Jermaine Dupri seemed destined for a music career of some capacity, but it was unclear whether that career would be as an artist or as a producer. Dupri surprised everyone by finding massive success as both a producer and a recording artist. His father was a manager in Atlanta who got to work with such greats as Diana Ross. It was at Ross's show where Dupri first got a taste of fame when he hopped on stage with the legend as a youngster. The performance was all he needed to start pursuing his music career, and Dupri started performing with everyone from Herbie Hancock to Cameo and opening for top rappers like Run D.M.C.His producing career started when he was in his mid teens when he helped Silk Tymes Leather get a contract. Before he had even reached adulthood, he had started So So Def productions. In the early 1990s, Dupri stumbled to the then-unknown duo of Kris Kross. He signed them and soon had one of the top acts on his roster. He added acts like Xscape and Da Brat, who also turned out to be platinum artists. His reputation as a producer was growing and led to him working with top artists like TLC and Mariah Carey. He found gold again when he released the sophomore album of Usher, My Way. While his producing career was blossoming, his recording career had come to somewhat of a standstill. He decided to change that and released Life in 1472 in 1998. The album was a huge success and made it to number three on the Billboard 200. That same year, he also produced a Christmas album called 12 Soulful Nights of Christmas, which featured Dupri as well as other stars like Brian McKnight and Xscape. He followed it up with another success, Instructions, in 2001 as well as Green Light in 2004 and Da Bottom, Vol. 5 in 2005.