Jermaine Dupri has revealed that he helped craft one of Mariah Carey’s biggest hits of her career during their first-ever meeting, adding that Wu-Tang Clan played a pivotal role in bringing the banger to life.
The Atlanta super producer revealed the mind blowing anecdote during his appearance on the 150th episode of the R&B Money Podcast hosted by Tank and J Valentine. Dupri started off detailing the juicy revelation about how his work with Carey almost didn’t happen because he couldn’t believe what she was asking for.
“She [Mariah Carey] came in the studio and she was like, ‘I want to make a record like this’,” Dupri recaled. “She said, ‘I want to sing over this’, and it was ‘C.R.E.A.M’, Wu-Tang Clan.”
At first, he thought she was joking, but Carey quickly assured him she was more than serious about her request by following up with another.
“I’m like, what? Who are you? I’m like, you want to sing over this?” he said. “She’s like, yeah. Then she played another record. I’m going to sing over this one.”
Jermaine Dupri shares a story on the R&B Money podcast about the first time he worked with Mariah Carey
“I want it to have that “ghetto sh*t on it like y’all got in ‘Just Kickin’ It’.” – Mariah Carey pic.twitter.com/pND5WX41EQ
— Xscape FAN (@XscapeLegacy) April 10, 2025
Still stunned, Dupri questioned the whole moment and even considered how it could end up negatively impacting his career if everything ewnt haywire.
“I’m looking around like, what the f### is going on?” he recalled questioning himself rhetorically. “Like, this Mariah Carey. You want me to make this for you? I’m not doing that because I’m not going to be the person. I’m not doing that. They’re not going to do that with me.”
But Carey wasn’t backing down, so that’s when Dupri says he decided to trust her instinct.
“She’s like, listen, this is what I want to do,” he said. “So I started following her lead.”
Dupri continued, adding, “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 s### on it that y’all got in ‘Just Kickin’ It.’”
Dupri started playing around with sounds and with her vision now steering the ship, Carey got even more specific, and their collaborative effort resulted in one of her biggest chart-topping 90s hits.
“Then you start playing,” he said. “He started playing that and she’s like, ‘Yes, change the key. Change the key to where she wanted it. Then I put the 808s on there and ‘Always Be My Baby’ comes to life.”
And just like that, a classic was born—and so was one of the most fruitful partnerships in pop-R&B history.
“That’s the beginning of me and Mariah’s relationship,” he concluded.
Released in 1996, Always Be My Baby soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was later certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA. So in a sense, Carey’s fans can thank the Wu-Tang Clan for their inspiration!
Watch the trailer of the full episode of the podcast in the post below.
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