Antonio M. Reid, widely known in the music industry and beyond as L.A. Reid, record producer, songwriter, executive, is a giant in the industry. A man of so many accomplishments over such a long period of time that an autobiography was appropriate.
“Sing to Me: My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who’s Next,” published by HarperCollins, has been well-received in terms of both reviews and public interest. It is a treasure chest of fascinating information, anecdotes and, yes, “juicy tidbits.” (What’s an autobiography without some of those?)
Reid is best known for his innumerable collaborations with the equally talented Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. Reid is currently chairman and CEO of Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment.
REID MEANS just what the title of his book says because, as he put it, “I live for opening doors for the young generation of creators…the deepest and most sincere feeling I get is when I meet an artist and they have that steel in their eyes and that fire and passion.”
Surprisingly, Cincinnati-born Reid started out his career as a drummer. Back in the mid-1970s, a band he was in called Pure Essence recorded a single and later shortened the name to Essence.
That band was only mildly successful, but it was a completely different story with the next band he was part of — the Deele. Another member of the ’80s band was “Babyface” Edmonds. The Deele found their way into the national R&B Top 10 three times — with “Two Occasions,” “Body Talk” and “Shoot ’Em Up Movies.”
BY THE end of the decade, the Deele had disbanded and Reid and Edmonds decided to develop their own label, LaFace Records, distributed by Arista Records. The hits came in rapid succession for an impressive roster of artists, among them Toni Braxton, TLC and Usher.
The decision was made in 2000 to merge LaFace with Arista, with L.A. Reid appointed to the position of president and CEO. Reid signed such hitmakers as Ciara, Avril Lavigne and Pink. One album by OutKast, “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” (featuring the frenetic “Hey Ya!”), was certified 10x platinum, meaning 10 million copies were sold.
Next stop, Island Def Jam Music Group where Reid, chairman and CEO, had everything to do with the resurgence of Mariah Carey with “The Emancipation of Mimi.” He was also instrumental in the success of Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Bon Jovi, to name a few.
L.A. REID became a familiar name and face to millions of television viewers when, in 2011, he signed on as a judge on the popular singing competition show “The X Factor.”
In “Sing to Me: My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who’s Next,” Reid, who admits that he missed out on signing Lady Gaga, shares that to this day Vanessa Williams will not speak to him. He was in talks with Williams, but a hit song ended up going to Pebbles and the former Miss America was furious.
Speaking of the fiery Pebbles, to whom Reid was married from 1989 to 1996, she once learned that Paula Abdul was at his apartment — after midnight. (There was no relationship, he writes, although only they know exactly why she was there at that hour.)
Pebbles came in like a hurricane and smashed Reid’s glass furniture with a broom, as Abdul stood by “trembling in fear.”
THERE WAS a disagreement with Jermaine Jackson, who Reid was working with, over Michael Jackson also working with Reid. Jermaine was furious because he was there first and he therefore announced that he wanted to record a song about Michael. This resulted in the scathing attack song, “Word to the Badd!!”
They changed their minds about wanting it released, but the highest ranking executive at the company Jermaine Jackson recorded for at the time wanted it released, so it was. The song was getting airplay, then suddenly disappeared from the airwaves, and Reid thinks Michael Jackson had something to do with it although he has no idea what.
Usher was only 15 when Reid decided he needed to be toughened up”; he didn’t want him to be “soft and pretty.” So he “turned him over to the wildest party guy in the country” — Puff Daddy. He admits that this might not have been “responsible,” but it served its purpose.
There are other stories as spicy as these, but mainly Reid’s book is about the music, the industry, and his place in it.
Despite monumental changes in the music industry, Reid still believes that “the glory days of the record industry aren’t behind us. They’re actually ahead of us.”
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