Braves celebrate Jermaine Dupri and his musical impact at Truist Park
Jermaine Dupri delivered an honorary first pitch Wednesday as the Braves celebrated one of our city’s most cherished music icons.
“If I get it across home plate, the Braves are going to the World Series,” Dupri said a couple of hours before delivering a pitch to Grant Holmes that, unfortunately for Braves’ faithful, missed the zone.
Dupri nevertheless has a good track record when throwing out first pitches; he did so in 2005 for the White Sox, who went on to win a championship.
The pitch was a small part of a grand evening honoring Dupri, a longtime Braves fan and Atlanta ambassador who’s had a decades-long impact in hip-hop culture. The Braves highlighted Dupri’s impact in helping Atlanta develop into one of the country’s leading entertainment hubs.
Dupri and the team hosted a So So Def Block Party before the game in The Battery. There was also a So So Def Café food truck, serving items inspired by Dupri’s top songs. The first 15,000 fans in attendance received a Dupri bobblehead. The Braves shared a video of Dupri seeing the final product on their social media earlier in the day.
“It was pretty crazy,” he said. “It was amazing to see it come to life. I watched it from the start, when it started out it didn’t have any hair on the face, and then for it to change into looking like me was pretty incredible. Never (could’ve imagined this). I think I used to be like, ‘I don’t want no bobblehead,’ but it came out good.”
Dupri, 53, has played an instrumental role in Atlanta’s surge as a hip-hop capital. He enjoyed his breakout as a producer on “Jump,” performed by Kris Kross, in 1992. He’s created and contributed to numerous hits through the decades, including his locally cherished “Welcome to Atlanta,” a tune that’s commonly heard at local sporting events.
“This is home, this is Braves Country — that’s what Atlanta is,” Dupri said. “I’m always trying to do the biggest things I can do in the city, and this — to have a Jermaine Dupri night at the Braves game — it’s the biggest I can see.”
Dupri expressed gratitude for his lengthy career, and said he’s proud of how Atlanta has transformed through those decades.
“People forget that hip-hop is just 50 years old, which means that I’m not that much older than hip-hop, and the cities are still learning, right?” Dupri said. “As much as Atlanta is connected, we’re still a little bit behind L.A., the Dodgers, the Yankees; they’ve been connecting their cities longer than we have as far as with hip-hop.
“So to see Atlanta be in this space, I’ve been trying to do this for a long time. I’ve been trying to connect these worlds for the longest. So to see it happen is amazing to me. I’m happy we’ve come this far.”
Dupri makes plenty of appearances at Truist Park, but this will be considered a memorable one. After the pregame fan fare, the Braves won a wild game against the Padres, 7-6.