Jermaine Dupri. Photo by Paul R. Giunta/Getty Images
The image of a rapper at a strip club throwing a stack of bills in or around the vicinity of the dancers has become synonymous with hip-hop culture. But who started it? In a new interview with Estelle on Apple Music, So So Def founder Jermaine Dupri claimed he made it rain first.
In remarks flagged by Revolt, Dupri made his claim as he remembered visiting the iconic Atlanta club Magic City with Talib Kweli and Janet Jackson. "They’re throwing the money in the air,” he said, “I actually was the person who created this, because I did this first in the ‘Money Ain’t A Thing’ video. Me and JAY-Z are in the car throwing money throughout the whole video. That became my thing with that song. That became my thing going into these strip clubs.”
Like all revolutions in human interaction, making it rain didn’t catch on immediately. “The first time I ever threw the money in the air,” Dupri says, “I probably threw $1,000 on the floor. And the girl at the strip club said, ‘You want me to get down on the floor and get my money?’ She didn’t understand what was happening.
“I tried this a couple of places where I was out throwing money,” he continued. “They didn’t understand what was happening. And this is just my confirmation of me saying, ‘I know that I was the first person doing this.’”
If true, that’s pretty convincing contemporaneous evidence that Dupri was the creator of making it rain. If it’s not true, it’s funny that he would lie about it. Either way, it’s hilarious to imagine the first person to make it rain getting a reaction of puzzlement and annoyance. Watch the “Money Ain’t A Thing” video below.
