While on The Goats And Underdogs podcast this week, Jermaine Dupri gave insight into how the series began.
via: XXL
“106 & Park was created by me,” he told Daniels at the 46-minute mark in the video below. “I created the show for Bow Wow. I was watching MTV and they had TRL. They catered to NSYNC, The Backstreet Boys and anything White that was coming out that was pop. They was allowing these kids to scream and holler at them.”
Dupri went on to explain that he presented his idea for a Black version of TRL to Stephen Hill, who was the president of programming for BET at the time.
“I called Stephen Hill…and I said we need to make a show just like TRL [with Bow Wow]…because he was a rapper…he was a Black little young boy rapping,” he said. “Nobody on TV was 12 years old anywhere creating this type of fandomonium.”
Bow Wow, whose real name is Shad Moss, caught wind of JD’s comment and said, “Stop the cap!”
“JD aint create 106&Park stop the cap,” he tweeted on his Twitter account on Sunday (Dec. 18). “Stephen hill Rick Ghrimes & all the great people in the BET OFFICE & staff created that show. All i did was capitalize off of what they created and made it mine. I would know…. I am mr 106! I would never take away from someones creativity.”
JD aint create 106&Park stop the cap. Stephen hill Rick Ghrimes & all the great people in the BET OFFICE & staff created that show. All i did was capitalize off of what they created and made it mine. I would know…. I am mr 106! I would never take away from someones creativity.
— Bow Wow (@smoss) December 18, 2022
Wow added in a since-deleted tweet: “I just wish he just do his own thang w out having to bring me up. I wish dude the best of luck in his career and in life. We did some amazing things but that chapter is closed.”
106 & Park, based on the show’s location at East 106th Street and Park Avenue, premiered on Sept. 11, 2000, with A J. Calloway and Marie “Free” Wright. Bow Wow became the host of the program on Oct. 1, 2012, and stayed on as “Mr. 106 & Park” until its cancelation on Nov. 14, 2014.
DaBrat also had some things to get off her chest in support of JD.
Check of the video of JD that started it all below.
