The BET Awards may only be a few days away, but Jermaine Dupri isn’t mincing his words about why he wants the show’s organizers to curate a special, last-minute tribute for Clive Davis in the wake of news of the legendary music executive’s recent passing.
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In a recent video Dupri posted on social media after attending Steve Stoute‘s birthday party, he expressed wanting BET to do something special for Davis.
The So So Def founder spoke on the 94-year-old’s decades of influence on Black music.
“It’s Black music month and today we lost the guy that really understood how important, how cultural, and how impactful Black music is to the world. The man arranged distribution deals with T-Neck, home of the Isley Brothers, Kenny Gamble, and Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International (The O’Jays), Teddy Pendergrass, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Patti LaBelle, and Lou Rawls. When he was at Columbia [Records], he signed Earth, Wind & Fire and Herbie Hancock to the label and worked with the imprint’s established superstars Sly Stone and Miles Davis. He left Columbia when I was 1-year-old in 1973. In 1975, Davis and Arista cast a wide net, building a roster that included Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and, in 1983, Warwick’s cousin, Whitney Houston. In 1989, Davis, signed a joint venture with the Atlanta R&B label LaFace, co-founded by Antonio ‘L.A.’ Reid and Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmonds. He executed a similar move in 1993 by partnering with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ fledgling hip-hop label, Bad Boy Records. He signed so many other big artists. I’m just showing you how important he was to Black music and how important Black music was to him. Pls! @bet do something extravagant for Clive Davis, the way he would do it for us,” relayed Dupri.
That’s not all he said. Dupri even went down memory lane and reminisced on attending Clive’s unforgettable parties.
“He really understood what Black music meant to the world, and what Black music meant to the music business. That’s why his party was so poppin’. It’s a White man with a party that had all the Black executives, all the Black artists. All of Black music wanted to be at Clive Davis Party. So, I just pray that on the BET Awards…Black music entertainment…that we do something big for Clive as we let him rest in peace.”
Press PLAY on the video above to hear his full plea to BET.
At writing, the award show’s organizers have not publicly responded to Dupri’s request.
