Jermaine Dupri is in the building this week at the Hard Rock Hotel New York, joining us for an Audacy Check In to talk about his new album, 'Magic City,' his docuseries of the same name, and what's next for the ATL multihyphenate producer.

The Atlanta institution known as Magic City is taking its turn on the stage, first with a five part docuseries on Starz, and now with album of music inspired by the project, now available everywhere. At the helm for all of it is Jermaine Dupri, who is once again bringing his So So Def empire into another era of excellence.

"To start in '92 and then be named the number one producer of Hip-Hop R&B of the 21st century in 2025, that's all the energy I need," Dupri reveals to DJ Buck and Big Regg, referencing the honor recently given to him by 'Billboard.' "I know what my work has done. It got me to that spot, so it's like I can't even think about stopping at this point."

Not stopping for JD includes 'Magic City,' the soundtrack to the docuseries he recently produced for Starz. The project features the producer in top-form with a roster of ATL's finest. "We have a city with a pool of artists that sometimes we overlook. We only talk about 3 or 4 of these people, but we have like 20, 30, 40 artists in Atlanta that really have made a real contribution to Hip-Hop," says Dupri. "It felt like we just ignore that, right? And I feel like if I ignore that, they're gonna ignore me, you know what I mean? You gotta lead by example."

The features on 'Magic City' stretch across decades of Atlanta influence from Pastor Troy to Quavo to YFN Lucci, and everyone in-between. Even Ludacris has bars the new project, who Jermaine Dupri considers the one that got away from his So So Def family.

"One day I went in the office and felt like I wasn't giving people that I had hired an opportunity to work," shares Dupri. "I was making all the decisions. I was choosing the artists. I was picking the singles. I'm doing everything, but as a CEO is supposed to do. But I also was looking at Def Jam and I'm watching all these other labels. They had A&R meetings and they had people that was the A&Rs and they was letting them really become stars, right?"

"One day on my way to the office, I was just like, 'you know, today I'm gonna have an A&R meeting and I'm gonna let these guys tell me what we should do,' And I went in there and I said, 'I wanna sign Ludacris,' and everybody in the meeting was like, 'no, no, no, no, no, no.' And I was like, 'what?' And it's like, 'nah, JD, he seem like he gonna, I don't know about that, that don't seem like that's gonna last long.'"

"I was like, 'alright, I'm gonna listen to y'all guys,' and that was the last time I listened."

For more on the making of 'Magic City,' why JD views music as therapy, and more, check out the full Audacy Check In with Jermaine Dupri above.

Mudvayne is ready to unleash a celebration of their breakthrough album, 'L.D. 50,' by touring across the country beginning this week. But first, Chad Gray Checks In with us to talk about the major milestone, the band's first new music in 16 years, and more.

In addition to a quarter-century of punishing grooves on 'L.D. 50,' Mudvayne recently unwrapped the first new music from the band in 16 years. "This was the reason why I came back to Mudvayne, was to continue the legacy," admits Gray. "We went away before people were ready for us to go away, I think. So when we came back, that was my biggest reason for coming back, was to pick up where we left off and continue to create music, and give our fans what they need, what we didn't give them."

"We tried this a couple years ago and it just didn't work. Then we got back in and we got back to it, and we went back and picked through some of those old parts and we're able to put these tracks together, and then, we went in the process of recording," adds Chad. "It was really cool, but it's a very necessary time. I think we came back and the ground was seriously rumbling. Like the ground was shaking. It was like, 'holy hell,' people are really excited about this."

After their return a few years ago, Gray and Mudvayne knew it was time to take the next step and get back into the studio to build on what they've already created. "I wanna keep people excited about this. I don't just wanna come back, blow our wad and then just f***ing slowly drift off, you know what I mean? Like, no. I wanna come in with a bang, I wanna go out with a bang."

In addition to their debut, 'L.D. 50,' sending shockwaves through the world of Rock, another reason for Mudvayne's success has to be their spotlight on Ozzy Osbourne's traveling Ozzfest. "His contribution to music we could never pay back," Gray says of Ozzy and his summer spectacle.

"Just the inspirations he created from what he did is unprecedented, and then you gotta think about, he broke Metallica. Straight up. He took them on the road with him. He put Metallica on an Ozzy-sized stage on 'Master Of Puppets' and dude, from that moment on it was game over, right?"

"So what does he do? He continues, now he creates a festival where it's not just one band or two bands that he can help, now it's a gaggle of bands every single year," he says of Ozzfest. "We were on that 2nd stage. System of a Down was on the 2nd stage. Slipknot was on the 2nd stage. I mean, just go down the list."

Hear more from Chad on his past projects, what to expect on Mudvayne's anniversary tour, and more during our Audacy Check In above.

2025 has been another big chapter for the six members of BOYNEXTDOOR, playing to thousands of fans at Lollapalooza, grabbing a more intimate spotlight at the GRAMMY Museum, and continuing their musical legacy with the 'No Genre' EP.

The group took a beat from their hectic year to sit down in our Los Angeles studio with Brooke Morrison for an Audacy Check In, and talk about their experience on stage, the evolution of their creative process, and more.

Don't miss our Audacy Check In with BOYNEXTDOOR above, and find more exclusive interviews with your favorite artists at audacy.com/live.