"People gotta stop lying" — Jermaine Dupri cites Sexxy Red's mixtape sales while talking about rap industry's commercial failure

American record producer Jermaine Dupri recently cited rapper Sexxy Red's example at the United Masters' SelectCon conference held on June 1, 2024, in Atlanta. Jermaine Dupri talked to the CEO of the United Masters distribution platform, Steve Stoute, and offered his views on how the current state of Hip Hop can be restored.

Citing the instance of Sexxy Red's In Sexxy We Trust album, Jermaine stated:

“People gotta stop lying. That’s the beginning of the answer…The industry still tries to make you believe that if you a hot artist and you got a single, that selling albums don’t matter…"

Jermaine's comment was in context to Red's latest album selling only 28000 copies since its release. Jermaine also mentioned that in the era that he came from in the music arena, one wouldn't get "no other chance to walk in the building again" if they sold 28000 copies.

The record producer said that there is a disconnect between people's understanding of the streaming situation and what one is actually looking at. Additionally, Jermaine also told the conference:

“I came from an era where the numbers were 80,000 100, 200, 800, 900. This feels like it’s going backwards to me.”

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Sexxy Red's collaboration with Drake, WWE debut and more details explored

According to Hip Hop DX, Sexxy Red's album In Sexyy We Trust sold the appropriate amount of units in the current music arena to land the album at the 17th position on Billboard's 200 album chart.

While her new album became the center of attention through Jermaine Dupri, the Skee Yee rapper made headlines after Kendrick Lamar mentioned her name in his diss track against Drake called Euphoria. In his diss track, Lamar said:

"When I see you standing by Sexyy Red. I believe you see two bad b***hes/ I believe you don’t like woman, that’s real competition, you might pop a** with them."

However, it has been clear that the Hood Rats rapper sided with Drizzy, given that she has collaborated with him in the past on the songs Rich Baby Daddy and Pound Town. Drake has also referred to Sexxy Red as his muse in an Instagram post from February 2024 wherein the post also consists of a playful exchange between the two.

In their recent collaboration dated May 24, 2024, called U My Everything, Drake collaborated with Sexxy Red and used the track to rap over Metro Boomin's BBL Drizzy beat. The feature on Red's album was Drake's way of responding to Rick Ross' allegations of Drizzy undergoing plastic surgery.

In addition to releasing her new album, Red also made her debut at WWE's NXT on May 28, 2024. During the event, Sexxy Red unveiled the new NXT North American Women's Championship belt and also distracted wrestler Gallus in the match which led to Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans winning the same.

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Even though Jermaine Dupri might've used Sexxy Red's new album as an example of the current state of hip hop in a negative sense, the Throwin' It rapper's album has garnered a positive response from fans.

Additionally, Hot New Hip Hop called Red a "standout across the project" mentioning that she doesn't let guest collaborators like VonOff1700, Lil Baby, or Drake outshine her in the album.