Music producer Jermaine Dupri is on a mission to bring back The Rat Pack vibe.
Dupri, Janet Jackson’s longtime beau, wants to see Las Vegas return to the era when the coolest dudes in town wore tuxes and suits.
He has recruited Usher and Nelly into a group Dupri has dubbed “Ocean’s 7,” after the Rat Pack movie, “Ocean’s Eleven,” starring Frank Sinatra (as Danny Ocean), Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford.
“Las Vegas is begging for a new breath of energy,” Dupri told me in a telephone interview. “I think a lot of people want to see Vegas go back to what it was.”
Dupri, usually in a white tuxedo with a black bow tie, and his crew have been the talk of the Las Vegas club scene, with their impromptu singing performances, a la the Rat Pack.
He’s hoping to add Bow Wow and “the right girl to play the Ocean’s Girl. The big debate with Bow Wow is that he won’t dress up. He’s 21,” said Dupri.
Others in the group include music producer Bryan-Michael Cox, singer/songwriter Trey Songz and four-time Grammy winner Johnta Austin (”the Sinatra of the group,” said Dupri), and Tyrone Davis, Dupri’s personal assistant.
The new-image idea came together earlier this year when Dupri was producing Usher’s new album at the Palms recording studios. Somebody in the group wore a suit one night, an d a couple nights later “everybody came in all dressed up and we all went to Lavo. It felt nice.”
Dupri’s mix tape of the group came out Friday. Dupri has big plans for “Ocean’s 7:an album, a movie and “the ultimate is a show in Vegas.” Here are 3 of my favorite tracks on the cd.