In 2016, Jermaine Dupri launched his rap competition series The Rap Game. Five seasons and five winners later, the young aspiring stars have found themselves with growing fan bases and opportunities they may have never received without appearing on the show. Mulatto was The Rap Game‘s very first winner and most successful, thus far. Following closely behind her is J.I the Prince of N.Y who has been gaining steam in rap circles, as well.

In a recent interview with HipHopDX, Jermaine Dupri discussed the accomplishments of his former contestants. He’s not surprised by what they’ve been able to achieve because that’s the point of series. “It’s supposed to happen,” said Dupri. “That’s how I look at it. People ask me if I’m surprised all the time. I’m not surprised because I picked them. I don’t think people realize it. The funniest part about this whole thing is that people keep acting like, especially with J.I.”

Of all of the contestants that have appeared on The Rap Game, Dupri said that he gets asked about J.I the most because people want to know if he regrets not crowning the young rapper as the winner. “People don’t understand, I personally picked this guy to be on my TV show,” the So So Def mogul said. “I knew exactly what he was way before anybody, before he even knew what he was. I knew exactly what he was… Every time I see him doing something, I’m 100 percent ecstatic about it because I love seeing how they go from…that’s my thing. I love seeing people go from scratch to being successful. When I started, I had a vision that they could always be that.”

The fifth season of The Rap Game aired in 2019 and it’s unknown if another is on the horizon. Each winner is offered the opportunity to sign a record contract with So So Def, but Mulatto opted to work as an independent artist so that she could have more control over her career.

[via]