JD keeps Barry White’s original verse on the Quincy Jones cover: ‘I had to leave him.’ By Shaheem Reid Jermaine Dupri Photo: MTV News DALLAS — It’s apparently the season to remake the classics. Mary J. Blige recently recorded a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and we all know about the remake of “We Are the World.” Now, Jermaine Dupri is spearheading a new version of a classic song, and just like “We Are the World,” it’s another Quincy Jones tune. JD has called on Usher, Robin Thicke, Tyrese and Trey Songz to cover Jones’ 1989 hit “The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite).” The original version starred seductive vocalists James Ingram, Al B. Sure, El DeBarge and the incomparable Barry White. Right before the NBA All-Star Game, Dupri talked about his and his team’s rendition. “It took a minute for me to even think about touching it,” JD admitted. “It’s a couple of components in that record that you don’t wanna touch — Barry White being one of the main components. I had to leave him [on the song]. There’s nobody out there in the world that’s got a voice like his or even sounded the way he sounded. So I had to make sure I could leave that. It’s gonna be interesting for y’all to hear how these young guys sound mixed in with him.” In 1989, “Secret Garden” was one of the highlights of Quincy Jones’ Grammy-winning Back on the Block LP. Each vocalist had a verse and an opportunity to sing to the ladies. “Luckily, it’s a record that hip-hop really embraced as a ballad,” JD said. “It was a record I lived with so much. I kinda felt it was a record that was a part of my life. So it wasn’t that hard for me to get into it. But I just had to figure out all the ways and who to put on the song. I feel that at the time [Quincy] made the record, each one of the guys had a certain thing for the ladies.” Jermaine said his version will woo the females all over again. “I think Robin Thicke got something for the ladies,” Dupri said. “Usher, definitely. Trey, definitely. And Barry White. That was hard, because I wanted to put Anthony Hamilton on there, Maxwell on there. But it’s hard, because it’s only a four- or five-man [song]. That was the hardest part for me.” Jermaine said the “Secret Garden” remake will appear on a new Quincy Jones album; no release date has been announced. What are your thoughts on Jermaine Dupri’s remake of “The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)”? Which singers would you like to see in the remake’s lineup? Let us know below! Related Artists Jermaine Dupri
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Jermaine Dupri Remakes ‘Secret Garden’ With Usher, Trey Songz, Robin Thicke
