Born in Atlanta, Ga-Devyne Stephens, who many refer to as the Berry Gordy of this generation- is the taciturn founding father of Atlanta’s mega success on the music landscape. Stephens found his niche in the music world in the early 90’s as he was the first artist signed to the LA Reid & Babyface’s record label LaFace Records which would eventually lead him to a successful career in artist development. He worked with everyone from Pebbles, Toni Braxton, Pink, TLC, Outcast, Usher, Ciara, Mary J Blige, Destiny Child, Gwen Stephanie, Boyz II Men, P. Diddy and Jay Z. In 2005, Stephens discovered and signed Senegalese R&B singer Akon to UpFront Megatainment and secured a distribution deal with SRC/Universal. Success only grew from there for this silent giant. Upfront/Konvict ventured with Bu Vision signing Rapper, Singer, Super Producer and Songwriter T-pain. Stephens also is responsible for brokering the Konlive distribution deal with Jimmy Ivine of Interscope Records, releasing artists such as Lady Gaga, Rock City, Kardinal, Brick and Lace.