L.A. Reid isn’t holding back in his forthcoming memoir, revealing how he really felt about Rihanna from the moment he first laid eyes on her back in 2005 when he was the Chairman and CEO of Island Def Jam Music Group.
“I first laid eyes on her in the hallway,” he said. “I didn’t know she was a singer or anything, just a pretty girl standing outside somebody’s office. Then Jay Z burst into my office.”
What happened next changed Rihanna’s life forever. According to Complex, she auditioned for label executives singing Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, and her smash hit “Pon De Replay.”
Once Rihanna finished Reid told Jay Z, “Don’t let her leave the building.” And that same day Rihanna was signed to the label.
Now we know that Rihanna and Teairra Mari were fresh new artists signed to the label around the same time so what exactly happened with Teairra Mari?
“At the label, we thought Teairra Marí would be the big star. We spent more time on her, did more work on her, paid more attention to her,” he said. “A bell went off for me, however, when, after [a label] showcase, Beyoncé came up to me and said, ‘That Rihanna girl. She’s a beast.”
Just think if it wasn’t for Beyoncé there might not have been a Rihanna!
Sing to Me: My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who’s Next is available Feb. 2.
TSR Staff: Kyle Anfernee : @KyleAnfernee
http://www.complex.com/music/2016/01/la-reid-says-he-thought-rihanna-wouldnt-be-as-big-a-star-as-teairra-mari
