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LaFace records started in Atlanta but the sound originated in Indianapolis, IN and Cincinnati, OH with Babyface and L.A. Reid. Their groups were formed long before moving to Atlanta.
Babyface and L.A. Reid specifically chose Atlanta because of the endless opportunities the city gave them at the time. LaFace records sound consisted of Atlanta acts such as Outkast/ TLC/ Goodie Mob/ Usher and Maryland native Toni Braxton. Babyface of course was more hands on in helping create the sound for Toni Braxton's earlier music. But TLC and Usher was definitely a collaboration of the Atlanta sound with producers like Dallas Austin and Jermaine Dupri and the sound Babyface/L.A. Reid and Kayo help create in the 80s into the 90s. Hell for Usher album can't forget about Puff and Devante Swing and Al B Sure helping create his sound for his first album. I do think Usher really took off when he started working more with Atlanta's own Jermain Dupri.
Outkast and Goodie Mob was strictly Atlanta though with Organized Noize. At the end of the day Babyface and LA saw the talent coming out of Atlanta and took full advantage of it. They could have chose Cincinnati or Indianapolis but they didn't.
The Black Belt stops around the Richmond or Tidewater, VA area. Yes MD/DE have a large Black population, but it's not the Black Belt. Alabama/Georgia are definitely towards the center geographically so I agree with Birmingham, Columbus, or Atlanta being near the relative center of it.
Babyface and L.A. Reid specifically chose Atlanta because of the endless opportunities the city gave them at the time. LaFace records sound consisted of Atlanta acts such as Outkast/ TLC/ Goodie Mob/ Usher and Maryland native Toni Braxton. Babyface of course was more hands on in helping create the sound for Toni Braxton's earlier music. But TLC and Usher was definitely a collaboration of the Atlanta sound with producers like Dallas Austin and Jermaine Dupri and the sound Babyface/L.A. Reid and Kayo help create in the 80s into the 90s. Hell for Usher album can't forget about Puff and Devante Swing and Al B Sure helping create his sound for his first album. I do think Usher really took off when he started working more with Atlanta's own Jermain Dupri.
Outkast and Goodie Mob was strictly Atlanta though with Organized Noize. At the end of the day Babyface and LA saw the talent coming out of Atlanta and took full advantage of it. They could have chose Cincinnati or Indianapolis but they didn't.
Not to mention the concentration of black capital in Atlanta that allowed for albums to be financed and produced on more favorable terms (along with more creative freedom for the artists) than what was seen in NYC and LA.
The Black Belt stops around the Richmond or Tidewater, VA area. Yes MD/DE have a large Black population, but it's not the Black Belt. Alabama/Georgia are definitely towards the center geographically so I agree with Birmingham, Columbus, or Atlanta being near the relative center of it.
Why or how isn’t MD the black belt that makes no sense it’s a southern state that’s 30% black,
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