*Music veteran Antonio “L.A.” Reid is leaving his post as chairman of Epic Records, Variety reports. He joined the Sony Music label in July 2011, and during his six-year run, Reid signed such hit acts as Future, Travis Scott, Fifth Harmony, and DJ Khaled.
Reid made his name as a label executive with LaFace Records, which he co-founded in the late ’80s alongside music icon Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds as a joint venture with Arista. The talented duo launched the careers of Usher, OutKast Toni Braxton, TLC + many more.
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Babyface told Ebony magazine that in the beginning, L.A. had to make a decision between being an artist and being a businessman.
“The label became the thing for L.A., he had to run the label. It was a little hard for him to keep producing and be a writer and actually run the label… He couldn’t really do that. You have to make a choice. Are you going to be a businessman? Are you going to be an artist? And the truth is, is L.A. was always kind of the businessman. That was his role. Going way back to the Deele, he was the guy that made sure everybody got to eat. He’d made some deals with some people at Church’s Chicken to make sure they could eat every night [laughter]. So that was his gig. And he basically became the manager of LaFace Records. He had to make sure everybody got chicken [laughter].”
L.A. Reid has helped numerous music acts achieve multi-platinum sales, including: Fifth Harmony, Kenneth Babyface Edmonds, Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, Boyz II Men, Outkast, Toni Braxton, TLC, Mariah Carey, Avril Lavigne, Paula Abdul, Pink, Justin Bieber, Meghan Trainor, Rihanna, Kanye West, Usher, Ne-Yo, 21 Savage, Young Jeezy, Ciara, Zara Larsson, Jidenna, Jennifer Lopez, Future, Travis Scott and Rick Ross.
It is unclear what Reid’s next move will be, he’s currently an executive producer on the scripted drama “Cotton Club.”
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