Sunday, October 17, 1999
L.A. Reid: The man behind LaFace
Cincinnati native talks about his hit-making record label as it turns 10
BY LARRY NAGER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
It's been 30 years since a teen-aged Antonio “L.A.” Reid dreamed about being in the music business while he killed time outside the old King Records building.
“I used to have a karate class in Evanston,” he recalls. “And when I would wait for the bus, I would go stand in front of the place and just stare at it. James Brown was there, and I was drawn to him and the music he created.”
A drummer, Mr. Reid's destiny wasn't to become the next Godfather of Soul. As his LaFace Records, the label he co-founded in 1989 with Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, celebrates its 10th anniversary this month, Mr. Reid, 43, is looking a lot like the '90s version of Motown founder Berry Gordy.
LaFace, with a multiplatinum roster that includes TLC, Toni Braxton, the Tony Rich Project, Outkast, Usher and the Goodie Mob, is one of today's biggest independent R&B labels, grossing about $100 million annually.
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CURRENT HITS FROM LaFACE
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LaFace is celebrating its 10th anniversary, but other than releasing its commemorative CD, the ground-breaking R&B label isn't spending much time looking back.
Right now the label, co-owned by former Cincinnatians Antonio “L.A.' Reid and Kenneth "Babyface' Edmonds, has the No. 3 pop single with TLC's “Unpretty,” from the group's 4 million-selling Fanmail.
“Unpretty” also holds the No. 7 spot on Billboard's R&B singles chart, followed by LaFace artist Donell Jones' “U Know What's Up” at No. 13. Shanice, one of the newest LaFace signings, has the No. 59 R&B single with “You Need a Man.”
LaFace's newest rap act, the Youngbloodz, is No. 4 on the rap charts with “U Way (How We Do It).”
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CD UPDATE
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The 10th anniversary LaFace CD is still in the planning stages. Beginning Oct. 26, it will initially be offered through direct television marketing, going to retail outlets in a few months.
No finalized song list is available, but a label spokesman says all the top LaFace artists will be represented, including TLC, Toni Braxton, Usher, Goodie Mob, OutKast and the Tony Rich Project.
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It all started in Cincinnati, as Mr. Reid grew up in a vital R&B scene that included Mr. Brown's sessions at King and the young Cincinnati musicians who would follow him up the charts — Bootsy and Catfish Collins, drummer Frankie “Kash” Waddy and Midnight Star.
He was raised in Mount Auburn and Madisonville, one of four children of Emma Reid, and saved whatever money he could to buy 45s.
“We moved around a lot,” Mr. Reid recalls from Atlanta, where LaFace is based. “I want to say we come from the ghetto, but the truth is that I don't recall being that poor.
“I don't have a rags-to-riches story. My mother always worked, so I always had clothes and shoes. When I started getting into music, my mother supported me and was helping me buy instruments.”
Drawn to the drums, by the time he was a student at Hughes High School (class of '74), he was already in several bands.
“That's where I really got my first taste of the record business,” he says.
Baseball's Dave Parker, then with the Pittsburgh Pirates, paid for one of Mr. Reid's groups to record a few songs.
“We took one song (“Wake Up”) to WCIN and they played it, and another (“Third Rock”) went to a WEBN album project. I was 18 and I had songs on both stations.”
The magical Deele
Soon after, the drummer formed a band called Essence that emphasized original material. The group went through various personnel changes and a name change.
“We called the group the Deele, because it implied that we were gonna get a record deal,” he says. By then, the band included a left-handed guitarist from Indianapolis named Kenny Edmonds.
With a production deal with Reggie and Vincent Calloway of Midnight Star, the Deele soon signed to Midnight Star's label, Solar. They scored an immediate hit in 1983 with “Body Talk,” a song that also turned up in the first episode of Miami Vice.
They followed that with two more Top 10 R&B hits, “Two Occasions” and “Shoot 'Em Up Movies.”
“We just really liked each other,” he says of their musical partnership. “Our musical ideas kind of worked together real well. (Babyface) was a very melodic guy, and I was a very rhythmic guy.
“We liked each other's company, we admired each other's taste, whether it be in music or in things other than music. We forged an amazing relationship that lasted many years.”
L.A. and Babyface (the latter given his nickname by Bootsy Collins) emerged as the Deele's songwriting and production team. They watched the Calloway Brothers leave Midnight Star to write and produce hits for Gladys Knight, LeVert and other R&B acts.
“Reggie Calloway, this guy probably doesn't even know how much impact he's had on my life,” Mr. Reid says. “Reggie kind of taught me the importance of making sure that every song you record is the absolute best song that you can find and has the absolute best performance by the artist.
“It was that basic training. I like to think of it as boot camp that really sort of paved the way for what we do now at LaFace, and so many of the other artists and labels that I associate with. But it all came from there.”
Next big duo
After moving to Los Angeles in 1985, Mr. Reid and Mr. Edmonds soon were known as R&B's next big songwriting/production duo, working with other Solar artists, including Shalimar, the Whispers and Pebbles (who would later become Mr. Reid's wife. They are divorced).
Their circle of clients widened to include Bobby Brown, Sheena Easton, Karyn White, Paula Abdul, the Jacksons, Whitney Houston, Boyz II Men, Bell Biv DeVoe and others.
“We started to have a nice little run,” Mr. Reid recalls dryly.
They saw their songs race up the charts, but still felt like hired help. Somebody else was making most of the money.
“At that point I decided I wanted some ownership in this game,” Mr. Reid states flatly. “We were having a lot of success, making a lot of records, selling a lot of records, not making a lot of money.
“We wanted equity participation and you can't have an equity participation if you're work-for-hire. And as producers we were work-for-hire. So I figured it out. I want a label.”
LaFace, combining its founders' nicknames, was born.Babyface, who has maintained a career writing, producing and occasionally performing, has become the most Grammy-nominated artist of the '90s. His partner, however, satisfied with the three Grammys he won for writing and producing, happily moved behind the scenes.
“I've kind of retired from the studio. He's obviously kept it up and done an amazing job at it. We still talk every day and have co-ownership of our label. But for the most part, he pursues his career, and I retired to the boring job of being a record company executive.”
Which, adds Mr. Reid, is how he likes it.
“In my career I've always kind of been the guy behind the guy. Even when it was the Deele and it was in Cincinnati, Ohio, I was the guy behind those other guys. I wasn't the lead guy.
“I was at times maybe the spokesperson, because I was the leader of the band. But I wasn't the visual guy, I wasn't the lead singer, I wasn't out front.
“But I was kind of married to the business and the creative aspect together. It was never purely creative, it was always kind of both. And so as I've grown, I've found that my love, my passion and my talent is really to make others happen and not necessarily promoting me.”
Big-name divas
The proof is in the LaFace roster, which includes two of the hottest female R&B acts of the '90s — TLC and Ms. Braxton.
“I really like the female stars, I like the divas,” he says.
In fact, Mr. Reid says, he's considering going back into the studio, reuniting with Babyface to co-produce Ms. Braxton's new CD.
He's also excited about the newest LaFace artists, a young woman from Philadelphia named Pink, Atlanta rap group the Youngbloodz and former child star Shanice.
“I look for stars, y'know?” he says. “More than I look for people who sing or for people who play, I look for people who I think are stars. People who have the ability to make you love them, and to make people around the world love them. And that becomes the most important thing to me.
“There are great singers all over the world. In any Baptist church in America you can find the greatest singers in the world. But it doesn't always translate to superstardom.
“I don't know what it is. It's something that I feel when I meet an artist, when I watch an artist. Whatever it is, let's put it this way, TLC has it, Madonna has it, Toni Braxton has it, Usher has it, Puff Daddy has it.
Business diversity
Mr. Reid and Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs are partners in Justin's, an Atlanta restaurant that's part of LaFace's growing business interests. Mr. Reid also helped Mr. Combs put together his Bad Boy Records distribution deal with Arista, the label that has distributed LaFace since 1989.
“I got a small, small piece of it,” Mr. Reid says of the deal. “But more than that, I got the satisfaction of seeing it happen. Puffy actually offered (a bigger percentage of the company) to me. And I said, "You know what, Puff? I would be a very wealthy man if I took you up on your offer, but what I'd rather do is to have you never forget that I did it, and some day you reach and help somebody. And that's the deal I made.”
He would like to see LaFace expand to compete with the major labels, but after 10 years of very hard work, Mr. Reid is thinking about a more spiritual bottom line.
“All the success and all, I certainly don't take it lightly and I count my blessings. But now, I'm more concerned with having peace and just happiness in my life.
“I'm not trying to say that I haven't been happy and I haven't been peaceful but it just hasn't been at the forefront of my desire, and now it is. Simple as it may sound, I just want peace and love.”
Marriage in 2000
The year 2000 will bring a different sort of merger, as he marries his fiancee, Erica. He also maintains a good relationships with his three children, Aaron, 9, Ashley, 16, and Antonio Jr., 21.
He also remains very close to his mother, frequently returning to Cincinnati to see her. In 1994 he served as co-chair of the American Negro Spiritual Festival, but only at the urging of his mother, co-chair of the ticket sales committee that year.
It was a rare public appearance in his hometown. He prefers to keep a very low profile when he comes back. But his preference for avoiding the spotlight may have worked too well.
“I only have one complaint,” Mr. Reid says with a chuckle. “The people from Cincinnati don't know I'm from Cincinnati. I've done such a poor job of promoting myself, I come home and they ask my girlfriend, "So are you Babyface's wife?'
“I'm not Babyface.”
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