An Owl’s Leap of Faith: Breaking Into the Music Industry

Reggie Becton had been singing his whole life, but when he graduated in 2015 from the Klein School of Media and Communication, he was at a crossroads. Did he want to take the traditional corporate route after college, or did he finally want to take a chance to conquer his dreams? After taking a year off after graduating, he decided to make the jump, moving from Philadelphia to Los Angeles to pursue everything he’d always wanted.

When Reggie moved to L.A. in 2016, he didn’t have a job lined up but knew he had to have a backup plan in case his singing career didn’t work out. He secured a position at the University of Southern California in their development office for the College of Liberal Arts. In 2020 during the pandemic, he moved up to work for the dean of the School of Communication and remains there to this day, while still pursuing his career.

His family have dubbed him their “Hannah Montana,” referencing his double life: juggling his full-time job in higher education with his ascendant music career. He jokes how sometimes he’ll be at work and get an email from someone asking, “Are you the Reggie Becton from the playlist?” One minute he’ll have a meeting with a record label about a deal, and then the next, he’s getting on a call about something happening at USC. While it’s tough, he enjoys the ability to be so versatile.

Reggie’s singing career officially started when he moved to Los Angeles in 2016, but he says as long as he can remember talking, he can remember singing. In middle school, things really started to take off for him when he went to a music summer camp, which opened his eyes to music production and songwriting. Ever since then, he’s hit the ground running, eventually getting real studio sessions in 11th grade, then putting out his first song during his senior year. It was a nerve-wracking experience for him, as he put it out one night on SoundCloud and wasn’t exactly sure of the reaction he’d get the next day at school. To his surprise, it was a total nonreaction from his fellow students. “It taught me right then and there, it’s all in your head. A lot of the obstacles and hurdles we put on ourselves are placed by us, and not by other people.”

Since 2016, he’s dropped six projects, including a full studio album. Now boasting nearly 500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, he points to many gratifying breakthroughs over the years he’s been on his journey. In 2019, his song “Rainin' in LA” got notice from music publications like Vibe and was added to editorial playlists on Spotify and Apple Music. He sold out shows in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., last year, and most recently, he worked with legendary producer Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins in Florida, who he names as his favorite producer of all time.

Did he ever expect, seven years later after coming to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams, to achieve this level of success? “I always imagined it; you see your dreams in your head. Just one of those things that’s truly mind-blowing.” He adds that it’s an out-of-body experience to sell out a show, to hear people sing songs back to you that you wrote in your bedroom. “Rainin' in LA,” one of his first big breakthroughs, remains a favorite of his to play on tour.

With so much success and his career still growing, what advice would he give to his younger self, and current students? “It’s all in your head. All the doubts, impostor syndrome, all the things that you’re worried about that are keeping you from going full force. The doubts are all made up constructs in your head.” He adds the sooner you can let those things go, the more efficient and the more optimized you can move. “The thief of all joy is social media. We constantly compare our lives to others. You have to realize your journey is your journey.”

The alumni community has been an integral part of Reggie’s success, including his time in a fraternity at Temple, the Lambda Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. “The fraternity keeps me connected. We all come back for Homecoming and alumni events.” The Los Angeles chapter of the alumni community in particular has been a major part of why his career is where it is right now. Going to networking events, being able to meet fellow alumni who are artists and connecting with LaToya Stroman, the head of the L.A. chapter, was consequential. He says Stroman and her family really embraced him, and she had the resources to help him get started, putting him on show bills or panels to get his name out there. “LaToya was always there for me, with anything that could be progressive for my career.” Read more about LaToya's own story here.

Thinking back to his time on campus, one of his favorite spots was Liacouras Walk, with all its grand events, including Homecoming and Spring Fling. He also loved the Tech Center, “specifically the backroom, which we called Club Tech!” WOW (World of Wings) was his favorite spot to eat on campus, along with the now defunct UGotMunchies on Broad Street.

The last seven years have been life-changing for Reggie, and he doesn’t anticipate slowing down any time soon. He wants to continue to see his music career progress, hopefully with a Grammy nomination and win in the near future. He’d like to tour more globally, after doing some shows in London earlier this year, including areas like Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. He’s currently working on his second studio album, which he expects to release in 2024. His biggest goal though? The Super Bowl. “If you can make it to the Super Bowl, you’ve reached the status that you can go down as one of the greats.”