Jermaine Dupri Leaves Virgin Records Over Janet Jackson's Flat Album Sales

Back in 2004 when Jermaine Dupri signed on as head of urban music for Virgin Records and brought his So So Def label with him, many in the music industry questioned the wisdom of the move. Virgin and its parent EMI have never been a major success in the urban market. However, Virgin has been the label home of Dupri's girlfriend Janet Jackson.

Dupri scored significant successes for Virgin with major hits by Dem Franchize Boyz. However, Jackson's album 20 Y.O. was seen by many as a major test of the wisdom of his move. 20 Y.O. has turned into one of the biggest commercial disappointments of Janet Jackson's career, and Jermaine Dupri has announced that he will leave Virgin. Rumors swirled that he was forced out, but Dupri claimed "I made a decision that it was in my best interest to leave."

20 Y.O. is the last album in Janet Jackson's contract with Virgin, and it will likely leave her in a difficult position for negotiating a new contract with another label. The new album has sold less than 500,000 copies after a month in stores compared with first week sales adding up to over 600,000 copies for her 2001 album All for You.

It is not known yet if Jermaine Dupri will move distribution of his label So So Def away from Virgin as well. The music industry will be watching to see if he can recapture the career momentum gained when he helped turn Usher's Confessions and Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi into two of the biggest albums of the decade thus far.

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