Q1.
You’ve been honored with both the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for over 4,000 hours of volunteer service and the Kentucky Colonel Commission for outstanding community leadership. How do you see the connection between your legendary work discovering artists like Usher and Toni Braxton at LaFace Records and your current philanthropic mission through The Reid Foundation for Lupus®, and what drove you to transition from music executive to community advocate?
Bryant Reid:
There’s definitely a connection between my work in music and my work in philanthropy. In both cases, it’s about service — giving people opportunities, creating platforms, and helping them realize their potential. At LaFace, it wasn’t just about signing acts; it was about cultivating talent at every level. I gave opportunities to unproven artists like Usher, producers and songwriters like Jermaine Dupri before he had those monster hits with Mariah Carey and Kris Kross, and even Vincent Herbert before he went on to work with Lady Gaga and Tamar Braxton. I empowered them when they were still unproven and gave them a chance to shine. That was service.
When I was diagnosed with lupus, I understood it as more than just a personal challenge — . God had blessed me with an extraordinary career and life, and I knew it was time to use that platform in a different way. That’s what drove me to start The Reid Foundation for Lupus®. The same instincts I used to recognize and empower talent in music, I now use to build a foundation that can help communities and people in need of resources and hope.
Q2.
In that memorable BET interview, a teenage Usher credited you as the person who recognized him and brought him to LaFace Records, calling you “L.A. Reid’s brother” and head of A&R. As someone honored as Executive MVP at LaFace, what specific qualities did you look for when discovering talent, and how did your visionary instincts—like personally approving an emerging Jay-Z for the Braxtons—help you identify artists who would shape culture before they became household names?
Bryant Reid:
For me, talent has to pop off the screen. I don’t care whether it’s music, sports, or fashion — it’s gonna pop off the screen. With singers, sometimes a great tone is even more powerful than technical perfection. And just to be clear, I’m not saying I discovered her, Just listen to Sade- She’s so special. When you hear her, it’s magical. Her tone and stage presence create the environment. That’s what makes her unforgettable.
When it came to Usher, I’ll never forget seeing him perform as a teenager — he popped off the screen immediately. In that early BET interview, he mentioned me by name, and I’m glad that moment is on record. I called my brother L.A. and said, “I just saw this singer — he’s a combination of Bobby Brown and Michael Jackson.” L.A. said, “Get him up to the office.” That’s how it went down — and the rest is history.
And then there was Jay-Z. The Braxtons had a single, “So Many Ways.” We needed a remix, and his name came up. I didn’t just roll with it. I got some material, I listened, I did my research — and I knew he was the one. He delivered on that remix, and later, when the Lady of Soul Awards came around, I wanted Jay-Z to perform it with the Braxtons on that stage. He agreed, and he pulled it off. Looking back, I’m glad I trusted my instincts, because that was early Jay-Z — before he was a household name — and to see what he became is incredible.
That’s always been my approach. I wasn’t chasing trends. I was recognizing the people whose tone, style, and presence popped off the screen and told me they weren’t just good — they were going to shape culture.
Q3.
Your work helped establish Atlanta as a global music capital through artists like TLC, OutKast, and your television series B-Street Live, which featured future stars like CeeLo Green and Rasheeda Frost before they achieved fame. How did you recognize Atlanta’s potential as a cultural epicenter in the 1990s, and what role did your ability to spot pre-fame talent play in building what you call “movements that heal communities”?
Bryant Reid:
In the early ’90s, a lot of people in the industry were still looking to New York, Los Angeles, or maybe Chicago when they thought about music. But I saw something in Atlanta that others overlooked. The city was already rich with rappers, singers, songwriters, and producers. Atlanta had energy — bass rap, cool rappers, and a deep creative pool — but what it didn’t have was a major outlet. There wasn’t a brick-and-mortar record label based in the city that could take all of that raw talent and give it a true platform. That’s one of the most important things LaFace Records provided: an outlet for the talent that was already here.
Once that door opened, it exploded. You had producers like Jermaine Dupri, Dallas Austin, and Rico Wade, who each brought their own creativity and helped fuel LaFace’s growth. And you had acts like TLC and OutKast who, together with the label, helped Atlanta step onto the global stage. We didn’t have a set “sound” in the beginning — what we did was create our own thing. We created our own movement. We became the Motown of the South, and that movement carried Atlanta into history.
That same spirit of vision carried into television with B-Street Live. My idea was simple but bold: how can I bring signed talent, unsigned talent, A-list musicians, rappers, singers, dancers, and celebrity hosts all into one room, on one stage, for one night? That was my vision. Turner Broadcasting executives came out to see it live, and the night was unforgettable. It was different, it was fresh, it was electric — truly groundbreaking. They told me right then, “Don’t even worry about finishing the pilot. Let’s go to contract.” And B-Street Live was born.
And just like with LaFace, I used B-Street Live to give opportunities. CeeLo Green performed before most people knew his name. Rasheeda Frost — who was already a rapper — I cast as a host, and she did a great job. B-Street Live really gave her that first television platform, and from there she eventually went on to become a familiar face on VH1’s Love & Hip Hop Atlanta. It was a strong look for her, and it showed she could shine on TV as well as in music. And DJ Nabs — one of the fabric DJs of the South — I cast as both the show’s DJ and one of its hosts. He did a remarkable job, and later told me the visibility helped him land a call back into radio. Again, B-Street Live created opportunities.
But the truth is, it was more than just music or TV — it was a movement that healed a community. We saw a shift in the entire city. People finally had an outlet, and it created opportunity. It created jobs. It gave creators a place to be creative. I’ll never forget coming downstairs at the LaFace office and seeing people waiting in the lobby just hoping to meet someone, because they knew something was happening in Atlanta. That’s what an outlet does — it heals frustration and gives hope.
Q4.
The Reid Foundation for Lupus® was inspired by your own delayed diagnosis, and you’ve used your platform for advocacy through keynote addresses, national media appearances, and NBCUniversal’s World Lupus Day virtual event. How has your personal experience with lupus informed your approach to philanthropy, and how do you leverage the relationships and influence you built in the music industry to advance healthcare awareness and community healing?
Bryant Reid:
When I was diagnosed with lupus, I knew immediately there was a deeper purpose behind it. God had blessed me with an incredible career and platform, and I felt called to use that to help others, the way He had helped me. That’s the spiritual foundation of The Reid Foundation for Lupus®.
One of the most important things I’ve done is go directly into underserved communities — what some people might call “getting into the weeds.” I’ve spent time in those neighborhoods, I’ve met the people, and I’ve seen firsthand how badly they need help. Too often, I’ve found that the healthcare system doesn’t treat them with dignity and respect. And when people aren’t treated with dignity, many don’t come back for help at all. That’s unacceptable.
So one of the core goals of my foundation is to change that experience. When people come to us, they’ll be treated with the same respect and value as anyone else — the same as a singer, a rapper, a dancer, an athlete, or a community leader. Everyone deserves dignity. Everyone deserves to be cared for. That’s the philosophy guiding The Reid Foundation for Lupus®.
At the same time, I’m leveraging my relationships in music, television, and entertainment in new ways. We’re building initiatives and fundraising opportunities that bring the creativity of the industry into advocacy — using music, performance, and culture to raise awareness and resources for this disease. It’s forward-thinking, and it’s about bridging two worlds: the entertainment stage and the stage of healthcare advocacy.
It won’t happen overnight, but I believe the same formula that worked in music applies here: create an outlet, build a movement, and let that movement heal communities.
Q5.
You’ve shared the philosophy that “If you know victory, you’ve certainly met defeat,” explaining that true success comes from learning, adapting, and persisting through challenges. Looking at your journey from discovering music icons to receiving the nation’s highest civilian honors, how have the lessons from navigating the music industry’s challenges prepared you for the work of building lasting social impact, and what advice would you give to other creatives and changemakers about balancing professional success with community service?
Bryant Reid:
It took me time, growth, and experience to really understand this: If you KNOW victory, you’ve certainly MET defeat. If you truly KNOW victory, then you’ve also MET defeat along the way. Because if you’re really in the game — if you’re creating, building, competing — it’s not always win-win. And that’s where character gets built. That’s where you learn perseverance.
The truth is, loss can strip people of their confidence, their self-worth, even their sense of purpose. But life is peaks and valleys. That’s true for everyone — whether you’re in business, on a team, creating art, or working a job. If you’re striving for something, there will be disappointments. There will be highs and lows. The question is, what do you do with them? Do you let defeat define you, or do you let it teach you?
For me, those lessons in the music industry prepared me for everything I’m doing now. Whether it was discovering artists, producing a TV show, or building a foundation, I came to understand that setbacks are part of the journey. They make you sharper, more resilient, and more grateful when the victories come.
My advice to creatives and changemakers is this: don’t fear the valleys. They’re part of the process. Use them to learn, adapt, and grow. Don’t measure your life only by the peaks — by the awards, the applause, or the headlines. Measure it by the movements you build that last, and by the people you lift along the way.
And most importantly — you can’t let the highs get too high, or the lows get too low. If a compliment sends you soaring, then a criticism can send you crashing. That’s not balance. The real key is to stay steady, stay focused. Stay humble.
