*In this special edition of The Living Legends Series, EURweb.com contributor Gwendolyn Quinn talks with legendary music executive Larry Khan, Senior Vice President of Urban Promotion at Interscope Records.
This week, October 6, The Living Legends Foundation will honor Khan with the Music Label Executive Award at its 25th anniversary gala at the Taglyan Cultural Complex in Hollywood.
Being born and raised in the urban radio community through my father and his generation and to receive the Living Legends Foundation’s Music Label Executive Award means a lot,” says Khan. “It’s like receiving a Grammy Award.”
Khan is the son of radio promotion legend, Joey Bonner. From the bottom up, Khan’s introduction to the music industry started in the early 80s in retail at R&J One Stop in New York where he unloaded trucks of vinyl records. Soon after, he left New York and headed to Atlanta for a position as a cassette buyer at Tara Record and Tape. Khan, unsure if he wanted a career in the music business, took a leap of faith on center stage as a stand-up comedian. A few short years later, he returned to the music business and worked under the tutelage of his father at Nuclear Promotions.
In 1991, he landed his big break as the National Director of R&B Promotion at Jive Records. That career move lasted over 20 years. Khan made his star at Jive working under the guidance of his mentor and then Senior Vice President Varnell Johnson, where they introduced R. Kelly to the world. Khan’s roster also included young talent who are now known as global stars including A Tribe Called Quest, Joe, Ciara, Usher, Chris Brown, Anthony Hamilton, Mystikal, Justin Timberlake, E-40, T-Pain, UGK, Kirk Franklin, Charlie Wilson and many more.
Khan is now head of urban radio promotions at Interscope Records and continues his successful track of breaking stars into household names with the likes of Kendrick Lamar and several others. Khan is grateful for his career and longevity in music and credits his success to his wife, father and other mentors Luther Terry, Scotty Andrews and Barry Weiss.
Gwendolyn Quinn: From the early 80s to date, what do you feel has been the most significant changes at urban radio?
Larry Khan: Much like all formats the corporate influence on urban radio has had the most impact. More syndication, more centralized programming, more music that is researched and the loss of personality in radio.
GQ: With satellite radio and the digital age, how did those platforms impact your efforts at terrestrial radio?
LK: We had to adjust our promotion efforts to meet the needs and criteria that radio was looking for. If radio began to interpret what music they played based on new criteria, it was incumbent on me to learn those new metrics and promote my records with that in mind.
GQ: To date, what has been your biggest career record? And which artist did you break that you are most proud of?
LK: This is a question I’m never comfortable answering because there have been so many artists and records that were special to me. Obviously my success with R. Kelly had the most chart impact over years. And of course “I Believe I Can Fly” could be viewed as the record of a decade or career. I always feel like A Tribe Called Quest has hip hop legacy. I feel like a better person because I helped Kirk Franklin spread his message. Exposing Justin Timberlake to urban radio was a significant part of my career. Revitalizing Charlie Wilson gave me great satisfaction. Being able to work with a superstar and humanitarian like Usher makes me proud. Breaking Chris Brown was a career achievement. So as you can see, there are too many to cite just one specific artist or record.
GQ: Which record and/or artist were you and your team unable to deliver, but felt the record deserved a bigger platform at radio than it received?
LK: I was always disappointed that it became so hard for Raheem DeVaughn to get more exposure. At that time, hip hop was beginning to push R&B to the minority of urban playlists and we could never find his one moment to break through in a major way. But pound for musical pound Raheem is a beast.
GQ: What was the best advice your father gave you about radio and the music business?
LK: My father’s one piece of specific advice that I’ve always held on to and has come true is “It’s not hard to make money in music, but it is hard to make money in music for a long time.” Most of the advice he gave me was just good common business practices like, work hard, establish strong relationships, and keep your word.
GQ: What do you think are the most challenging issues facing black radio?
LK: In general, radio (like many other businesses) faces competition from the Internet. There are so many options now trying to compete for your entertainment time, and radio has to find its new place in a mobile online world. There will always be audio entertainment, but no longer is the competition defined by just one or two other stations in the market.
GQ: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
LK: When I started promotion, it was not uncommon for radio to legitimately rotate forty plus records. That could include quiet storm and album cuts. Now there are maybe twenty slots so your music real estate has been cut in half. So how to navigate more records and fewer slots for them to achieve exposure is the biggest challenge.
GQ: What advice would you give a young person interested in pursuing a career inside the record label?
LK: The Internet is continuing to shape, reshape and change what we do. So number one, keep your eyes open for how those changes shape and transform what we do. And of course keep and nurture your passion for music because at the end of the day whatever shape this business finally settles into content and hit records will still rule.
GQ: What are you most optimistic about in black radio and the music business?
LK: I’m optimistic that hip hop is still getting bigger and bigger and that artists like Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Usher, Future, and J Cole are still riding that wave. Even with the advent of the importance of streaming revenue, black music competes at a very, very high level.
GQ: Tell us one of your favorite jokes?
LK: God: “I shall create a great plague and everything on earth will die. Fish: “Slips God a c-note. God: “On second thought I will create a great flood.”
Gwendolyn Quinn is an award-winning media specialist with a career spanning over 25 years. She is the founder of the African American Public Relations Collective (AAPRC) and the publisher of Global Communicator. Her weekly columns, “Inside Broadway with Gwendolyn Quinn” and “My Person of the Week” are published with EURweb.com. Quinn is also a contributor to Souls Revealed and Handle Your Entertainment Business. Contact her at [email protected].
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