L.A. Reid

L.A. Reid
Birth name	Antonio M. Reid
Born	June 7, 1956 (age 61)
Occupation	CEO of Def Jam
Years active	1983–present
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	LA_Reid

L.A. Reid was the CEO of Def Jam Music Group and he was the person who signed Usher when he was a budding young singer.

Relationship

Usher arranged for L.A. Reid to meet Justin in April 2008 and took along Justin's mom and Scooter too. In L.A. Reid's new memoir, Sing To Me, the exec goes in depth about the first time he met Bieber, when Usher brought the singer to the Island Def Jam Records office. "At four on the dot, Usher walked into my office with this adorable fourteen-year-old boy," Reid wrote. "This kid was beautiful, like a woman can be beautiful and men rarely are, and he turned it on as soon as he stepped into the room.". Reid refers to Bieber's beauty a few times in the book. At one point he talks about how the teen had "grown his hair down almost covering his eyes" and that Reid "could see immediately that Justin's hair would be every bit as important as his songs, his voice his face, or his presence."

“I thought he was an amazing kid, charming with loads of personality,” recalls Reid, who adds that the lack of a TV platform never discouraged him from doing a deal. “I’ve never had the benefit of an ‘American Idol’ or Disney type of platform. Maybe it’s dated, but we launch artists in the traditional sense. Oftentimes, while these kids may be very talented, we think of them as TV stars first, and the music is secondary. Justin is music first.”

Career

2009: My World

Braun cut eight songs before playing them for Reid at his Grammy bungalow in February 2009. “He was like, ‘We’ve got singles. We’re ready,’ ” Braun recalls. Reid signed off on a $50,000 budget for the “One Time” video, and the single was released in April. It didn’t pick up steam, though, until mid-summer when the video hit YouTube, where Bieber’s subscriber base already stood at 40 million. “One Time” debuted at No. 95 on the Hot 100 in late July, and the dominos fell from there, with traditional media outlets gradually catching up to the notion that a viral sensation without any national TV presence had fans eager to forge a deeper connection.

Credits

• 2013: Slave 2 The Rhythm (writer and producer)

Gallery

Videos

Justin Bieber Exclusive Look on the Today Show