I LIVE HERE MUSICALLY: L.A. REID ON ATLANTA

In addition to being one of the most effective label execs of the last several decades—with two of the best ears in the biz—L.A. Reid has been at the epicenter of Atlanta’s musical revolution since it began. We asked him about his extraordinary career, the city’s creative energy and some of the many artists he’s helped develop. For some reason, he obliged us.

How did you first find your way into the world of Atlanta?

In 1989, our team—which consisted of myself, my prolific, genius partner, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, and my then-wife, Pebbles—made a decision to move to Atlanta. The only draw at the time was that Atlanta was known as an upwardly mobile, Black-friendly city.

So it was socioeconomic motivation.

Exactly. It was driven by socioeconomic factors, but we were also young and adventurous and searching for inspiration. We got lucky and planted our LaFace Records flag here, proudly contributing to the emergence of the Atlanta music scene we see today.

Tell me a bit about the earliest days of LaFace.

Kenny was arguably the most prolific songwriter of the time, and we produced the artists that we signed in the very beginning: Toni Braxton, TLC. As we started to attract more talent, we met the incredibly talented producers Jermaine Dupri, Dallas
Austin and Organized Noize [Rico Wade, Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown]. They became a de facto in-house producing squad for us. And the next chapter was Usher and Outkast.

We were also producing records for Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown, Bell Biv DeVoe, Boys II Men, Babyface, Pebbles. So we were producing a lot of records out of Atlanta. But we were also signing talent here.

TLC and Outkast came from Atlanta…

And Goodie Mob and T.I., two other important acts we signed. Usher was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but we met him in Atlanta. And all those producers I named are from Atlanta.

Did you believe that there was a particular vibe or style that characterized the place?

The thing that struck me about the Atlanta music scene was its originality. The artists and producers that I met here were all strongly committed to being originals. And that still holds true today when you hear artists like Future, whom I met and signed back in 2011. It’s a bar that Atlanta creatives still maintain today. Outkast and Goodie Mob were complete originals. TLC was very original in their style and sound. But even today, when I listen to Offset, Quavo and Migos, or Gucci Mane, or if I listen to the beats of Metro Boomin, they’re still very much originals. That is the beauty of the Atlanta music sound and scene.

Is this in part because it’s been such a world unto itself?

Yes. Atlanta wasn’t what I would consider an entertainment and media center, so a lot of what was happening here wasn’t being covered by mainstream media. It was very much a secret that we stumbled upon. I would say that it was an island of sorts.

LaFace went from strength to strength, and that led to you becoming the head of Arista and taking that label into a whole new era. And I wonder if you can say a bit about that.

I would say that my tenure at Arista was very much a continuation of what we had begun in Atlanta. The change was that I became the president of the company, and therefore I could press the proverbial magic button to help talent be successful without having to convince anyone that they were worthy of the investment. But otherwise it was a continuation of what LaFace began in Atlanta. And throughout my career, Atlanta was the gift that never stopped giving. Because while I was at Arista, we signed Ciara, an Atlanta native who was really an exciting talent. Then Usher became USHER, who today celebrates the 20th anniversary of Confessions, which was produced by Jermaine Dupri, with Brian Michael Cox and others, and included the collaboration with Ludacris and Lil Jon, “YEAH!” Sean Garrett was the mastermind who wrote that.

It was all sort of a culmination of the Atlanta music scene that made Confessions the historic album that it is. But even moving on to my tenure at Island Def Jam, Young Jeezy became a part of our fabric—along with T.I., he was one of the original trap artists from Atlanta. And the dynamic duo of Tricky Stewart and The-Dream kept Atlanta’s originality at the forefront. Their collaboration not only produced hits for Rihanna and Mariah Carey while I was running IDJ, but also introduced me to the last artist we signed there, Frank Ocean, who is revered for his genius.

Additionally, Atlanta served as the launching pad for Justin Bieber, who was discovered by none other than Usher himself. The Atlanta music community echoes the heyday of Detroit’s Motown as one of the most impactful music scenes of our time.

Atlanta was also key in shaping what hip-hop sounds like now.

Yes. You can see Future dominating the streaming charts today. Or look at 21 Savage, who recently had a humongous album and is another totally original artist I absolutely adore.

And when I think about how this thing started back in 1990 or so, when Jermaine Dupri produced Kris Kross and Arrested Development came out of Atlanta—when we go all the way back to the very beginning of what I would call the modern era of Atlanta—it never stopped. That’s what’s astonishing to me: that from 1989 all the way up to today, it hasn’t stopped.

The creators in this city are just really special talents. I’m in Atlanta right now. I love it here. I can’t stay away from Atlanta, even though I don’t live here. I live here, musically.

Maybe a good place for us to kind of wrap this up is to talk about what you’re doing now and your continued association with Usher.

Usher and I started an independent label called Mega, and we’re in partnership with Larry Jackson and gamma. And we’re doing the same thing—signing and developing talent from Atlanta, in addition to continuing to develop Usher’s recording career. He’s obviously wildly successful in multiple areas of entertainment and such an icon. But the beauty of our partnership is that, at this point, he’s Batman and I’m Robin. So we’re having a go at it. We have our nose to the grindstone.

What’s your top restaurant recommendation in Atlanta?

Lions Head Private Club is the spot for dining.