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Singer-Songwriter-Producer Credits

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ASCAP Songwriters Workshop with staff, and "New Jack Swing" composer/pianist, Bernard Belle (1963-2022), and publishing executives.

Awards, Productions, and Collaborations:

​Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Song and an ASCAP Honors Award for Most Played Songs in the 1985 Survey Year (an award she shared with Prince), while giving Whitney her first #1 single. As Stacy Lattisaw's backup vocalist and keyboard, LALA toured on Michael Jackson's Victory Tour.

 

She has played, sang, written for and/or produced artists as diverse as Ice Cube, Lauryn Hill, Christina Aguilera, Luther Vandross, Mic Murphy, Bernard Fowler, Billy Porter, Johnny Kemp, Melba Moore, Glenn Jones and Terumasa Hino. LALA recorded a vocal duet with Jermaine Jackson for the Summer Olympics Album on Arista Records, executive produced by Clive Davis.

 

Her popularity grew as Stevie Wonder invited her to play in his studio, putting LALA in demand as a songwriter garnering her numerous awards and chart toppers. She is not only credited as the songwriter who launched the career of Whitney Houston, but has written for and/or produced other artists, such as: Freddie Jackson, Lillo Thomas, Stephanie Mills, Carl Anderson, Giorge Pettus, Johnny Gill, Boys Choir of Harlem, Morgan's Heritage, Terumasa Hino, and more.

 

Her songwriting, production, keyboard and vocal work with Kashif, V. Jeffrey Smith, Lenny White, Marcus Miller, Bernard Wright, Weldon Irvine, Barry Eastmond, Carl Beatty, Tawatha Agee, Fonzi Thornton, Burt Bacharach, David Foster, Allen George and Fred McFarlane, Onaje Allen Gumbs, Gerald Albright, Rene Moore and Bruce Swedien attest to her aptitude as a collaborator.

Atlantic Records released her first single on the movie soundtrack, Beat Street, entitled “Into the Night," produced by Harry Belafonte. Lala collaborated on "My Love is on the Money," a Top 10 single produced by Full Force on Arista Records. She appeared on Motown Records where she was signed by Jheryl Busby, the executive producer of her second solo album, “Lala Means I Love You,” featuring the single, “Always.”

The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, NYC

Recordings

The JACKSASS Band (Unreleased)_edited_ed

"Sassified" Unreleased Edition

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Inductee Trophy & Plaque

at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (June 2024)

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PUBLISHED LITERARY WORK:

Newtown Literary

SoulShaker Excerpt, “Ruff Mix” (Vol.9)

https://newtownliterary.wordpress.com/

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Art is what drives you to make the most of your imagination. Better be ready when your train pulls in. For example, I wrote three little poems spanning many years of my life. Finally, they find a home inside the Diaspora of Taint Taint Taint Magazine, Issue No. 2. I received the news of its publication on my birthday last week. Ain't art a gift? Art is the only light in a dark world searching for truth. Art makes me happier than the morning sun. - LaForrest "LALA" Cope

Taint Taint Taint is a literary and cultural arts magazine dedicated to decolonizing the art world. The magazine gives writers and artists, especially underrepresented voices, a chance to be heard.Editor-in-Chief: Jeffery Renard Allen

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©2026 LaForrest Cope. All Rights Reserved.

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