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In an interview with the Goats And Underdogs podcast last week, legendary Hip-Hop producer Jermaine Dupri claimed that he created the hit BET countdown show, 106 & Park. Dupri claimed he came up with the concept specifically to benefit his then-artist, Bow Wow.
“106 & Park was created by me,” Jermaine Dupri confidently claimed, per VIBE. “I created the show for Bow Wow. I was watching MTV, and MTV had TRL. They were catering to NSYNC and they were catering to Backstreet Boys and anything white that was coming out that was Pop. They was allowing these kids to scream and holler at them. And I was like, ‘Yo, we don’t have nothing for Black people like that. Like, where’s the Black kids that love music, why don’t they have a show like that?’”
He added: “So I called Stephen Hill and I said, ‘Yo, I got an artist, we need to make a show just like TRL.’ And he said, ‘What’s the artist?’ And I said Bow Wow. Everybody challenges what I’m saying. Mind you, they wasn’t gonna put Bow Wow on TRL like that because he was a rapper. He was a Black, little young boy rapping. But he also was 12 years old. Nobody on TV was 12 years old anywhere creating this type of pandemonium.”
However, both Bow Wow and former Head of Programming, Stephen G. Hill pushed back against those claims.
“JD aint create 106&Park stop the cap,” Bow Wow replied on Twitter. “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.”
He added:
Stephen Hill also jumped into the fray commenting under a video of the interview, “Yeahhhhhhh, our memories on how ‘106 & Park’ differ GREATLY,” said BET’s former president of programming. “No one challenges that Bow Wow helped launch ‘106’ to great heights… that is for sure true. But ‘CREATED BY ME’ might be a bit of an overstep for ya, my man Love you ALWAYS!!!”
The riff even spilled over to JD’s longtime collaborator Da Brat who lit into Bow Wow in an Instagram post.
Bow Wow quickly took to Twitter to share that he had spoken to Brat.
He added:
The whole family affair got a little messy, but fans can always remember the good times. Bow Wow was crowned “Mr 106 & Park” because he ultimately had the most retired videos in 106’s history. “That’s My Name,” “Take Ya Home,” “Puppy Love,” “Thank You,” “Let’s Get Down,” “My Baby” and “Let Me Hold You” were all retired.
The show ended in 2014, not long after he returned as a host. But, Bow Wow is back on BET as the host of Happily Ever After.