermaine Dupri hit up Twitter on Saturday, April 17, 2021, and decided to give Bobby Brown his flowers while he’s still here. The So So Def producer, who kicked Usher’s career into superstardom, stamped the late Whitney Houston’s sentiments that the former New Edition singer was the “King of R&B.”
“Bobby Brown is truly the king of R&B, don’t get it f—ed up,” he declared in his post. “It ain’t many artists that come out and they understand they swag before they records come out, they understand they look before they records come out, they vocals be right, and then they go work with all the right producers.”
Dupri then went on to praise Brown’s 1988 solo triumph Don’t Be Cruel, which would eventually sell more than 12 million copies. The album included the Babyface-produced hits “Roni,” “Rock Wit’cha,” and “Every Little Step” as well as one of his signature classics, “My Prerogative,” which was produced by Teddy Riley.
“You ain’t really seen many artists in this era of music, especially in R&B, do that at all,” Dupri said. “When I say he’s the King of R&B, the reason why I say that is because Bobby Brown went and got Babyface and Teddy Riley. He went and got the top producers [at the time] to make his album My Prerogative. [“My Prerogative” was actually on the Don’t Be Cruel album]. That means he knew off top where he was headed. Then he came back with the “Ghostbuster” s—- (“On Our Own”) with the Gumby [haircut], and then he affected style. There ain’t many like Bobby man.”
Brown definitely had his hand on the pulse of creation at the time as he locked in the two future Verzuz competitors to help him create magic. Take a look at the clip captured by Cordless Plug TV on the next page as the platinum-selling producer toasts the Boston-bred R&B crooner.
