By Bo Emerson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Jeans and a T-shirt don’t make it in Vegas, baby.
When you get to be 30 years old, you stop acting like a teenager; you start looking clean and enjoying a grown-up night out. At least that’s the way Atlanta producer/songwriter Jermaine Dupri likes it.

During weekly trips to Las Vegas, Dupri has been headquartered at the Palms, producing Usher’s new record, hitting the nightlife between recording sessions, and doing it with a certain black-tie style. His Atlanta friends (and fellow music stars) Nelly and Johnta Austin started following suit, and Dupri realized that the group was beginning to recall a certain 1960s ensemble that made Vegas hot.
That would be Frankie, Dino, Sammy and the rest of the clan.
“I was attracted to the period, everything they were doing,” Dupri said in a recent phone call from his Buckhead ho me. “I was attracted to their style, their flow, the way they kicked it.”
That’s when the idea for a 21st century Rat Pack took shape. Dupri very quickly wrote some songs, his fellow New Rat Packers jumped in. They posted a mix tape on Dupri’s blog (www.global14.com), shot some videos and formalized the membership of the “Ocean’s 7” group. (The other members include Bow Wow, Brian-Michael Cox and Trey Songz.)
Plans for a stage show and a movie leaped into place. The film, he said, would have a Sidney Poitier/Bill Cosby vibe. Dupri hopes that his amusement will not only make life more fun for him and his crew, but will bring some glitz back to Vegas.
“Vegas hasn’t had a voice since Sinatra,” he said.
Clothes are key. Versace and Tommy Hilfiger wo rk, but the Tom Ford tuxedo, with the $2,500 bow tie, is perfect, said the 36-year old producer. “He’s got it right now, the look we try to keep with the Ocean situation,” Dupri said of Ford.
And just because you’re dressed up, doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.
“When Johnta’s jumping in a swimming pool in a $6,000 tuxedo, if that ain’t fun I don’t know what it is,” said Dupri.
He previews some of the items he likes to wear on his blog, where he also posts his videos. All this love for Las Vegas doesn’t mean Atlanta is the shabby country cousin, Dupri says. “Atlanta is the flava,” he said. “We couldn’t go out there and give Vegas all this=2 0flava if we wasn’t coming from a flavorful city.”

WE WERE ON OUR WAY TO THE KERI HILSON ALBUM RELEASE PARTY AFTER THE SHOW BUT GOT THERE TOO LATE. SO WE TOOK OUR PARTY TO DJ CLUES EVERY TUES SPOT CALLED ACCESS GRANTED AT THE GANSEVOORT HOTEL.

J SINATRA IN FULL EFFECT TOM FORD FROM HEAD TO TOE LOL!!!!

LISA SAYING PEACE

THE LADYS LOVE THE BOI SONGZ

ME, TREY AND BRIA MILES

JAY AND FATIHAH PARTYING IT UP

LAST NIGHT AT HYDE WAS THE PLACE TO BE AFTER THE GRAMMYS I WAS DJING AND EVERYBODY CAME OUT: KANYE, JAY-Z,  JEEZY, BIG BOI, QUEEN LATIFAH, NELLY, KIM KARDASHIAN, REGGIE BUSH, LORENZ TATE, CHRIS TUCKER, EVAN AND TRACEY ROSS, OF COURSE OCEANS 4 WAS THERE, JESSY TORRERO, CHRIS ROBINSON, GINUWINE, DALLAS AUSTIN, DJ FELLI FELL, MR BENTLEY AND DAMN NEAR EVER PRETTY GIRL IN LA 

HERE YOU SEE HOVA AND KANYE ENJOYING THE NIGHT 

Barack Obama’s been in office less than a week and already people are bitching he hasn’t done anything. But he’s achieved something that the older generation in power hasn’t been able to do since I’ve been alive: make the younger generation give a shit. That’s big!

If you need proof all you had to do was flick on CNN and look at the streets of DC on Inauguration Day. I was there. It was bone crushing cold, but to me and about two million other people it didn’t matter. There was a strong wind blowing that had nothing to do with the weather. We witnessed a new beginning. And it felt good.

Yeah, some people thought it was too much show biz. Maybe so. I know they gotta sell it for the cameras. But looking beyond all the hype I saw something I ain’t ever seen before.
Barack Obama has done what none of the other Presidents has been able to do. Not Clinton. Not Reagan. Not no one. He instilled caring into the bodies of people like me who used to think it didn’t matter either way who was in charge.

I think that’s why y’all reacted so strongly to my last blog. I get it now. People are so politically engaged with this new president we have a nation of backstreet drivers and it’s always gonna be that way. They’ve got something to say every time Obama does something. They still need to let him have his lane, but I guess it’s healthy to make some noise if it comes from a place of caring. I’ve never heard so much conversation about a president in my lifetime. Haa! Least of all from me!

Ima keep it real with you – I never even watched an inauguration before, much less got on a plane to attend one. And it wasn’t just me. TI, Wyclef Jean and Bow Wow were all excited to be there. I raised Bow Wow for most of his life and he never so much as thought to watch something dealing with politics, but there he was, the only rapper to perform at the kids inaugural concert. He had on an Obama tee shirt and he couldn’t wait to meet the First Lady and her daughters! He was genuinely touched!

Beyonce is another one who was never very political. She voted, but she never cared until now. But she was dying to be part of this whole scene. You could see in her face how much that moment in history meant to her when she sang for first dance at the Inaugural Ball. Etta James’ “At Last.”

On the streets, you could feel the vibe. It was like the Superbowl, the NBA Allstar Weekend and Disneyworld all rolled into one. I wasn’t interested in going to all the events. I already met the President when he was campaigning so I wasn’t all gaa gaa to get in a glimpse of him. I just wanted to be in the crowds, watching the reaction of the people. Everybody was buying all the Obama paraphernalia: skull caps, sweaters and scarves. I never saw a black person in a George Bush tee shirt!

But it wasn’t just a look. They were also talking about bringing the troops home, closing Gitmo and fixing the economy. I was walking along Pennsylvania Avenue taking pictures and you could really feel the intensity. Of course, I was all covered up like Saddam with a hood and scarf so people wouldn’t recognize me, but I was right there in the crowds of millions watching and listening to people. The streets were going crazy. You can check it out on YouTube under JD1472.

What gets me is that I think this is going to change the way all future Presidents are seen. They’re going to have to do more than make promises. They’re going to have to get the same people involved who Barack caught. I’m sure both teams are already getting their consultants and advisors and speech writers together to try to find the right buzz words and slogans to reach the right demographics. But it ain’t gonna work unless the message is real and they show the next generation of voters they care about what they think. Barack spoke the language of the young. He seemed genuinely interested. You can’t fake that.

Rappers have been tellin’ it for a long time. No one paid attention back then. Now they’re listening. Even Bill O’Reilly had something to say about Jay-Z’s rhyme, “No more white lies, my president is black now.” Young, old, black, white, people are listening to each other now and caring about the same things. It’s like Obama finally connected America. He’s the bridge.

We needed a man who could understand the young community. But it wasn’t going to come from someone who spoke ONLY for the black community. It needed someone with great communication skills – someone who could cross boundaries. That’s what I was saying in my last blog. The President’s no fool. He knows you need people from all sides to get things done. He’s not gonna follow one group’s agenda. But at least we know that he knows how we feel.

So when y’all start asking what Obama’s gonna do next, remember, he’s already tackled one of the hardest jobs yet. He made people care. And because they’re paying attention, the kids are gonna be a part of the process.

I saw this change in action when I went to the D.C. mayor’s party the night before Inauguration Day. This guy is black and 38 years old – just two years older than me. It’s already happening. Young people of America are now running America and feels like it’s gonna make a better America.

And the rest is history… in the making.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jermaine-dupri/president-obamas-first-bi_b_160706.html

Obama hasn’t even been sworn in yet and he’s being pushed and pulled in all the different directions everyone else thinks he’s supposed to go. Everywhere I look people are trying to steer Obama one-way or the other. Usually, into whatever lane suits them best. And it isn’t just the Republicans who are doing the complaining. If anything, they seem the most happy with Obama’s decisions – maybe because they didn’t expect much. It’s his own party that’s pulling the guy every which way, like some whacked out back seat driver. “Turn left! No! Go straight ahead! What are you doing?!? You were supposed to make a right! Go back!” Everybody thinks he owes them and they’re hell bent on trying to collect.

Gay, black, brown, young, old, white, female, Democrat, Republican – everybody wants to create some traffic, cut him off and force him into their own lane. The feminists are pissed ’cause he didn’t appoint more women to his cabinet. (Even though five of the top positions were given to women.) Some members of the civil rights old guard are back with, “Why aren’t there more black people up there?” These are the same dudes who were mad he didn’t turn his convention speech into a history lesson on Martin Luther King. If Obama had listened to them, he never would’ve gotten elected in the first place.

Who’s next in line to bitch? Will cat lovers complain that the first family is only talking about adopting a dog and discriminating against felines? Will left-handed jugglers be upset that they’re not represented? Why not appoint a few little people to the Cabinet while he’s at it?

And now gay rights groups are mad because the pastor who’s doing the inauguration doesn’t support gay marriage.

For real??? The president wants Rick Warren because millions of people love him. He’s giving respect to what the majority of the American people are into. Obama doesn’t have to agree with everything the guy says just to have him up there on the podium. Why can’t Obama have his moment however he wants it and with whoever the hell he chooses? I don’t give a fuck if Big Foot swears him in. Y’all should let the man have his day.

We achieved what most people thought was impossible. We elected a young, hip, African-American visionary to be President of the United States. No funny business at the polling booths. No bloodbaths. No recounts. He energized the black community and brought everybody else on board at the same time. He brought out more young voters than anytime in history. He gave America a second chance in the world’s eyes as a nation that can recognize its mistakes and make amends. He gave us back our sense of hope.

And Obama got us there HIS way. He created a political campaign like no other. People said what he did couldn’t be done, but he kept on going. He didn’t change lanes, he just kept it moving in the direction he knew was right.

I made a career out of finding my own lane, and helping artists do the same for themselves. From Kris Kross to Usher to Bow Wow, they became successes when they discovered their own unique style. Musically, our biggest hits came from listening to what everybody else was doin’, then steering a lil’ to the left or the right and creating our own movement. And the few times I didn’t follow my own path; when I paid too much attention to my label bosses, or let anyone else override my best instincts, it jus’ didn’t work.

Obama’s gonna listen to other people’s opinions, and he should. But I hope the last voice he hears before he makes a decision is his own. Now, with the economy so messed up and Israel bombing the shit out of the Gaza Strip, and more than ten million people unemployed, the heat is really gonna be on. People change lanes when they get scared and lose direction, but Obama can’t afford to do that, ever. He can’t cave into the pressure. Not now.

Everyone has their pet projects but what everybody has to realize is that Barack Obama has a job to do that goes beyond the side hustles of the rest of the planet. He isn’t going to be president to make one group happy. He’s going to the White House to serve his country. And anyone who thought that he was gonna to be an ultra liberal activist president better get over it right now. He said himself he’s gonna reach across the aisle and bring us together, not divide us, and that’s what he’s already doing. He’s the bridge we’ve all been waiting for.

Obama is one slick dude. I’m not saying that in a bad way. I mean it as a compliment. It’s what we need. He’s a 21st century President. A man for our time. And I’m sure he knows that the world is watching, so whatever he does you can bet that he’s doing what he believes in his heart is going to have the best results. He’s not here to make you, me, Al Sharpton, or Tavis Smiley, or anybody else happy. He’s here to serve our country and be the kind of leader we need in the baddest way.

So please, let Obama continue to stay in his lane. Let the man drive!