Jermaine Dupri Productions

Nearly 15 years have passed since Kris Kross first implored us to jump. Those were the days. Just ask Jermaine Dupri. The producer was only 19 then, yet he already had his own record company (So So Def) and platinum-certified hit. Always hungry for more success, Dupri has strung together a striking resume in the years since — resuscitating the career of longtime collaborator Mariah Carey (The Emancipation of Mimi), slow-roasting the R&B of a young Usher (My Way), and premiering a female version of G-funk with Da Brat (Funkdafied).

Another vintage pop-music memory presented by Jermaine Dupri: unleashing Bow Wow back when he was still Lil and spoke of "Puppy Love." Other Dupri developments over the past decade include propelling the pristine piano playing of Alicia Keys with a chunky drum break ("Girlfriend"), unfurling a gospel organ in front of Anthony Hamilton's golden croon ("Mama Knew Love"), slipping a snaky synth line under the smooth R&B of Chris Brown ("Run It!"), and following the producer-as-artist path of P. Diddy with two bottle-popping solo albums (Instructions, Life In 1472).

When you manufacture hits like Jermaine Dupri has for years, even your lesser-known tracks bump and bang with the best of 'em. "Money, Hoes and Power" rattles and rolls, "Dilemma" melts the sugar-hop of Nelly down to its R&B essence, "We Know" injects techno into the traditional Wu-Tang rap bloodline of Cappadonna, and "Get Off Me" lets Ludacris and Pastor Troy spar over a battered beat that's shaken, not stirred.

Don't let Jermaine Dupri's pint-sized stature fool you into thinking his tracks lack a certain larger-than-life quality. A dancer alongside Dianna Ross when he was only ten, Dupri formed So So Def Productions when he was 16 and has supported the sound and career of his stable (Da Brat, Xscape, Jagged Edge, Bow Wow) ever since. Outside of his own label, he's helped Mariah Carey, TLC, and Usher sell a combined 30-plus million albums, as well as applied his buffered R&B and rap approach to 112, Mase, Nelly, Monica, and legends like Jay-Z and Run-DMC. And to think, all of his success started with two 13-year-olds in backwards overalls.