Antonio "L.A." Reid is a three-time Grammy Award-winning record executive, songwriter, and record producer. Reid is best known for co-founding LaFace Records with Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds.
He is the President and chief executive of Hitco Music Publishing, based in Atlanta and was the chairman and chief executive officer of Island Def Jam Music Group until 2011, when he signed up to appear as a judge on the 2011 U.S. version of The X Factor
L.A. Reid was kind enough to sit down for a Fox Q&A to discuss The X Factor. Everyone in attendance was buzzing with excitement and just had a good time.
Thank you, L.A. Reid and Fox Broadcasting Company. Enjoy!
Since Drew Ryniewicz says she’s a huge Justin Bieber fan and you’re friends with Justin, what has he said about Drew if anything since you said he’s been watching the show, and hopefully, we’ll see him perform on this season’s finale with Drew. That would be great.
Yes, that would be—well, that’s great. Now, see, you do great A&R, too, I see. The thing is, I love Drew. I have not spoken to Justin about Drew at all. I think she’s amazing. I think she’s really a contender here, a really competitive talent and Justin is a good sport and he takes it all in the right spirit. He doesn’t take it seriously when somebody says that they want to be better than him or beat him at what he does. He’s a good sport and he’s got a level head. He takes it all in fun.
Why do you think that each contestant that you pick has the potential to win?
Why do I think they have the potential to win? Well, I think that my guys are very unique. I think, as an example, Astro being a 15-year-old rapper who entered the competition doing original material, as far as I know, now I could be wrong, but I think that’s a very unique approach and it may be a first. So, I like his uniqueness. Phillip Lomax—for a guy to be 22 years old, and to have been so influenced by an era of Frank Sinatra and others, I find that pretty fascinating. So, I think he is a very unique guy and he has a great shot. Marcus Canty is just a great singer. All I can tell you is that Marcus is a great singer, and ultimately I’m moved by talent and I really love his talent. And, Chris Rene, who is arguably the most popular contestant in the competition, is just really special and also entered the competition with original material and has this style that’s somewhere between singing and rapping. He’s just a really special guy and a really lovable guy with an interesting voice and an interesting story. So, I feel really good about the contestants and the guys in my category.
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