In an interview with Creative Loafing, So So Def founder Jermaine Dupri spoke on his label going independent as well as recent downsizing at So So Def.

As part of downsizing Dupri has gotten rid of a number of the company’s luxuries. He’s decreased his staff tremendously, relocated, and even took down the once prominent So So Def billboard in downtown Atlanta.

“Everything has been micro’d,” Dupri explained. “It’s a totally different business than it was three to four years ago. I don’t really have but, like, three people that work for me.”

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Aside from So So Def, Dupri also spoke on a recent comment he made about R&B crooner Usher. After not being asked to work on the singer’s new album Dupri referred to Usher as “disrespectful” in an interview with Vibe Magazine.

“I can’t control people’s lives, I don’t even really care,” said Dupri. “The artist will do what the artist wants.”

In other Hip Hop news, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels will soon become the voice of a new radio campaign aimed at protecting children.

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The radio ads, which will air in New York City, will urge parents to be careful when leaving their children with a caregiver.

The campaign was launched by Mayor Michael Bloomberg following the deaths of several young children who were killed under the watch of their caregivers.

In touring news, the Gorillaz will soon hit the road for a world tour that will make stops in several different countries.

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Entitled the “Escape To Plastic Beach” tour, the tour will make stops in countries in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

The “Escape To Plastic Beach” tour will include about 20 North American dates. The tour will kick off in Montreal on October 3, 2010.