LaFace Records

Company history

LaFace Records got its start in 1989 as a joint venture between hitmaking duo Antonio "L.A." Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, teaming up with Arista Records. The label took its name from the combined nicknames of the pair's production company. Throughout the 1990s, LaFace became a powerhouse, launching the careers of major acts like TLC, Toni Braxton, Outkast, Pink, Usher, Goodie Mob, and Donell Jones. As the decade wound down, the label released fewer new artists, and Babyface shifted focus to his own solo work. In 1999, Arista and BMG bought out the label completely. When L.A. Reid became Chairman and CEO of Arista in 2001, LaFace was effectively dissolved, with most of its big names moving up to the main Arista roster to keep working under Reid. One of LaFace's key signings came in 1992 when they picked up Georgia duo Outkast. That album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, dropped on April 26, 1994, cracked the top 20 on the Billboard 200, and eventually went platinum in the United States. After BMG went through a corporate restructuring in 2004, LaFace was revived as one of four labels within the newly formed Zomba Music Group, part of the Sony BMG joint venture. Most of the artists who had moved to Arista came back to the reactivated label.