A lot has been made of Jermaine Dupri's comments about female rappers -- but he wants to set the record straight on what was and wasn't said ... straight from the horse's mouth.

We talked to JD on "TMZ Live" Wednesday about an interview he recently did with People Now that's been catching tons of backlash in and around the hip-hop community. 

He said some of the hot femcees in the game right now sound like "strippers rapping" when asked specifically about Cardi B, Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion, going on to say he didn't have a fave of those three 'cause he felt they all rapped about the same thing.

For the record, Cardi is the only one out of the above-mentioned MCs who used to dance -- Nicki and Meg did not. 

Jermaine clarifies that his remark was only aimed at the artists he was asked about -- and made a point to say that his statement was not meant to be a blanket label on all female rappers. He also recoils against claims he's sexist, saying nothing's further from the truth.

Cardi weighed in on the issue herself, basically saying she's giving the people what they want ... so she's gonna keep rapping about her "p***y" 'til people demand otherwise. 

Jermaine points out Cardi appears to have heard this complaint before, and that his remark is likely a widespread sentiment that's only catching fire because he's the first big name to publicly voice it -- namely, the most popular female rappers right now focus heavily on sex.