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Kawan Prather | |
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Birth name | Kawan Kawmi Prather |
Also known as | KP |
Born | March 30, 1973 |
Origin | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
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Years active | 1991-present |
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Formerly of |
Kawan Kawmi "KP" Prather (born March 30, 1973)[1] is an American record executive. He began his career as a DJ for the Atlanta-based hip hop group Parental Advisory (P.A.) in 1991, which were part of the larger collective Dungeon Family. The group was discovered by Pebbles and L.A. Reid, and were the first act from the collective to sign a major label deal with LaFace Records in the late 1990s,[2] through which Prather launched the imprint label Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment. During this time, he worked in executive or A&R positions on albums for LaFace labelmates including TLC, OutKast, Goodie Mob, Usher, Pink, and Toni Braxton.
Prather's Ghet-O-Vision is credited with having signed Atlanta-based hip hop acts YoungBloodZ and T.I. through LaFace Records by 1999, as well as Tennessee-based rapper Yelawolf through Interscope Records in 2008. Prather's label released both of the former acts' respective debut albums: Against da Grain (1999) and I'm Serious (2001). He served as Vice President of A&R at Arista Records from 1999 to 2001, and held a similar post for Columbia Records from 2002 to 2005. He was then appointed Senior Vice President of A&R at Island Def Jam from 2012 to 2015, during which he signed 15-year-old R&B singer Khalil. In 2015, he was named Head of Music at Pharrell Williams' creative umbrella I Am Other.[3][4]