ATLANTA — Pushing carts in exchange for quarters was all it took for Kawan Prather to have a chance meeting with teen rapper LL Cool J at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport when he was 11. That connection inspired led him to pursue his passion for music.

Prather did not get to where he is now by chance, however. It took decades of hard work, dedication, consistency, pivoting, building, and learning to become a world renown music manager, writer, A&R, executive producer, DJ, and innovator.

“We were playing games in the arcade and we started talking,” Prather said. “LL Cool J told me that he was a rapper and was in town for a show. The way he explained rap to me sounded interesting. That opened my mind to the possibilities of being young, traveling the world, and making your job enjoyable.”

He has vivid memories of playing Anita Ward’s’ “Ring My Bell” with his mother and aunts. He also watched the TBS show Night Tracks, which played videos from Burning Down the House to Talking Heads, to Michael Jackson, among others.

Prather, who is an original member of the iconic Dungeon Family, learned about the art of Djing at an early age. When Prather was in 8th grade, he served as a DJ a school talent show. Someone walked up to him and said his brother and friend had a group that needed a DJ.

He was later introduced to Mello and Big Reese and later formed Parental Advisory.

“Djing opened the world to different kinds of music. I learned from DJing about other styles of music and other regions and other tastes,” he said.

He says networking led to him creating lifelong friendships.

“Tionne (T-Boz) knew Rico Wade, Mello and I knew Ray Murray (from Organized Noize), and all of us ended up being tied to each other from our love for doing music,” he said. “Me, Rico Wade, Ray, and Sleepy Brown all put that equipment into this makeshift studio behind the Jelly Beans skating rink. Big Rube chipped in with a drum machine as well. That’s where we all started the idea of being a crew of artists working together. The amount of music that we were consuming ended up being the thing that helped us create our sound. Atlanta is the most unique place in the world for Black ideas.”

Prather was also an A&R executive at LaFace Records in the 1990s and founder of Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment. He says the process of pitching new artists and creatives to executives and A&R’s has evolved over the years.

“It was more about taste and individualism before,” he said. “It was harder to get people to believe in things because there was no data behind it to see if this many people had looked at the music. You had to have a real passion for what you were trying to get through the door.”

Prather, who is also known as KP the Great, has worked with many iconic artists including, T.I., the Dungeon Family, Outkast, Goodie Mob, Pharrell, Usher, and John Legend among others.

Of the many things that Grammy Award winner has learned is that every artist he works with is unique in their own way.

“The biggest thing that you can do is listen,” he said. “With all of the different personalities, different talents, different gifts, you have to be specific to the person you’re talking to. They are all individuals and they are all special. I’ve learned that I’m never going to know enough to not learn. You have to keep working, keep learning, and keep going.”

Prather is the manager of Atlanta hip-hop icon, philanthropist, and community advocate T.I. He fondly recalled the first time he heard about TIP from Big Reese of Parental Advisory.

“Big Reese said TIP was really talented and I would like him,” Prather continued. “I met him in the studio with Jason Jeter and DJ Toomp during a Parental Advisory session, and I asked him to rap. He laid his 16 bars and it was featured on the PA album “My Life, Your Entertainment” on the song, “Down Flat.”

Prather recalls how he worked to pitch T.I. to the record label he worked at.

“I took TIP to the 1999 Source Awards in Los Angeles to see how he lived in the world with super stars in the industry,” he said. “Everybody welcomed him with open arms, because they saw he was one of them. Outkast liked him, and Goodie Mob liked him. That made it easier for me when I got back to Atlanta to talk to LA Reid.”

Prather does not have one specific title as T.I.’s manager. He pivots where he is needed.

“My ability to step in and help to fill the gap is probably my biggest skill set and that comes from Djing,” he said. “That comes from me looking at the room, seeing what’s missing and trying to put it there. Some days are heavier in A&R, some days are heavier in Djing. Some days are heavier in management.”

T.I.’s debut album “I’m Serious” was released in October 2001. The song titled, “Still Ain’t Forgave Myself” was specifically chosen as the first track for the album because of how relatable it was.

“I always listened to albums to find out what struck me the most as a human,” he said. “When I first heard, “Still Ain’t Forgave Myself,” I knew it was the most personal song that I’ve heard and it’s also a song that other people could relate to.”

Prather recalled when T.I. worked to build his fanbase early on in his career.

“TIP had a situation with his label and he didn’t wait on the label or a specific person to help him, he went out and started hitting the streets every weekend,” Prather said. “He started doing shows every weekend, he was traveling in a 150-mile radius of Atlanta every weekend. That started building his fanbase. Then “Dope Boyz in The Trap” blew up on a street level.”

Prather says the turning point for Atlanta music happened when people on a national level recognized that Outkast were serious artists, had serious producers and they were commercially viable.

“The early part of when the Atlanta floodgates opened on a bigger scale was in the 2000s, when artists like T.I., Ludacris, Jeezy, Bone Crusher, Oomp Camp, and others became a force.”

Prather says the evolution of music and promotion has changed a lot over the years.

“You don’t see as many artists out selling themselves as people as you did in the past. You don’t see as many showcases, you don’t see as many open mics,” he said. “Some people feel that all they really have to do is make a song in their room, put it up online and the rest is history. You can blow up that way and can seem that way but nothing beats going out and galvanizing the fanbase.”

Prather said he is working on several exciting projects, including a new TV show that he wrote.

“Over the last three years, T.I. has been working diligently to be taken seriously and being respectful of the craft. We’re working to showcase his comedy on a more major scale and we have movies coming out. He’s working on a new comedy special,” he said.

Prather says his family is among his biggest inspirations.

“I’m inspired by my kids first,” he said. “They inspire me to be somebody they can be proud of. I’m also inspired by humans. The inspiration of art happens when you see something amazing or you hear something that touches you and react honestly.”

For more information on Prather, visit his website by clicking here.