JD LAUNCHES RECORD DEAL WITH PROCTER AND GAMBLE.

Music producer JERMAINE DUPRI has launched a new music label with an unlikely partner - pharmaceutical giant Procter & Gamble. Wait a minute? I am a pharmacist and hip-hop blogger as well as Publicist. What is going on here? While some are still trying to get record deals, we have one owned by a drug company. I better send my cough syrup lyrics to J.D.

Dupri - who has produced hits for Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, and longtime girlfriend Janet Jackson - he joins a wave of celebrities partnering with consumer goods companies in a bid to revive sleeping sales in the music industry. The mogul, who currently runs the urban music division of the Island Def Jam Music Group, will team up with Procter & Gamble in a joint venture called Tag Records. The label will sign and release albums by new hip-hop acts in a bid to find fresh talent. Dupri will serve as president of Tag Records while keeping his position at Island Def Jam.

He says, "I've never seen someone wanting to devote this much money to breaking new artists. Nobody in the music business has the marketing budget that I have." Rappers Kanye West, Nas, Rakim and KRS-One were nominated for a Grammy Award just last year (08) after releasing their collaborative hit Better Than I've Ever Been with sports brand Nike.

I took that photo with J.D in Atlanta after an interview.