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Creativity Quote by Jermaine Dupri

"I'm one of those guys a lot of people watch, imitate, and then make it seem like they were the ones who did it first"

About this Quote

There is swagger here, but it’s not empty bragging; it’s a grievance wrapped in a flex. Jermaine Dupri positions himself as a kind of invisible architect of style: widely observed, routinely copied, and rarely credited. The line hinges on a familiar music-industry frustration - influence travels faster than attribution - but Dupri frames it with a sharper, more modern accusation: people don’t just borrow, they rewrite the timeline so the borrowing looks like originality.

The intent is twofold. First, it’s a claim to authorship in a business that rewards the loudest self-mythology, not the most accurate history. Second, it’s a preemptive defense against being treated as “legacy” rather than “source.” Dupri came up in an era when producers could define a sound - Atlanta’s bounce, R&B’s slicker swing, pop-rap’s polish - while still being sidelined in mainstream narratives that favor front-facing stars or whichever trend is currently streaming. His career sits at the intersection of craft and branding, where your signature can be everywhere and still go unsigned.

Subtext: imitation isn’t flattering when it becomes erasure. The most cutting part is “make it seem,” which points to performance, PR, and selective memory. Dupri isn’t only talking about musical techniques; he’s talking about cultural capital, the way scenes and innovators get mined, sanitized, then re-sold by people with better timing, bigger platforms, or cleaner narratives. In one sentence, he’s demanding his receipt - and reminding listeners that the past isn’t past; it’s being edited in real time.

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APA Style (7th ed.)
Dupri, Jermaine. (2026, January 17). I'm one of those guys a lot of people watch, imitate, and then make it seem like they were the ones who did it first. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-one-of-those-guys-a-lot-of-people-watch-73942/

Chicago Style
Dupri, Jermaine. "I'm one of those guys a lot of people watch, imitate, and then make it seem like they were the ones who did it first." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-one-of-those-guys-a-lot-of-people-watch-73942/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I'm one of those guys a lot of people watch, imitate, and then make it seem like they were the ones who did it first." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-one-of-those-guys-a-lot-of-people-watch-73942/. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

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Jermaine Dupri (born September 23, 1972) is a Musician from USA.

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