Chris “Daddy Mac” Smith, one half of the group Kriss Kross, is slamming Jermaine Dupri’s recent comments about their parents.
Smith and his late friend and group member, Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly, were just 12 and 13 when Dupri discovered them at a mall.
Dupri helped the young boys land a record deal and produced their 1992 hit “Jump.” The song quickly turned the teenagers into millionaires.
Afterward, Dupri launched the careers of a young Bow Wow, Xscape, and Da Brat.
To this day, he credits himself for bringing young talent to hip hop and making his first million with Kriss Kross.
However, Dupri’s recent claims on “The Manager’s Playbook” podcast about Kriss Kross sparked outrage among one member.
The super producer said working with the young artists’ parents made him no longer want to work with children. So much so that he passed up signing a young Usher.
On Sept. 4, Smith took to the podcast’s Instagram comments to dispute Dupri’s statement and defend his family.
“It’s disappointing how, culturally, we’re so quick to tear each other down. As the saying goes: ‘It be your own people,’” he began.
“Claiming ‘the parents were not there when it started’ proves you have no clue what you’re talking about. Our parents were our only constant. They protected us,” Smith continued.
He went on to say he learned that there aren’t any true friends in the business. He also claimed Dupri’s targeting of their parents is “a new low.”
Smith added, “Losing my father didn’t teach me his immeasurable worth-it just magnified the immense emptiness of life without him. I am forever grateful for my parents, and to every single Kris Kross supporter.”
He appeared troubled by Dupri’s words more than a week later, sharing the statement on his Instagram on Sept. 15 and reposting it to his story on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
In the caption, he wrote, “Speaking my truth. Grateful for family and for you all.”
This response comes after Dupri explained why he decided not to sign Usher before his career took off.
On the Aug. 30 podcast, Dupri said, “Kriss Kross and their families, at the time, was making me not want to deal with any more kids. Because the kids’ families was actually going at each other about the business.”
He clarified that Chris Smith and Chris Kelly were still cool, but their parents were in disagreement.
“I just was like, man, this is so crazy to me because when I met these kids, you guys weren’t even around,” he said.
Explaining further, he said, “When I introduced what I was going to do to them, you guys weren’t around. And when we went in the studio, and when I sit there and talk to them every night, and do what I’m doing, it’s no parents around.”
“It’s crazy to me that people start getting involved with things that they had nothing to do with, and they damn near can f-ck it up,” he said.
Podcast host Mauricio Ruiz added, “When the money comes around,” to which Dupri agreed.
Because of that experience, it changed Dupri’s outlook on working with children, including Usher.
“And Usher was at that age where I knew it’s a parent somewhere,” he said. “And I just was like, “Nah, I’m trying not to.”
Fans shared their take on it.
One said, “That’s real…people will ef up your opportunity.”
DJ Nabs, who spent 21 years as Kriss Kross’ DJ and worked with So So Def Recordings for 25 years said, “All i could say was wow when I heard it. Thank you for speaking up.”
A third person said, “This is why I’ve never managed or represented children. It’s the parents.”
Back in April 2025, Dupri was a guest on Tank and J Valentine’s “R&B Money Podcast” where he said Usher came along right at the height of the conflict with Kriss Kross’ parents.
“We had a meeting with the parents — Chris’ parents they had got in an argument at the lawyer’s office and it was just like, this ain’t what I signed up for. And when Usher came, he was a teenager,” Dupri said then.
Even though he initially decided not to sign Usher, he still ended up working with him soon afterward.
He was asked to work on the remix of Usher’s 1994 song “Think of You.” Afterward, Usher’s team asked Dupri to take the new artist and transform him into the kind of success he had made Kriss Kross into. He became the primary producer and co-writer of Usher’s second studio album “My Way.”
Dupri noticed Kriss Kross’ swag after spotting them at a mall. He encouraged the boys to pursue a music career, even though they weren’t artists.
He helped shape their image, telling them to wear oversized clothes backward. He also secured their record deal with Rough House Records.
Their third and final album “Young, Rich & Dangerous” dropped in 1996, and the group faded due to low sales. They went their separate ways and tried solo rap careers, but they struggled to find the same momentum.
In 2013, Kelly died of a drug overdose.
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