Jermaine Dupri's pilot internship program, So So Def University, welcomes Emory students (left to right) Emmett Roth, David Qiu, Ella Ferguson, and Luccas Perez (DorMiya Vance/WABE).
Just off Briarwood Court on the north side of Atlanta, So So Def Studios hides away at the end of the street.
The studio is a pale green building with pops of blue graffiti, but inside, the walls are adorned with framed music records and plaques like a living art museum.
Here, students attending Emory University are getting the opportunity to gain hands-on music industry experience through a pilot program led by Grammy award-winning producer Jermaine Dupri.
So So Def University interns look upon boxes of musical archives tucked away inside a studio backroom. (DorMiya Vance/WABE)
Dupri, the owner of So So Def Recordings, says he’s had a long history of working with college students but he hadn’t established an official program until now.
“It started with my company years ago, like ‘93,” Dupri said. “I had a lot of kids that was going to college, so then we had kind of like an intern type program. It wasn’t like this with the school.”
Before this more formal program, Dupri took former Emory student Scott “Scooter” Braun under his wing. Braun was a party promoter later hired by Dupri as a marketing executive.
“I still think when I got it, I’m like, there’s no way like this feels so surreal. Like, I don’t deserve all of this,” said Emory sophomore Emmett Roth, one of the interns in the program who studies music management.
Roth, along with three other interns, helps keep the studio running with essential tasks like cleaning. But they also work with industry professionals on song creation and input.
Ella Ferguson (left) talks amongst the group about music inside So So Def Studios. (DorMiya Vance/WABE)
Ella Ferguson is also a sophomore at Emory. She wants to learn the ins and outs of funding musical entrepreneurship through the internship.
“At the end of the day, we wanna be able to feed ourselves, right? As sad as it sounds, art needs to be funded,” Ferguson said. “Art doesn’t have to be something where you’re a starving artist … that stereotype should not exist. You should be able to thrive as an artist.”
The group is also being equipped with life skills. Emory sophomore Luccas Perez, a pre-law major, says he’s learning to be adaptable.
“It could be the case that you’re in here, like, just organizing CDs or something, but then within the next hour, you’re working with a Grammy award-winning producer, and they’re asking you for opinions — just gotta really be on your toes here,” Perez said.
“You know, you gotta keep up the grind. You know, networking is so important, and then you always have to reach out to people,” said Emory senior David Qiu, an aspiring Chinese artist.
Emory senior David Qiu talks with the group in the studio lobby. (DorMiya Vance/WABE)
The students are just over a month into the spring semester pilot program. Dupri says one of his goals with this move is to learn from them and younger audiences.
“My reason for doing it in the first place was always to make sure I’m abreast of what’s happening,” Dupri said. “You know, these four kids, they all got something different about them, and it’s enlightening for me to even have a conversation with them because I just get the chance to hear [it].”
